Mermaid Tear (The Fated #2)

31 | A Great Teacher

Over time, Del's slow, soft murmurs, followed by the continued hum of a song she'd never learned, eased the knot suffocating her chest. Somehow, Iliana could breathe again.

Minutes passed.

The song shifted into another, murmured words overlapping each other between each unfamiliar verse. It wasn't until her trembling faded, and tears no longer threatened to fall, that Del's voice faded into silence. And, even then, he didn't move away.

"I...I'm okay."

She wasn't.

"I don't need--I'm fine, now."

The sensation of being soothed by someone else was something that had long since become foreign. Kain had been the exception to the rule, a calm presence that overrode her fear. Perhaps that was why the longer Del lingered, the stronger the burn of his forehead to hers seemed to grow. Awareness of how close they were, of how his palms ghosted just above her shoulders, consumed her thoughts. It slowly shoved the crimson images away, leaving behind an unsettling degree of warmth.

And comfort.

"Whatever he did, it is not your fault."

Wasn't it?

She had ordered their deaths. And, while she knew there had been no right answer, while Aria had reassured her that she had done what she could...Iliana couldn't shake it. Despite her bath, she felt as if her body were coated in a sheen of muck. It gripped her stomach, threatening to make her sick.

"Listen to me, Iliana."

Her eyes flicked to his. There was an uncharacteristic focus in his usually light gaze. It steadied her heart, easing slow breaths through her lungs.

"Your job here is to survive. Nothing else. Whatever happens, whatever he does to put you in this place, to break you, none of it can be blamed on you. It is on the country that supports the whims of a madman. On those who enable him. On Zuher.

"Not you. Not me. Not anyone trapped in these walls. Do you understand?"

Silence stretched between them. It grew heavier by the second, until it weighed her heart like an anchor. Then, finally, she found it in her to nod, shifting his forehead against hers.

"I do."

"Good."

They stayed still following his simple response. His skin heated hers, his eyes studying her softly. It eased the weight, making it somehow easier to bare. Del, she realized, was not going to ask what happened.

She wouldn't be forced to walk him through the bloodied heads plaguing her mind.

"While you were gone," Del murmured eventually, breaking the calm. He drew his head back with the faintest of smiles. "I had a visitor. Well, two."

The prince settled on his heels, his hands falling away from her shoulders. She shivered, even if they had never truly touched. While she would have never requested his comfort, the room felt harsher without it.

"Who?"

"Aatami, first of all," he explained. "They didn't heal me, but did surmise that I made it through the worst. Your attention, and the medicine, ensured I won't see Shinnah today."

Thank the gods. The almost prayer was echoed by the softest hum of warmth on Iliana's chest. Her hand crept up, landing on the fox charm. If Del noticed, he said nothing. Was it truly invisible as Koun had said? Did the warmth mean the god of medicine was watching? Thank you.

"Secondly, and most importantly, the tailor dropped by to size a suit."

Uncertainty gripped her.