The way back home didn’t revitalize Petyr in any meaningful way.

  In fact, he was beginning to think if that maybe he had crossed some bizarre tipping point in life past which nothing good could happen ever again.

  I’ve always been blessed, he thought. Handsome. Smart. Lucky. I suppose it can’t last forever.

  He shuffled down the road with a slouch, hands slipped into the pockets of his trousers, eyes stuck to the ground, undoubtedly looking more disheveled, uncaring, and depressed, than he had at any other point in his life.

  It all started with that damn skysail. If only that hadn’t been there, if only it hadn’t blown up that pirate galleon, then maybe none of this would’ve happened.

  Of course, that was an irrational thought, but it was the only one he could entertain. After all, everything was well up to that point… Since then, he’d found out that his father never intended to leave Windust as planned—that he was, in fact, some sort of drug manufacturer who worked for that red-eyed fiend who so casually confessed to murder.

  And of course, there was Avesta.

  She knows more than she’s letting on. She has to. Why else would she be here? How the hell would some Soverni girl from gods know where even know about what Dad does over here anyway?

  Suddenly, though he was only about five minutes away from home, Petyr straightened, tilted his head back to gaze at the blinding sun, and became determined to get some answers.

  Without thinking too much—since gods only knew, he knew nothing about surviving in the wilderness, or even finding his way through it—he charged head on into the forest hoping he would find Avesta so to interrogate her.

  He must’ve walked for half an hour aimlessly, his rage cooling off by the time he realized he’d somehow circled back to where he started. Through the trees, the road eagerly awaited to take him home and put this whole thing behind.

  “Without any knowledge of navigation, those lost in the forest are likely to circle the same spot round and round until they drop from exhaustion.”

  Petyr whirled around and saw Avesta casually leaning against one of the trees. The same icy gaze as before peered at him from under her glistening brown bob, and the same elegant silver bodysuit stretched along her limbs.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  He pointed an accusatory finger at her and said, “You need to tell me why you’re here!”

  It should’ve come out and strong and forceful, but what left his trembling lips was weak and pathetic. Come on, he thought. Get it together!

  Avesta’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why?”

  “You were right.” Petyr took a deep breath and shuddered. It was unbelievable to admit this after the disbelief he’d shown before. “About my father.”

  “A pity about your ear. You could’ve kept all of it had you listened to reason in the beginning.”

  Instinctively, he reached up and traced the tip of his finger gingerly along the little that remained of his mangled earlobe. Somehow, in the intensity of everything that happened today already, he’d forgotten all about that.

  Avesta strode over and pushed his hair aside tenderly. “Your ear will heal. And you’ll look more manly this way.”

  Petyr blushed, still disarmed by her warm touch in spite of being the one who’d done this to him. “How did you know about my father? You’re not even from here. You’re Soverni. I need to know. I saw a Soverni skysail that day before we met, and since then, everything’s fallen apart! My life is crumbling!”

  There was so much pent-up emotion that tears formed in his eyes as he said the words. It was pathetic to show such a display before her, this beautiful girl he rather hoped he might get more intimate with later, but he couldn’t control himself. Not after the day’s events…

  What’s even the point? Nothing matters. For all he knew, he might end up dead tomorrow, without anyone caring, just like Jayne. What had Dayna said to him? No one likes you.

  Avesta slapped him.

  It was a sudden gesture, and for a moment it made him think of how Anders had slapped Nik; but there was none of the disdain or contempt. This was more akin to military discipline. “Snap out of it. Your self-pity will help no one. As for the other matter, you should know that we as humans have a tendency to correlate events that are entirely unconnected. Your life is not coming apart because of any skysail you saw, but because of every choice you’ve made up to this point.”

  “I didn’t know about—”

  “Stop, you’re already on the path to making more excuses. There are no excuses. We must know about the people in our lives who we spend our every day with. And if we do not, we are the ones to blame.”

  Those eyes of her had such a cold intensity that they made his knees buckle. Why was this all so hard? Why did this have to happen to him of all people? I’m not built for this…

  Unable to stand her gaze, he braced an arm against a tree and buried his eyes in it. His whole body felt so heavy. Why couldn’t she just understand? “You don’t get it.”

  “I understand it far better than you can imagine, believe me.”

  “How?” He gave her a desperate over the shoulder glance. “How could you understand?”

  Avesta seemed to hesitate for a moment. “Because my father is worse than yours,” she stated matter-of-factly. “Because none of this would be happening if not for him. Which makes me responsible.”

  She sighed and turned, as if she’d said too much. Her shoulders slumped. “Because…”

  Petyr now hung on that word. He took a step closer to her and waited, his heart beating.

  Because what? he wanted to yell. Because what!

  “Because my father is Prince Hyat XII, the ruler of the Soverni Republic.”