The Seer sits up when she sees me, tilting her head as if she can see through me. She narrows her eyes and cold fingers walk down my spine. I swat at my skin but there’s nothing there. Just goosebumps. She sets back on the pillow of twigs and branches at her back and flaps a hand in the air at Taavi, who leaves without a word. But I can feel her hungry glare burning the back of me.

“He stays,” I say, gesturing at Julius.

But the Seer closes her eyes, resting her head on the bark. Her hair is in a different style today. Taavi must be doting on her like she says. They are bonding, it seems. That has to be a good thing. I wonder what drove the wedge between them in the first place.

I search for the right words to prick the wound I’m about to open, but nothing sounds precise enough. The frustration bubbles to the surface before I can refine it into something that isn’t seeping with anger. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Silence.

A creature rustles over a crinkle of leaves somewhere in the distance. I wait. Waves lap the edge of the island. Still, she says nothing. The salty ocean air is thick on my skin. Thick in my hair.

“Why didn’t you tell me the Chancellor was the man you fell in love with?” I squat to her field of view. “Look at me.”

She parts her lips to speak but sighs, twisting her dress in her hand. “If I’d told you that, it’s all you would have heard. Now that you’ve seen so much, you cannot unsee the rest. Once you’ve simmered down, that is.”

“You told me to trust no one. And yet between those same teeth you lied to me.”

“I am not your enemy, Jelani.”

“Tuh. I can’t tell. How could you sit there and look me in my eyes the first time you met me and say nothing?”

“It doesn’t work like that, Jelani. I answered the questions you’d asked. I told you to trust no one. I…”

“You acted like you wanted to help me!”

“I do, child.” She darts a glance around. “Sssh. I do!”

“Why? Is this some sort of guilt you’re carrying? Is that why you’re trying to help me? What’s in it for you?”

“No, I…” Her next words come out more choked, like bile she’d prefer to swallow. “What do you want to know, child? Ask.” She holds out a trembling hand, grimacing, and turns her face away.

“I don’t have anything to pay you!” I pace. “You knew what he did to my people. How could you love a man like that? You just sat and watched him poison my people? Then roll in like some wannabe white knight?”