There's fear ahead.

Larkin did not need to consider Tic’s answer. From the very moment the boy opened his mouth, Larkin knew he was going to lie. It was the quick little movements, the distant stare and the slight way his head tilted to the left as he looked down. Liars always looked to the left, this Larkin knew and his training to be an heir included how to keep yourself from being conned.

“You’re lying,” Larkin said gently, his voice throaty and tortured to be kept at a calm level. He removed his hand from the boy’s arm, having felt the way he tensed beneath his fingers, but replaced it on Tic’s shoulder, attempting something a little less intimidating. “He came for you, didn’t he? Why did he come for you?”

But the frustration in his voice could not be masked, and his eyebrows rose, stretching the smooth skin of his face. His expectant expression was enforced by an exhale of impatience. He leaned forward, eyes softening to create a sort of trustworthy air, and for a moment the great deceiver himself was assisting Larkin and all seemed fine, until it was broken with a gentle twitch in the nerve of his left lid.

“I want you… to tell me.”