649 My Heart for Yours

RETH

Reth stared at Aymora—glared might be a better description. She was eyeing Elia carefully, but when she turned back to him her throat bobbed as if she was nervous.

"You know of your father's condition? What killed him in the end?" she asked quietly.

Reth's stomach dropped and he shrugged, his skin suddenly feeling too tight. "I knew some. He wasn't well for months before he died."

"He wasn't well for years, Reth," Aymora said flatly. "Years."

Reth blinked. Years? Really? Throughout the war? "But—"

"I was present for a conversation with your father two years before the war even began," she said. "And it wasn't the first time the healers approached him about it. He was told exactly what I'm about to tell you. And he refused to listen. Will you listen Reth?"

He braced. "What do you have to tell me?"