“Lady Tea.” For the first time in so long, Kance took my hand in his, the gesture at once gentle and achingly familiar. “I killed my father because it was the right decision, not for you. I’m not sorry for killing him. I am only sorry that I had not done so earlier. The headaches plaguing me during the months that I cared for him disappeared the night I smothered him. I slept like a baby, undisturbed by nightmares. I no longer needed Althy’s herbs for sleep. My father was the tumor I needed to excise. And whenever I allow myself to feel shame for being a kinslayer, I only remember his horrid ravings, and it passes soon enough.”

He dropped my hand and added quietly, “But I do not trust the Dark, nor its powers that you wield. It is too much for any one person, and possessing that power can only end in tragedy. Odalia remains closed to you, Lady Tea—for the time being. I cannot risk my kingdom. My father did enough damage to last my lifetime. I will accept your help and your alliance for this war with Drycht, but only because I intend to see every Faceless wiped from these lands. If Druj resides within those mountains, then I will see him burn myself.”

“I understand, Your Majesty.” Kance is no longer a friend, I thought with a pang of sadness. But his lack of animosity was the best I could hope for. “Thank you for your clemency.”

“Make no mistake, Lady Tea. If the Dark should take control of you—though I pray to the gods every day that will not be so—then I will not hesitate.”

“Should the darkrot take me, Your Majesty, then I pray for the awareness and the acuity to lay my head on the block for your killing blow.”

Much to my surprise, his hand found mine again, gripping it tightly. “Do not jest,” Kance snapped. “Do you think I await that day? You were one of my trusted friends, Tea. You were the sister I never had. Do you think it doesn’t hurt me to be at odds with you? That it doesn’t scare me to imagine that the power you wield will wind up killing you? If there was a way to extract the Dark from you, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

“The Dark has always been a part of me, Your Majesty. And it came with benefits. It was drawing in the Dark that led me to your acquaintance. It was the Dark that enabled me to raise my brother from the dead. That I have lost both your trust does not make me bitter in the experience.”

Kance looked troubled. His heartsglass glowed pale red.