“The Council have changed their approach,” he said, flashing his eyes up at me.
“Okay...” I needed more information than that. I still wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“I have been doing my best to lead them in another direction, to distract them while the High Warlock secures their trust and investigates the law for loopholes regarding illegitimacy...” He sighed, sitting up, rolling his shoulders back. His big, hulking frame made the couch look tiny. I couldn’t believe he fit into the cottage door.
“Hang on,” I said, putting up my hand. I cocked my head to the side. “My father’s trying to find a way around the sentencing?”
Really? Why hadn’t anyone told me? Why would he do that? Why would he risk that?
“Of course.” He said it so matter-of-factly like it should have been obvious.
I rolled my eyes. “How would I know that?” I asked, annoyance prickling my skin. “I’m being told nothing, and I can tell you, letting my father lie to the Council about my parentage was not fun.”
I took a steadying breath, my chest burning. I hadn’t realized how angry I still was about how things went down at the trial. To watch my own father basically throw me under the bus was hurtful. I shouldn’t have expected that he would be there for me, not when so much was at stake, but to completely betray me? That hurt.
Tavlor blinked a few times, absorbing my words. “I’m sorry that we have not kept you in the loop as much as we should have,” he said. I was surprised to find he actually did sound sorry. “Your father is doing everything he can to help you, and I’ve done everything I can do so far to protect you, but things have become more complicated. And that is why I’ve come.”
“What happened?”
“The Council have taken my lack of success... badly.” His words sounded strained. Even though he was helping me, even though he was doing me a favor by not turning me in, he still didn’t like failure. Ev
en if it was failure that was warranted. “I have been put on restricted duties, and I’m now relegated to little more than a doorman at the Council steps. They have instead put a bounty on your head.”
I blinked, then blinked again, trying to understand everything he was saying all at one. I didn’t want to make any assumptions, but I also didn’t understand what he was saying.
First things first.
“They punished you for failing to find me?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.
He shrugged. “Of course.”
His eyes narrowed, staring at his hands.
His response surprised me. Not that the Council punished him, but that he didn’t turn me in, despite that punishment. What was worse, it tarnished his reputation as some infallible soldier, as someone they could rely on to carry out orders. Even though the Council treated him as though he was nothing but a monster, he still listened to them. He still obeyed.
Until now.
I leaned forward slightly, my words soft and careful. “And you still went through with it?”
A smile crept onto his lips.
“I have endured a lot worse, for much less before Ava,” he said. “Your safety, and your life is, well, worth fighting for.”
The little hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. The way he said that made it sound like I was worth dying for, but he couldn’t possibly mean that.
Could he?
I was getting ahead of myself. The last thing I wanted was for him to die for me. But the fact that he was willing to fight for me, even if it meant betraying those he was most loyal to, was a big deal. And if it was a big deal for him, it was a bigger deal for me.
My heart fluttered.
The only problem was, I didn’t want him to get in trouble for me. If the Council wanted to kill me for being born, what would they want to do to do to him for outright betrayal?
“Thank you.” The words were not enough to express my gratitude, but for now, they would have to do.
He inclined his head and I ached to run across the room and kiss him. I wanted to hold him, to remind myself that this wasn’t a dream, that he was really here and he had come to see me because he wanted to.
However, I wasn’t sure where we stood at this point. I didn’t want to make things tense or awkward between us. I didn’t want to ruin this... friendship? Relationship? I wasn’t sure what we were, but I knew it was something.