Good evening Helian. You’re looking wonderful as usual.

  “Good evening, Helian… you’re looking wonderful as usual…”

  I took Helian’s offered hand and attempted to get up off the floor. She promptly grabbed me by the neck with her other hand and slammed me up against the wall.

  “What are you doing here?” she screamed.

  “Going to bed.”

  “You promised!” Her grip loosened.

  “I kept my promise.”

  “Don’t play games with me! This isn’t what I wanted and you know it.” Helian’s breath was hot on my face.

  “What do you want, then?”

  “I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense anymore, and it’s all because you had to screw with things! None of this is going right!” She collapsed onto my bed and looked down at her feet.

  “I wouldn’t call what happened before ‘going right.’” I sat down next to her.

  “Thanks to you, I’m a saintess now! Am I supposed to cure the blind? Will my tears be holy water? This is your fault!”

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  I took her hand gently. “I know. None of this is your fault; it’s mine.”

  I couldn’t see her face clearly in the dark, but I knew from the sound of her voice that she had started crying. “You kept the earrings.”

  “I did.”

  “Rime looks healthy.”

  “I visit her whenever I can.”

  “What are we going to do? You’re in danger.”

  “No one can see us right now, Helian. No one knows you’re here.” I hugged her tightly. “It’s a secret.”

  “As long as you don’t tell anyone.” She gripped me tightly. “What have you told them already? What do you know?”

  “I told the countess as much as she needed to know to protect you. And all I know… is what you’ve already told me.”

  “I told you to stay out of sight. You shouldn’t be here. We can’t be together.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t believe that. Why can’t we just keep one more secret?”

  Helian flipped me onto the bed, pressing her nose flush against my neck. “You smell like roses.”

  “I’m sorry.” The perfume was a gift from the countess.

  “Did you enjoy it?”

  “I thought of you.”

  She traced the back of my ear with the tip of her fingernail and whispered. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

  “You’re always on my mind.”

  “That’s right.” She bit gently into my shoulder. “You’ll always be my little bird.”

  “I will.”

  “This all exists for me, you know? So, you do, too.”

  The moon hung high in the dark, night sky. Helian began to unbutton my shirt.