Chapter 39

Selena hesitated again, but answered. “I think border negotiations and old alliances. He’s made meeting plans with people he had been rejecting so that he can be at places where the bond can’t pull so hard.”

That landed heavier than Aria expected, but she just shifted where she sat without a word.

“He thinks leaving will make it easier for you,” Selena added quietly. “But I don’t think he realizes what absence does to a bond that’s already awake. I mean, look at you…”

“Nothing is wrong with me. His absence does nothing to me. I don’t know what you’re going on about.” Aria cut her short, standing up to leave.

Walking back through Ironwood now, Aria was filled with restlessness crawling under her skin, she realized something that made her chest ache sharply and without warning. She wasn’t furious anymore. She was lonely and even got offended when Selena pointed it out earlier.

She wondered if it was so noticeable that Selena had seen through her. She wond