He groped for her hand, and clasped it weakly. “Laela. .”
She couldn’t look him in the eye. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “What I said to yeh before. I shouldn’t’ve said it, it was cruel. You were just tryin’ t’be open with me an’ that.”
“You saved me,” he said matter-of-factly. “If you hadn’t pulled me out of that canal, no-one would ever have found me.”
She said nothing.
“Why?” said Arenadd. “Why did you come looking for me? I didn’t. . well, I didn’t think you cared about me.”
Laela paused. “I. . well. .”
“What is it?”
“I had a dream,” she said. “I dreamt about Gryphus. He said I prayed to him once-a true prayer, an’ he said that prayer was answered.”
He was looking keenly at her. “Oh?”
“I thought about it the next day,” said Laela. “It’s true. I prayed once. In that alley, with them two bastards. I prayed t’be saved from them. An’ I was saved. By you.”
“I heard you,” said Arenadd.
“Don’t yeh see, though?” said Laela. “It wasn’t
“Laela-”
“They say you’re the Night God’s avatar,” Laela went on. “Her Chosen One. She sent yeh to fight her enemies. Now I’ve made four prayers in my life. I prayed for Dad, an’ the Night God answered. I prayed t’be rescued, an’ she sent you. I prayed t’her t’get me out of prison, an’ I got out.”
“And the fourth prayer?”
“I asked her t’help yeh,” said Laela. “When I thought you was dead. An’ then you woke up.”
Arenadd watched her closely. “So what have you decided?”
“That I belong to the Night God,” said Laela. “An’ I think she wants me t’stay with yeh, Arenadd. But I don’t care. I want t’stay with yeh anyway. So I’m going to.”
His face crinkled into a smile-the first true smile she had seen him wear. “Thank you, Laela.”
She smiled back. “It’s no trouble. Someone’s got t’keep an eye on yeh.”
“Yes.” He sighed. “It certainly looks that way.”
Over the next few days, she kept close to him, visiting him as often as she could. He slept a lot and looked tired and weak most of the time, but she could see he was recovering. . far too fast.
That frightened her more than she was willing to admit, and that fear only increased when he calmly said, “The feeling’s coming back in my legs. I think they’re getting better.”
Laela breathed deeply. “That’s. . good.”
He looked at her. “What’s wrong?”
“I still don’t understand why yeh ain’t dead,” she confessed. “I mean, yeh must’ve been in that canal for. . what, two nights an’ half a day? An’ with a dagger in yeh. . I mean. . I pulled yeh out of there, an’ yeh weren’t breathin’, yeh heart wasn’t beatin’. . How can yeh have survived? I mean, it ain’t possible!”
His expression saddened. “You don’t think I’m an ordinary man, do you?”
“Well, no, but. .”
“Touch my neck,” he said softly. “Do it.”
Laela obeyed. “Yeh feel a bit cold. . What’m I meant t’be lookin’ for?”
“Keep your hand there,” he advised. “You’ll realise it soon enough. .”
She frowned. “That’s weird. . I can’t find a pulse.”
“I know,” said Arenadd.
Laela took her hand away sharply. “What? Why can’t I feel one?”
“Because there isn’t one. They don’t call me the Man Without a Heart for no reason.”
She bit off an incredulous laugh. “Don’t be-that’s ridiculous! Everyone’s got a heartbeat!”
“I don’t.”
“But that’s. . that ain’t. .” She trailed off.
“My heart has only beaten twice in twenty years,” Arenadd said quietly. “The first time was when I kissed Skade. The second was when I first set foot on Northern soil. It hasn’t made a sound since.”
Laela’s eyes had gone wide. “But. .”
“I am the Dark Lord,” he intoned. “No mortal weapon can kill me. The Night God’s power is in me, protecting me.”
Laela stood up. “I should-”
His hand shot out, catching her by the wrist. “Laela, I can’t die. I
In an instant, all her old terror of him returned. “Stop it!”
He let go of her and lay back as if the effort had exhausted him. “The Night God needed a warrior to fight for her and defend her people,” he muttered. “She can’t fight for herself. . She’s weaker than anyone knows. In the South, a Northern boy was betrayed and murdered. The Night God sent Skandar to him, and he filled the dead boy with his magic. .
The fear in his voice was so palpable that Laela’s own began to fade. “Arenadd. .”
He glanced toward the door. “Laela, I want to tell you something. No-one else in Tara knows it. Not even Skandar knows, but I think plenty of people suspect. I trust you to keep it a secret.”
“I will,” said Laela. “I swear on my heart.”
“Lean in close,” said Arenadd. When she had, he spoke again, in an undertone. “I have no heir because I can’t father children. I’ve had lovers over the years, but the only thing I ever planted in them was a curse. It killed them all. None of them ever had so much as a miscarriage.”
Her heart ached with sadness. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’d be a terrible father anyway. But keep it to yourself, all right?”
“I will.” She paused. “Why tell me, though?”
He smiled. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Yeah, we are,” said Laela. “An’ yeh can trust me.”
Arenadd stifled a yawn. “I’m tired, so I think I’ll rest a bit. But I’ll see you again soon. I should be able to walk again before long.”
“I hope so.” Laela left the room, her mind in a whirl.
Another person she saw a lot of during that time was Yorath. Her tutor kept visiting her-to continue their lessons, he claimed, but she knew better. They shared meals together, and talked, and Laela enjoyed his company more and more.
They spent nights together, too. She had no more fears about that, and neither did he.
“I really do care for ye,” he told her one night.
Laela pulled him closer. “I must just be a bitter girl,” she said. “I always thought I’d spend my life alone after Dad died. I never did think anyone’d ever love me.”
“Well.” He chuckled. “Ye aren’t the easiest person t’get close to, I’ll say that.”
“When I was tiny, Dad taught me to trust no-one,” said Laela. “He said, ‘Laela, girl, yer a half-breed. Yeh can’t just pretend otherwise. Never think I love yeh less for it, but the world won’t be kind to yeh. It’s tough enough for the rest of us, an’ it’ll be doubly tough for you. Remember that, an’ rely on yerself an’ no-one else. Sometimes, that’s the only way t’live.’”
