Aaru and I kept our eyes on them, walking companionably—we weren’t the only ones—but where his hand covered mine, we held a secret conversation.

::Everyone is more concerned with dancing and having fun than the summit in the morning,:: Aaru said. ::All of this is meant to impress, to show off power and wealth, but where is the intention to do something useful?::

I sighed, at the last moment turning it into something happy and admiring, rather than the truly frustrated exhale that it was.

::The memorial was a charade,:: he went on. ::Most of these people didn’t even go. They care more about seeing and being seen. How can anyone here claim to care?:: Aaru swept me around to face him. “Dance with me.”

My breath caught as I looked up at him—at the curve of his lips, the intensity in his eyes—and I nodded. The music had slowed, and we weren’t the only couple here, but when others began a long, complicated dance, Aaru and I didn’t separate. We stayed on the outer edge of the floor and faced each other, my arms looped around his shoulders, and his hands resting on my hips.

::I’m sorry.:: I tapped quickly against the back of his neck.

He raised an eyebrow.

::About those people earlier. They were from Damina.::

::That doesn’t make you responsible for them.::

::No, but I don’t want it to change how you see Daminans.::

::It doesn’t change how I see you.::

My heart squeezed.

::I’ve been so angry.:: His words came as fast as rain pattering on a window, or a lightning strike. ::It makes my chest burn. Every time I think about the Silent Brothers, my family, my community: How can they be gone? How could Idris abandon them?:: His hands curled and his fingernails scraped along my gown. ::How could he abandon me?::

I touched his face, both of my palms cupping his cheeks, but there was nothing to say.

::My home wasn’t perfect. Even before I was sent away, I knew we had problems. But still, Idris was my home, and now it’s nothing.:: His breath turned ragged, as though he was saying all this aloud. ::When Thoman started talking about how horrible Idris was, I couldn’t think. I was so angry already, and everything he said was everything I feared.::

Aaru’s skin was warm and smooth beneath my hands.

::I shouldn’t have pushed him. It was wrong, and it risked what we’re trying to do here. I’m sorry.::

::It can be easy to lose control. Back in the Pit, I stabbed Altan with a noorestone.:: The words were out before I could stop them. I cringed. ::Sorry. I wasn’t going to bring him up unless you did.::

Aaru let out a long sigh. “They won’t find him,” he murmured finally. “He’s already gone.”

“Where?”

“It’s only worth saying if it works out.” Aaru bit his lip, then shook himself out of whatever thought had captured him.

I wanted to push—didn’t I deserve answers?—but I’d just gotten Aaru back. Trusting someone, trusting him, meant waiting until he was ready to tell me.