It took Beru a moment to answer. “Better than I was six days ago, I suppose. I never thanked you—you and Prince Hassan and Jude—for rescuing us.”

“You were actually the one who got us out of there,” Hector replied.

And the god had almost killed them as a result.

“We should talk about what happened on the beach,” Hector said abruptly. “I didn’t imagine that, did I? I did something to you. To the god.”

He looked so uncertain, almost frightened, and for a long moment Beru wasn’t sure what to tell him.

“It’s … When I use the god’s power, the god’s influence over me gets stronger,” Beru began. “I fight it by grabbing a piece of myself—a memory or a feeling—and holding on. But on the beach, it wasn’t my own feelings I was grabbing hold of. It was yours.”

“You mean … because of the connection between us,” Hector said haltingly.

Beru nodded. “Sometimes … I feel my own emotions and thoughts get overwhelmed by the god. But yours … they came through so clearly.”

Hector’s dark gaze flicked away from her. Beru felt something like shame welling up in her throat, but she wasn’t sure if it was coming from Hector or herself.

“I’m sorry,” she said at last. “I know that’s a lot to put on you.”

He shook his head, scratching at his light scruff and Beru realized—he was embarrassed. “No, it’s—it’s a good thing, right? I mean, I’m glad I can help.”

It was strange to see Hector like this. So unsure. So nervous. The opposite of everything he usually was. Maybe it was the god—maybe Hector didn’t know how to act around her because of the dangerous creature that lurked inside her.

It hurt, a surprising amount. After everything they’d been through, Hector still saw her as this strange, alien thing. It felt like a return to the start, when Hector had first found out she was a revenant, when he’d looked at her with fear and horror.

But he wasn’t looking at her like that now. He wasn’t looking at her at all.

“Hector,” she said carefully. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just…” He paused. “All this stuff about the connection between our esha—it’s all because the Necromancer King brought me back from the dead, and I don’t even know why.”

Beru did know why. Or at least she knew some of it. “It was a favor. He told me, back at the oasis, after you left.”

“You never told me that,” he said, betrayal straining his voice.

She looked him in the eye. “You never asked.”

He looked cowed by the reminder that he’d been avoiding talking to her alone. He swallowed. “A favor for who?”

“For me,” a voice spoke from the end of the hallway.