“I think that’s another reason she ran away from me…so she could stop being compared to me. It made me really angry, but I can’t really blame her anymore. I’ve caused her nothing but grief since our mom died.”

“I disagree. The only reason she’s alive is because of you.”

“That’s all I’ve ever done for her.” She grabbed her spoon and stirred her coffee, still looking down into the liquid. “Magnus isn’t like that. I can tell when men are attracted to me, and he’s not.”

Maybe he’d told me the truth. Maybe Raven wasn’t his second choice after all.

“That’s why I love him for my sister…along with other reasons.” She tapped her spoon against the edge to get rid of the drops before she set it back on the linen. “She deserves to have a man who looks at her the way you look at me. Every woman deserves that. And maybe I’m more classically pretty, but she is more than I ever will be.”

“Such as?”

She shrugged. “Smart. Independent. Ambitious. Brave. Compassionate. Full of integrity. Kind…” She drew a deep breath then slowly released it. “All I have is my looks…nothing more.”

My heart started to increase in pace—because that actually pained me. “She compares herself to you. But you compare yourself to her too. Makes you both miserable.”

She lifted her chin and looked at me.

“I wish you saw yourself the way I see you. Because I disagree with everything you just said.”

She dropped her gaze and dismissed me.

“I know you killed my executioner.”

Her eyes lifted to mine instantly, all the features of her face tightening at the accusation.

“Yes, I know everything, chérie.” I knew everything she’d done in that camp when she’d helped burn it down. “Don’t sit there and tell me you aren’t brave. A woman doesn’t go into a blizzard with her sister, expecting to die, if she isn’t brave. A woman doesn’t love a man like me if she isn’t brave. You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met.”

She was still, emotion moving into her eyes.

“You’re the compassionate one. She is not.” I shook my head. “Magnus is as guilty as I am, but you understand her feelings—because you’ve gone through the same thing. You love me even when you shouldn’t, and she gives you no compassion for that. I don’t expect her to ever understand me, even if Magnus tells her what happened to the two of us when we were just boys, but I expect her to understand her sister.”

She remained still, the emotion continuing to rise.