Page 180 of The Last Syphon

“I’m curious,” she began, tilting her head. “How would that conversation have gone?” Inara could picture it clear as day. He would have been shocked, and then, done exactly what the High Council wanted to do.

Kill her.

“If it had been when we first met, you would have been imprisoned and executed, as per the law demands.”

Well, there you go. At least now, Inara knew he was nothing but brutally honest.

Wait.

“If it had been when we first met?” she repeated, his words only just registering. “And…now?”

He sighed. “Now…” The prince didn’t finish his sentence, letting the word just hang in the air between them. He stared at her, and the tension quickly skyrocketed.

Inara knew he wasn’t going to finish what he wanted to say.

“How’s Fraener?” she asked, desperate to fill the silence with more conversation. The way he was looking at her…the way she was looking at him…It left a lot of unanswered questions up in the air, and she couldn’t help but wonder, now that she was trapped in this fucking metal box, would they ever get the chance to address them?

“He’s…confused. Hurt. He doesn’t know what is going on. Tydus is trying his best to offer comfort, but the only thing that will bring him comfort is⁠—”

“Me.” Inara knew that because she felt the same.

Sadness consumed her soul.

She hated knowing he was in such distress. As bad as it sounded, she didn’t really care much about her own life. Inara had come to terms with her own death a long time ago, when she first found out she had a power that would get her killed. What she could not cope with, however, was the people she loved dying with her.

She was afraid to ask her next question. “So, what happens now? Have you come to take me to trial?”

“No one knows that I am here. You are forbidden from having visitors.”

A playful smirk curled on her lips. “My, my, my, Overlord, don’t tell me you broke one of your precious rules for little old me?”

He said nothing, continuing to stare at her with a gaze that set her heart ablaze. His eyes moved slightly, roaming her face, as if committing every single detail to memory.

Inara had a theory. When he didn’t respond to a question or statement, she wondered if it wasn’t because he had nothing to say, but because he was afraid of what he would say.

He cleared his throat, placing his hands behind his back. “I have convinced the council to postpone your trial for the time being.”

There was only one thing that could make them do that. “You told them what happened.”

One stiff nod in response.

“I’m surprised they believed you.”

“They did not have much choice. I had a Memory Caller recount what happened.”

Her brow arched. “Smart. They can’t refute that.”

“No, they cannot. There will be another meeting soon to decide the best course of action.”

“Knowing them, they’ll drag their asses for that, too,” she grumbled. Inara did not hold much faith in the High Council of Arelia.

Prince Walder shifted a tiny bit closer. Inara clocked the movement with an intrigued gaze.

“You should have told me,” he said again, quieter this time. Like a secret between only them.

Inara stepped forward too. His eyes flicked down and back up again, watching as she drew closer. “I debated it. Briefly. When we were in the Dead Kingdom. I wasn’t sure if you would kill me the second I said it. We did have a conversation where you said, ‘the law is the law’, remember? You can’t really blame me for not telling you I was a Syphon, not when the very law you abide by dictates I be killed.”

His jaw clenched. It drew her attention. He had a nice jaw. Strong. Sharp. She could not help but feel the desire to touch it.