It was rising from the wall, reaching towards her finger. She pulled her hand back to keep it from touching her, but Cassian moved her hand forward again and said, “Let it touch you.”
“I don’t want to,” she said.
He wrapped his arm around her waist and said, “I’m right here and I won’t let anything hurt you. I promise.”
She nodded, swallowed hard, and reached her finger towards the blood. It moved slowly, as if it was searching for something, until it found her finger. As soon as it did, it rushed from the wall, slid up her finger, and rested in the palm of her hand. It was a perfect circle at first, but after a moment it tilted to the side of her hand, looking for all the world like an arrow.
“I knew it,” Cassian said, his tone colored with delight. “Your dad is a genius.”
“I don’t understand,” Ros said.
“He left his blood here on purpose, as a way to track him.”
“That sounds a little too convenient,” Zandor said.
“He’s the only Blood Healer around,” Teague said. “How could he know we’d be able to use it? Actually, how are we using it?”
“There’s more to blood magic than just healing,” Cassian said.
“Like what?” Beckett asked.
“I don’t know the details,” Cassian replied, waving a dismissive hand. He was pacing now, muttering to himself. Ros was only able to pick up one phrase, but it was enough: “He must’ve known.”
She said, “You think he was counting on you to find it.”
Cassian met her gaze and nodded. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“In what way does it make sense that he would leave blood for a Night mage?” Zandor asked.
It wasn’t impossible, and Ros knew it. Her father had considered marrying Cassian’s mother. Even if it had been twenty-five years ago, that didn’t mean he would’ve forgotten everything they shared. Perhaps she had told him about her magic, or at least parts of it, and the king was counting on her son to be able to do the same thing.
Cassian could say something to that effect, could try to explain himself to them, but he didn’t. He didn’t answer Zandor, or even look at him. His eyes locked on Ros. She could practically feel him begging her to trust him, as if that was the only thing that mattered. And maybe, in that moment, it was.
She knew he was keeping another secret. Maybe it was foolish of her to trust him, but she did. He might not be telling her everything about himself, but he hadn’t lied to her. So whatever secret he was hiding right then, she would help him. She returned his gaze, hoping he could read the trust on her face as she said, “Everyone has a little darkness in them.”
Cassian smiled. “Exactly. I can use the trace amounts of darkness in his blood to activate his leftover magic, but it’s the familial tie that anchors it. And look: it’s pointing in the direction we need to go.”
“This is insane,” Zandor said, pressing his palms against his eyelids.
“You don’t have to come,” Cassian shrugged.
Zandor chuckled. “Ros, you’re not seriously going to go off with this guy, this stranger, all because he can move a smudge of blood?”
Ros looked from Zandor to Cassian and back. “I am. There’s no reason not to trust him.”
Zandor’s mouth parted like he was going to argue with her, but she pushed past him and headed down the hall towards the castle proper. Larkin stuck her head out from Elaina’s doorway and asked, “What’s going on?”
“We’re going to find my father,” Ros said as she passed. She heard Zandor mutter something else, but she didn’t stop. She wouldn’t stop for him or anyone else, not if she could save her father.
She was nearing her mother’s war room before she realized Teague and Beckett weren’t with them. It was better that way, she knew. With her father missing, there was a gap in the service the medics could provide. They would need Teague more than ever. Knowing what she did about their relationship, she was willing to bet Beckett wouldn’t part from his side, even if he couldn’t do much to help the patients.
Ros entered the room with Cassian, Larkin, and Zandor. She looked for her mother, but she didn’t see her. Instead, she crossed the floor to her sister who had taken up a spot at one of the maps.
“Elsa, I have news,” Ros blurted.
“So do I.”
“Where’s Mother?”
Elsa pursed her lips. “She’s trying to fix the mess you made with the Elementalists. That blowhard from Air house has them all riled up. And why were some of them wet?”
Ros winced. In her excitement about going after her father, she’d all but forgotten what happened earlier. “I might’ve loosed a little magic in the great hall.”
“Of course you did,” Elsa said, shaking her head.
“It doesn’t matter now,” Ros said, trying to push past her sister’s frustration. “We have a way to track him.”
Elsa narrowed her eyes. “What are you talking about?”
Ros explained everything to her sister, whose face remained closed off the whole time. After Rosalinde finished, Elsa asked, “Are you out of your mind?”
“Thank you,” Zandor muttered.
Ros opened her mouth to protest, but Elsa sliced her hand through the air and cut her off. “You’re first in line for the throne. If we don’t find the king before this week is over, you’ll be crowned Queen of Talabrih. You can’t go traipsing about the countryside because of a spot of blood that some Dark Elementalist can control.”
“He’s not controlling it, Elsa. That’s not what this is.”
“How do you know that?” she asked. “You don’t know him. Not really.”
Cassian took a step forward, but a hand shot forward and grabbed his shoulder as a familiar voice said, “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you. The Princess is a tiny thing, but she’s fierce.”
Elsa laughed as Alaric stepped around the mages and stood between the sisters. Elsa motioned to Alaric and said, “Remember when I said I had news? This was it.”
“I told you not to return,” Ros said through gritted teeth.
Alaric's smile faded at her words. “Don’t worry, Your Royal Highness, I’m not here for you.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I may be the last person who saw the king.”
“What? When?” Ros asked.
“Around mid-morning, I’d guess. I was finishing a sword for a customer. He walked through my forge.”
Ros furrowed her brows. “Why?”
“No idea,” Alaric said. “I tried to talk to him, but it was like he couldn’t hear me. He kept running into things, like he didn’t have control of his own body.”
“What happened to him?”
“I steered him out. I was afraid he’d get hurt if I left him inside while I went to get help. He wasn’t moving very fast, so I went to grab a guard and figured we’d catch up to him, but it took me forever to find someone and when we got back, he was gone.”
“You didn’t think to come get me?” Ros asked.
Alaric clenched his jaw for a second before saying, “You told me to stay away. So I did.”
Ros pressed her hands against her cheeks. “This is an entirely different situation. Of course I would want to know what happened.”
“Look, I tried to help. I told a guard. And this evening when I heard he was still missing, I showed up here to tell you what I knew, even after what happened between us. If you want something more than that, ask one of your suitors for it, because I’m done here.”
He pushed past Ros and headed for the door. She called after him, but he didn’t turn as he stormed out. Ros wanted to go after him, wanted to tell him she was sorry—for this and everything else—but she couldn’t. As much as what had happened between them hurt her, she couldn’t take a step back towards him knowing she would end up pushing him away again.
Instead she focused on what she could do. Despite Elsa’s protests, she knew she had to follow the blood sig
nal. She would wait for the others to go to bed and sneak out of the castle. It wasn’t a perfect plan, maybe not even a good one, but it was all she had. One way or another, Ros was going to bring her father home.
Chapter 19
Rosalinde donned her sturdiest boots and warmest cloak. Though the days were warm, she had no idea how long it might take to find her father or where she might stay during the cooler nights. But it didn’t matter. She could suffer a little discomfort if it meant saving the king.
She grabbed a bag from her closet that she’d use for food. One stop in the kitchen and she’d be on her way. Ros peeked into the hallway and found it deserted. This time of night, there’d hardly be anyone awake in the castle aside from a handful of guards. Even those who had been working with her mother in the war room would have found rest by now.
She walked down the hall on swift, silent feet. Ros had gotten good at sneaking around the castle through her teenage years. At least now that skill was coming in handy. She made it to the kitchen with minimal issue, forced into hiding only once.
Grabbing a small rind of cheese, a fistful of dried meat, two apples, and some bread leftover from dinner, Ros filled her small bag and prepared to leave. She spotted a metal cup beside a small knife on the counter and grabbed them both. As a mage of Water house, she could provide water for herself whenever she needed it, but a cup always made things more convenient. And the knife, well, you could never be too careful.
“Going somewhere?”
Ros winced at her mother’s voice. She turned to face her, defeat already plain on her face. She put her pack on the table and said, “I suppose not.”
Queen Sariyah gave her an apologetic smile. “Elsabet told me about the blood. Do you still have it?”
Ros held her hand forward. The small spot was still there, shifting with her movements to keep pointing in the direction of her father. She moved her hand around, showing her mother how it worked. Though she didn’t explain and Sariyah didn’t ask, Rosalinde could almost see the gears moving in her mother’s mind. It was one of the rare occasions her mother kept her face unguarded.
“It’s amazing,” her mother breathed. “And it was the Night mage who gave it life?”
Ros shook her head. “Not exactly. He found it on the wall and tried to use it, but it didn’t respond until I got close to it.”
Sariyah chewed the inside of her cheek—a habit Ros had picked up from her—before asking, “Is there a chance he’s playing you?”
“No,” Ros answered, a little too fast.
Her mother smiled. “I don’t want to discount anything that may be happening between you, and I truly hope this man is all you think he is, for your sake and your father’s.”
“Father’s?”
Sariyah nodded. “You’re going to use the blood to track him.”
“Are you serious? You’re letting me go?”
“Not alone in the middle of the night, but yes. You can leave after breakfast. We’ll have to figure out what to do about the Great Match though. The houses are not going to be happy, but I’m sure we can come up with something to appease them.”
Ros wrapped her arms over her mother’s shoulders, careful not to smear the blood on her hand. “Thank you.”
“It’s not like I could stop you anyway,” Sariyah said into her hair. “You go now while you’re a princess, or you go in a week when you’re a queen. Either way, you’d still go. Now head upstairs and get some rest. You’re going to need it.”
Chapter 20
Rosalinde was at her mother’s bedroom door at dawn, but the queen wasn’t there. Ros went to the war room. The map tables were empty of their papers, the room empty of guards and strategists, and half-drunk wine sat in glasses beside scraps of food from the night before.
But Sariyah was there.
The queen was asleep, curled up in King Tancred’s bed, her arms cradling his pillow. Ros had never seen her mother look so vulnerable, or so sad.
Ros moved to the edge of the bed and sat beside her mother. She pushed stray strands of dark hair from her mother’s face, humming a song Sariyah used to sing to her when she was a child. It was a depressing song when she sang the words, but without them the tune was sweet, though a bit melancholy.
“I always hated that song,” Sariyah whispered. Ros immediately stopped humming, but her mother said, “No, please don’t stop.”
They sat that way for several minutes, Ros stroking her mother’s hair while she hummed a hated song. When the queen finally opened her eyes, they were red-rimmed and tired, but Ros could still see hope there.
“I’m going to find him,” she whispered, forcing conviction into her voice.
“I know you will,” her mother said.
Sariyah rose and dressed, then called a servant to bring them coffee and sweet rolls. They would still have to take a formal meal in the hall with the Elementalists, but for now, their simple fare was perfect.
“Have you given any thought to what to do about the other houses?” she asked as her mother added fresh cream to her steaming cup.
“I have,” Sariyah said. “But I’m still not sure it’s going to be enough.”
She sipped her coffee while Ros waited for an explanation. When it didn’t come right away, Ros said, “Are you going to tell me or should I start guessing?”
“Sorry, I’m a little off right now.”
“It’s fine, Mother.”
Sariyah nodded and put down her cup. “Given the circumstances, we are perfectly within reason to cancel the Great Match altogether. Water and Earth would back that decision, but Air would throw a fit and Fire may be persuaded to side with them. Night, I’m presuming, would side with your decision, but we cannot know that with certainty.”
“Or we shorten the Match and I pick someone today.”
“That won’t work, either. Even with the scores from yesterday’s opening ceremony and the opinions of the impartial judges, the house rulers will say you didn’t take enough time to get to know their candidates. Most likely, a scandal would ensue, with accusations of impropriety.”
Ros huffed. “Why is everything so complicated?”
“Because that’s how politics work,” Elsa said as she stepped into the room.
“Elsa dear, I didn’t hear you come in,” Sariyah said.
Elsa shrugged. “I’m sneaky. Sneakier than Ros, at least. I bet I would’ve made it out last night.”
“You know about that?” Ros asked.
“I’ve already told you, sis, I’m a good spy. Which is precisely why I’m here.”
“What do you mean?” Sariyah asked.
“I’ve been watching the house rulers and I think I have a plan. Every ruler has a favorite, whether they’ll admit it or not, and those favorites match pretty well with yesterday’s scorecards.”
“They announced the judges’ scores?” Ros asked.
Elsa shook her head. “No, but I still know what the scores are.”
“How?”
“Better not to ask,” Elsa said. “Anyway, the rulers and the judges favor Florian from Fire, Zandor from Earth, Teague from Water, and Graeme from Air. No real surprises with those choices. If Ros chooses to narrow down the contenders to that list and has them accompany her on a heroic journey to save the king, they’ll gain honor for their bravery and we can say she’s going to use this time to figure out who she’ll marry.”
There was silence for a moment while Sariyah and Ros thought over Elsa’s plan. After a moment, Sariyah said, “That could actually work.”
“It will definitely work. They may balk at first, but they’ll see reason when we hold firm. All we have to do is keep our cool.” Elsa gave Ros a wry smile and said, “Maybe don’t release a tsunami on them.”
Ros felt heat rise up her neck. “It’s not like I did that on purpose.”
Elsa opened her mouth to retort, but Sariyah waved her quiet. She turned to Ros and asked, “Is there anyone on the list that you simply can’t stand? Or someone you
would prefer over those men? A different suitor who may have caught your eye?”
Rosalinde’s thoughts immediately turned to Cassian, but she dare not admit it to her mother and sister. At least, not yet. They already mistrusted him because of his house affiliation and she didn’t want to give them further cause to worry.
“I’m not crazy about Florian.”
“No one is,” Elsa said. “None of the Fire mages impressed anyone yesterday, it seems. But Florian is the Fire Ruler’s son, so he takes the lead. And honestly, he might be annoying and almost completely useless, but at least he’s pretty.”
Ros said, “The Combustion mage might be better in a fight.”
“Maybe, but if we want Fire house to go along with this, Florian is the way to go.”
Ros sighed. “Then I guess that list will suffice.”
Sariyah’s lips curled at the edges as she added, “We must include the Night house as well.”
“Must we?” Elsa muttered.
“It’s only right.”
“Wait,” Ros said, “we can’t include Teague.”
Sariyah asked, “Why not?”
“We’ll need him to run the medical unit while father is away. I’ll take William instead.”
“You may need a Healer on your journey. You could get hurt, or the king may need it when you find him,” her mother said.
“If we need a Healer, Cassian can return to the castle for Teague,” Ros said.
“Right,” Elsa said, her lips puckered in distaste. “I heard about his gift. Interesting, sure. Convenient, definitely. But can you trust him to do the right thing when you need it most?”
“He’s given me no reason not to trust him. At every turn, he’s been there to help me. I think he’s on our side in this.”
“I hope so,” Sariyah said. “Because I think you’re going to need him.”
Elsa frowned, but gave a curt nod. “I don’t need to trust him. I trust you, and if you say he’s on our side, then I’ll trust in your judgement.”
It wasn’t an ideal situation no matter how you looked at it, but Ros was grateful she’d been able to somewhat convince them of Cassian’s trustworthiness. Now she just had to hope she was right about him.
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