“You destroyed our way of life!” My voice erupted. It seemed strange it’d taken this long for this conversation to happen. But as I stood glaring at him, my hands clenched, I understood why. Because until now, until this moment, it wouldn’t have mattered.

My hatred for him when we’d first met had softened. At the beginning, I’d thought accusing him of taking everything from me would have just given him satisfaction. Now, some absurd part of me actually expected him to apologize, to explain, to say it wasn’t his fault.

I wanted him to give me a reason not to hate him.

Ericen was quiet for a long moment, focused on Callo as the horse ate. Finally, he found my gaze, his blue eyes nearly silver in the moonlight. “Do you know why my mother attacked Rhodaire?”

“Because Illucians are power-hungry mongrels who want to own the world?”

He smirked, and the familiar one-sided twitch of his lips made me want to punch him. “Yes, that’s part of it. But with Rhodaire, it was personal.”

“Some rogue soldiers from the Turren Wing killed part of your mother’s family,” I said quietly. “But they were punished by us and her.” She had used their anger at Rhodaire for stripping them of their ranks and crows to sway them to her side and carry out Ronoch. Then she’d executed them.

“Do you know exactly what they did?” When I shook my head, he continued. “They cornered her husband, mother, and older sister, and she was forced to watch as they ordered their crows to tear her family apart.”

I felt behind me for the barn wall and leaned against it, my throat tightening.

“My mother didn’t even want to be queen.” A despondent smile crossed his lips. “She wanted to breed horses. But with her sister dead and her father soon after, she had no choice.”

She had had her family and future taken from her in one bloody night. I understood what that was like. And Ericen—he hadn’t called Razel’s husband his father.

“Your father…” I began.

He shook his head. “They didn’t touch her, not like that. I never even met him though. Calling him ‘Father’ seems…strange.”

I understood. I’d never known my father either. He felt so far away, like a figment of my imagination or a memory faded over time.

“I wasn’t part of the raid that killed your crows,” he added quietly. “I was still at Darkward. If that means anything.”

It did, and I hated that it did, because Ericen was supposed to be my enemy. I was supposed to come here and pretend to be the good little fiancée while I organized a rebellion against his kingdom and hatched a crow.

I wasn’t supposed to care about him.