Chapter 71 Varian's Suspicion

Chapter 71 Varian's Suspicion
Thessaly's first instinct was to run.
Her second was to lie.

She did neither. Just stood there in the corridor while Varian watched her with those sharp eyes that missed nothing.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said finally.

"Yes you do." Varian crossed his arms. "You've been disappearing for hours every day with Ondine. The servants report you looking exhausted. And twice I've seen you stare at nothing for a full minute like you're somewhere else entirely."

"I'm training. Ondine's helping me prepare for the Unity Ceremony."

"TRAINING "?

Thessaly's mind raced. She couldn't tell him the truth. Couldn't say she was learning to walk through dreams and reshape reality inside people's heads. That would make her exactly the kind of threat people burned alive.

"Mental preparation," she said. "The ceremony requires merging consciousness with Davorin. That's not something you just do without practice."

Varian studied her for a long moment. "You're lying."

"I'm simplifying."

"There's a difference." He stepped closer, and Thessaly fought the urge to back away. "I've served Davorin for fifteen years. Watched him navigate court politics, assassination attempts, and a curse that should have killed him a decade ago. You know what kept him alive? Trust. Knowing who his allies were and what they were capable of."

"I'm his ally."

"Are you? Because allies don't keep secrets. Not the kind that make Ondine look terrified every time she leaves your training sessions."

Thessaly's stomach dropped. "She's not terrified."

"She is. I've seen that look before. It's the same one she had when the Void first took hold of Davorin. Like she's watching something powerful and dangerous that could go wrong at any second." Varian's voice was quiet. Deadly. "So I'll ask you again. What are you hiding?"

The corridor felt too small. Too confined. Thessaly could feel the Dream Realm pulsing at the edge of her consciousness, could sense the threads of everyone sleeping in the palace waiting to be touched.

She shoved the sensation away.

"It's not your business," she said.

"Everything that affects Davorin is my business. Including you."

"Then ask him. If he wants you to know, he'll tell you."

Varian's expression hardened. "So he knows. Whatever this is, he knows and he's keeping it from me too."

"Maybe he has reasons."

"Or maybe you've convinced him to hide things from the people trying to keep him alive." Varian moved closer, and there was something almost sympathetic in his eyes now. Almost. "I don't think you're malicious. I think you're scared and out of your depth and clinging to secrets because they're the only power you think you have."

The accuracy of that statement made her flinch.

"But secrets get people killed," Varian continued. "In about two hours, your brother's army will be at our gates. If there's something I need to know to keep Davorin alive, you'd better tell me now."

Thessaly wanted to. Wanted to explain that she'd discovered a power that could maybe help them, or maybe destroy everything. That she was terrified of what she could do and equally terrified of being too weak to use it when it mattered.

But the image from the archives was too fresh. The Dream-Walker burning while a crowd watched. The fear in people's eyes when they realized what she could do.

"I can't," she said quietly.

"Can't or won't?"

"Both."

Varian's jaw tightened. "Then I have to report this. Davorin needs to know that you're hiding something significant enough that his healer looks afraid and his potential queen won't explain why."

"He already knows."

"Does he know the extent of it? Or have you given him the same half-truths you're giving me?"

Thessaly didn't answer. Couldn't. Because she didn't know herself how deep this power went or what she'd eventually be capable of.

"That's what I thought." Varian stepped back. "I'll give you until after the battle. Once we've survived Malachi's attack, you tell Davorin everything. No more secrets. No more half-truths. He deserves to know what he's binding himself to."

"I'm not a threat to him."

"You might be. And you don't even realize it yet." Varian's expression was almost sad now. "That's what makes you dangerous, Princess. Not malice. Ignorance."

He left before she could respond.

Thessaly stood alone in the corridor, hands shaking. Varian was right. She didn't fully understand what she was. Didn't know where the limits of her power were or what she'd be willing to do with it when pushed.

The Dream-Walkers in those books had started out wanting to help. Ended their wars. Stopped violence. But fear had turned them into monsters anyway, and maybe that wasn't just about what other people thought.

Maybe it was about what the power did to them.

Footsteps echoed. Thessaly looked up to find Davorin approaching, already dressed for battle. Armor that caught the candlelight. Shadows moving at his shoulders like living things.

"Varian cornered you," he said. Not a question.

"He knows I'm hiding something. Threatened to report it after the battle."

"He already reported it. To me. About five minutes ago." Davorin's expression was unreadable. "He thinks you're a security risk."

"Do you?"

"I think you're terrified of what you've become. And I think Varian's not wrong to be concerned." He stopped close enough that she could feel warmth radiating from him. "But I also trust you. So I told him to back off."

"He won't. He's loyal to you. That means questioning everything that might be a threat."

"Including you."

"Especially me." Thessaly's throat was tight. "Maybe he's right. Maybe you shouldn't trust me. I don't even trust myself anymore."

Davorin caught her chin gently, making her look at him. "The fact that you're afraid of your own power? That's how I know you won't misuse it. People who should be feared are the ones who aren't afraid of themselves."

"That's not comforting."

"It's not meant to be comforting. It's meant to be true." His thumb brushed her cheek. "After this battle, after we survive whatever Malachi throws at us, we do the Unity Ceremony. And when we do, you'll see exactly who I am. Every terrible thing I've done. Every moment of weakness. All of it."

"I've already seen some of it. Your nightmare."

"Then you know I'm not afraid of you seeing the rest." His voice was quiet. "We face our darkness together. Yours and mine."

The bond hummed between them, and Thessaly felt his absolute certainty. His refusal to let her face this alone.

"Malachi will be here soon," she said.

"I know."

"Are we ready?"

"No. But we're out of time to prepare." Davorin's jaw was tight. "Your brother brought three hundred soldiers. We have maybe two hundred who can fight. The odds aren't good."

"Can we win?"

"We can survive. That's the best I can promise."

Thessaly thought about the books in the archives. About Keira standing alone against the Void with her arms spread wide. About choosing to sacrifice yourself because nobody else could.

"What if I could help?" she asked quietly. "With my power. What if I could walk into their dreams and make them afraid? Make them see things that aren't real until they break?"

Davorin went very still. "Could you do that?"

"I don't know. Maybe. The books showed Dream-Walkers doing worse."

"But would you want to?"

That was the real question. Would she be willing to use her power as a weapon? To reshape reality inside people's heads until they couldn't trust their own thoughts?

To become the thing people had burned the last Dream-Walker for being?

"I don't know," Thessaly whispered. "Ask me again when I'm watching you die."

Davorin's expression shifted to something complicated. "That's what I'm afraid of. That you'll do something terrible to save me and hate yourself for it after."

"Better than losing you."

"Is it?"

Before Thessaly could answer, bells started ringing. Sharp and urgent. The alarm that meant enemy forces had been sighted.

Varian appeared at the end of the corridor, face grim. "They're here. Gates will hold for maybe an hour. After that, we're fighting in the courtyards."

Davorin's whole demeanor changed. Became the king instead of the man. "Get everyone to positions. I'll be there in a moment."

Varian nodded and left.

In the sudden quiet, Davorin looked at Thessaly. Really looked at her. Like he was memorizing her face in case this was the last time.

"Stay close to me during the fighting," he said. "If something happens—"

"It won't."

"If something happens," he continued, "I need you to know that choosing you was the easiest decision I've ever made. Even knowing how this might end."

Thessaly's throat was too tight to speak. She just nodded.

They walked toward the battle together, and with every step, Thessaly felt the Dream Realm calling. Offering her power. Offering her a way to save everyone.

All she had to do was become the monster people feared.

The question was whether she could live with herself after.