“You wouldn’t have believed any of it.”
“Wendy. This is me, okay?” He turned to face me, and I finally looked at him. “Yeah, this is really hard to believe, and I know that if I hadn’t seen it for myself, I’d find it even harder. But I’ve always been on your side. You should’ve trusted me.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” I lowered my eyes. “But I’m glad you’re here and that I’m telling you stuff now. It was hard for me, keeping things from you. I don’t wanna do it again.”
“Good.”
“But you should call Maggie,” I said. “She needs to know where we are, and she can’t go home. Not now. I don’t know if they would take her to get at me.”
“Are you safe here?” Matt asked. “Like, really safe?”
“Yeah, of course I am.” I said it with more conviction than I really had. “Duncan’s outside standing guard right now.”
“That kid’s an idiot,” Matt said seriously, and I laughed.
“No, we’re safe. Don’t worry,” I assured him as I stood up. “But you should call Maggie, and I should shower and put on my own clothes.”
“What should I tell her?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “Just make sure she doesn’t go home.”
I promised Matt I’d see him later and explain more to him then, but now I needed a moment to decompress. Duncan tried to follow me down the hall into my room, but I wouldn’t let him in.
It wasn’t until I was in the shower, with the sound of the water drowning me out, that I let myself cry. I don’t even really know why I was crying. Part of it had to do with Finn, leaving me that way again, but mostly it was because it was all just too much.
After I got dressed, I felt better. Everything had turned out all right, as in we all survived with only minor injuries. On top of that, I got to have Matt around again. I didn’t know for how long, but at least he knew the truth now.
And I finally knew why the Vittra were so fixated on me. Sure, the answer didn’t make things any easier, but I understood, and that was something.
When I thought about it, the only real dark spot was Finn’s absence. It left a dull ache inside my chest, but I had to ignore it. There were too many other things going on for me to sit around missing him.
I hated that he’d even come at all. It would’ve been easier if he’d just left me alone and I’d never seen him again.
I went over to Matt’s room and discovered Rhys keeping him company. Elora had fixed him, much to my relief, and Rhys said that I’d have to begin my “training” soon to harness my abilities. I didn’t know exactly what that would entail, but I didn’t want to pump him for information.
I sat down in an overstuffed chair in Matt’s room and decided to tell him everything. Rhys had told him some in the Vittra dungeon, but I wanted to fill in the blanks. More important, I thought Matt needed to hear it from me.
I started from the beginning, explaining how Elora had switched me for Rhys. I told him how Finn had been sent to track me and bring me here, about what it meant to be a Princess, and about the Trylle and their abilities.
The whole time I talked, Rhys said nothing, but watched with rapt interest. I’m not sure how much of this he already knew.
Matt didn’t say much of anything either, only asking the occasional question. He began pacing when I started talking, but he didn’t seem anxious or confused. When I finished, he stood silently for a minute, absorbing it all.
“So?” I asked when he still didn’t say anything.
“So … do you guys still eat?” Matt looked over at me. “’Cause I’m starving.”
“Yeah, of course we do.” I smiled, feeling relieved.
“I wouldn’t call what they eat food,” Rhys scoffed. He’d been sitting on the bed, but now he stood, since the conversation appeared to be wrapping up.
“What do you mean?” Matt asked.
“Well, you lived with Wendy. You have to know how she eats.” Rhys seemed to realize he might have said something wrong, and he hurried to correct it. “Trylle are more careful eaters than us. They don’t drink pop or eat meat, really.”
Matt stared at Rhys for a moment longer, then glanced at me. There was something new in Matt’s eyes, something I was feeling for the first time myself. Rhys had just put Matt and himself into an “us,” a club I didn’t belong to.
I had never and could never think of Matt as less than me, but we were different. We were separate. And despite all the differences between us that had been so obvious, it felt weird to know just how different we actually were, to have someone articulate that we weren’t even the same species.
“Fortunately, I have a fridge stocked with real food,” Rhys pushed on, trying to change the mood in the room. “And I’m a pretty decent cook. Ask Wendy.”