“I stabbed you,” he said, horrified.

“It’s not that bad,” she said tightly. “Just—pass me the salve.”

Arthur pressed it into her hands, and waited nervously as she smeared on a thick layer of the tallow. He worried it wouldn’t be enough, but he watched as her cut slowly knitted itself into a tender pink scar. She sighed in relief, some color returning to her cheeks.

“Why can’t you magic it better?” he asked, confused.

“Spells can only be cast outward, not inward.” She twisted the lid back onto the salve. “So it’s lucky you had this.”

“It’s lucky you knew the scabbard was broken,” Arthur returned.

“I’m still a wizard,” she reminded him.

“Emry Merlin,” he said, trying out her name. It fit her in a way that Emmett never had.

Sard, of course not. Because she’d never been Emmett. She’d told him that Master Merlin had both a son and a daughter. That she was a twin. The truth had been right there, from the beginning.

He watched as she reached for her bloodstained tunic and muttered a cleaning spell, an over-strong smell of rosewater filling the tent. She gingerly tugged the tunic back over her head, and Arthur knew he should look away, for modesty’s sake, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop staring.

It was painfully obvious now that she was a girl. Not a girl—a woman. And she hadn’t wanted to tell him.

She hadn’t meant for him to find out at all.

Arthur rearranged the past two months in his head, filling in so many things that had puzzled him about the young wizard. And then remembering all of the nights he had turned up at her room unannounced, barging inside. The bed he’d insisted she share with Lance.

She had deceived him. Over and over. He should be furious. He should be calling for his guards to remove her from his sight and cast her outside the city walls, or worse, to drag her before the king.

After all, she’d impersonated a royal apprentice. Lived at the castle. Become his friend. Helped Lance. Journeyed with him to Avalon. Healed his wounds. Made him laugh. Made him furious. Kissed him. Broken his heart. Done everything in her power to keep him safe. That was the part he kept coming back to.

And yet, through everything that had happened, she’d lied to him. Over and over again.

“You could have trusted me,” he said softly.

Emry stared up at him, hurt and panic clear on her face. “I couldn’t ask you to lie for me,” she said.

“Isn’t that what you’re asking now?”

“Not on purpose,” Emry retorted, which made Arthur snort.

He realized he wasn’t angry, he was just overwhelmed. It was a lot to take in.