Her husband was hiding something from her.

Not an unusual occurrence, Tryst had an irritating yet endearing habit of keeping anything that could cause his family pain square on his own shoulders. Echa loved him for it, but this secret wasn’t passing—if anything it was getting bigger.

It wasn’t like the time her insomnia had kept her up for a month and he’d managed to hide their goat’s death from her until he had a new one already fat and happy in their little barnyard. Or the time he’d managed to smooth things over with the baker’s son who’d been bullying Anwen without Echa knowing until the baker apologized to her a week later.

This was growing, pushing against the edges of her cheeky husband’s frame until he could hardly hold her gaze. Echa hid her own irritation and impatience until Anwen went to her job at the general store and Libby scuttled off to the training grounds. Then Echa sidled up behind Tryst, wrapped her hands around his narrow chest, and laid her head on the crook of his neck.

There it was. A slight stiffening before he feigned delight and leaned over to kiss her.

“Should I be excited?” he teased, hands still rinsing the breakfast dishes in the sink.

“Nervous,” she whispered in his ear.

The clinking of dishes stopped and he tutted, knowing she could feel his shoulders fall and the secret pressing out of his chest.

Wet hands uncoiled hers and he turned around, leaning against the sink.

“Whatever for?” he asked with a last ditch crooked grin.

She crossed her arms. “You tell me.”

“After all the trouble I’ve put into hiding it? No chance, love. You’re going to have to,” he leaned forward to kiss her again, “force it out of me.”

It was something big. Something he didn’t think he could fix. Tryst was incapable of giving a straight answer, but Echa knew his strange way of communicating as well as he knew hers. Their dance was one she’d never thought she’d find and it befuddled their friends—especially Matias and Jayln—to no end.

She looked at Tryst’s face, his crooked nose and bright eyes held her with resolve. He was confident, which meant he had back up.

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“What? Give you what you want for lying to me? I don’t think so.” She pushed him back. “I’ll ask Fenrin, he’s less irritating.”

Bullseye. Tryst’s eye flickered with worry before he raised a hand to his chest.

“Low blow, leaving me for my captain. I thought we had a good thing going here. Whatever will I tell the children?” Echa turned for her cloak, but Tryst quickly snatched a wet dish and shoved it into her hands, adding a bit too quickly, “They’ll be devastated.”

She grabbed a towel and dried the dish, handing it back. “I’ll take them with me.”

Stacking the plate carefully on its siblings, Tryst laughed. “It’d be a bit crowded. Though Libby would be thrilled. What with Fiona...”

He trailed off as Echa stepped closer. The secret was in his throat and she reached her hands up and cupped his face bringing it down to hers.

“It hurts to see you like this,” she said simply, pressing her forehead to his.

His long fingers wrapped around her wrists and he sighed. “Well, at least give me credit for trying. He’s been here for six month after all.”

He?

Echa frowned as Tryst used her wrists to spin her around and hug her against his chest. Whatever he was going to say, he expected it to make her angry. She waited.

“Vai, the Aryi that came with Fiona, is Lyra’s personal sex slave, zhrul is the word he uses. We’ve talked to him about it and obviously there’s no one who—”

Echa was shaking, bile in her throat. She could hear Tryst’s worried heart pounding and she both loved and hated him for keeping this shock from her for so long.

It was here. In their valley. One of the dark sicknesses of humanity that she’d escaped was here.

“Who knows?” she hissed.

“Jayln, Matias, Fenrin, and me. Don’t think the girl even really knows. It’s a bit complicated, but we’re keeping an eye on things.”

She pulled away and she felt him briefly consider holding her back before she ripped out of his arms.

“I need to talk to him,” she said airily, not sure herself what for.

“Let Fenrin handle it. He’s got enough on his plate without my beautiful, terrifying wife scaring his house guests.”

Turning around quickly, her eyes narrowed, and Tryst’s mouth froze as he realized his mistake. Echa put her hands on her hips. “What did you do, Tryst?”

He rubbed his neck. “He was acting oddly and we were worried about Fiona. But Matias got it figured out. Vai doesn’t like the girl’s father, but once we determined he wouldn’t hurt Fiona, we let it go.”

“What did you do?” she asked again.

Tryst’s face darkened, answering her question. “I wasn’t going to have Libby over there all the time without being sure.”

Echa threw her hands in the air. “You didn’t think I had the right to make that call?”

“He’s not...he’s not like you, Echa. You don’t need to face that again.”

She put her cloak on but walked back to Tryst to kiss his stubbly cheek. “You don’t need to rescue me from this demon. I’ve already killed it.”

Tryst watched her leave, a soft smile on his face.