by Marisa Mills
“We had to walk all day to reach the walls of Plumba,” Alexander cut in, “and we were forced to stay the night there. It’s a terrible place, full of criminals and dangerous beasts. We fought one of them. I stabbed it in the eye.”
“Well,” the king said, “it sounds like quite an adventure. I’m glad both Alexander and Wynter have returned safe and sound.” I was surprised to hear my name and took a step backward as he looked at me. His eyes flicked to the sword against my thigh and traced the line of my collarbone, as if searching for something. I felt my pulse quicken.
Celeste took a respectful step back as the king approached me, flanked by Alexander and Hector. I dropped into a curtsey, made clumsy by my anxiety. Belatedly, I wondered if I should’ve knelt instead. I remembered enough to realize that I wasn’t supposed to look the king in the eye. Instead, I kept my focus on the gold brooch the king had pinned to his lapel. It was a winged lion, with a large, gleaming sapphire, surrounded by rows of small, white diamonds. I was getting better at recognizing gemstones. Something was familiar about it, but I was too distracted to remember what.
“Please, accept my sincerest apologies, Wynter, for everything that has happened. I’m terribly disappointed that your time in Reverie has been marked by the most heinous dangers,” the king said, the venom in his voice undeniable. “I’ve been assured that the Council is hard at work on a solution and have launched into a full investigation about what happened during Lady Viviane’s testing. This will not happen again.”
It felt more like he was speaking to Du Lac and Celeste than to me, so I didn’t answer.
“With all due respect, the investigation would go more smoothly,” Du Lac said, “If Frederick and the Rosewood siblings weren’t—”
“I don’t care what they’re doing,” Gregory said. “I want answers.”
I glanced at Alexander. He looked at me and shook his head, the movement barely perceptible. I didn’t know what that meant.
“Sire, Dorian is literally licking the crystals in the ballroom,” Du Lac said.
“Didn’t you say the Council already had all the evidence they were going to find?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then, it doesn’t matter. I don’t care if Dorian wants to put a hole in the wall or if Frederick wants to liquify the floor. Thus far, the Council has failed to protect my son and the other students at the Academy. It’s quite clear that the nobility needs to step in.”
Du Lac’s eyes narrowed. “Sire, this is a magical matter—”
“Yes,” King Gregory said, “a magical matter involving a young woman falling from Reverie, seemingly to her death. I truly can’t imagine why Dorian and Eleanor would be so insistent upon investigating such a matter. How did Guinevere die again?”
Du Lac clenched his jaw.
“There’s no harm in working together,” Celeste said. “More minds working on the matter can only serve to help us figure it out.”
King Gregory smiled thinly.
“Alexander!”
Two more men approached. Because they were blond and unfamiliar, I assumed these were Alexander’s other mentioned brothers—Kit and Art. They both looked about twenty-five, maybe older. It occurred to me that Alexander was the youngest of six sons, and because none of his brothers were at the Academy, there must be quite an age gap between them.
One of them bounded over to Alexander and ruffled his hair. “You aren’t a ghost, are you?” he asked.
“No,” Alexander replied.
His other brother pulled him into a hug. Then, he turned to me and grinned. “Are we sure you didn’t fake your death, so you could elope, Alex?” he asked. “I haven’t seen you around before.”
I thought of Gabriel’s belief that I’d ran away with Alexander and winced.
“Wynter, this is Christopher,” Alexander said.
“Because you’re a beautiful lady, you can call me Kit,” he said, winking. “Which noble house are you from?”
Gregory cleared his throat. “This is Dorian’s charge,” he said.
Kit looked taken aback; Alexander’s other brother—presumably Art—raised an eyebrow.
“Still a beautiful lady, nonetheless,” Kit said. “You’re related to the governor of Argent, right?”
Not at all. I had never claimed to be either.
“How are you both here?” Art asked.
Alexander repeated our story, while I smiled and nodded.
Celeste’s hands lighted on my shoulders. “I think this is a lot for you,” she said. “Why don’t I take you to Dorian, hm? I’m sure he’ll be delighted to see you.”
Maybe, maybe not. My reunion with Dorian wasn’t going to be anything close to whatever heartwarming fantasy Celeste was envisioning. But I forced a smile and nodded. I’d have to see him eventually. I might as well get it over with.
“I’ll meet you in the infirmary,” Alexander said, his eyes finding mine. “We can see Viviane together, if she’s still there.”
“She is,” Celeste said, “the poor dear.”
“That works,” I replied.
As I let Celeste steer me away, I watched the men huddle into a tighter formation. With me gone, Alexander would be alone with his father, brothers, and Du Lac. Despite his promise, I still wasn’t sure he wouldn’t betray me, and now would be the perfect time to reveal me as a fraud. I wondered what my punishment would be if he did. I clasped my hands together so they wouldn’t shake.
Seven
CELESTE HALTED AT THE ENTRANCE of the ballroom, which now bore multiple signs telling students not to enter. My heart pounded as if I were peering into an assassin’s den, but I wasn’t sure what I was most afraid of—facing Dorian, or reliving the trauma from my own fall. Although the cracks in the floor had been repaired, held together with some clear, shimmering substance, the once-pristine ballroom was still in shambles. Jagged hunks of crystal, twisted pieces of metal, and fallen stone littered the floor. And there was Dorian in the midst of it, his back to me as he inspected the shattered remains of the staircase leading to the ballroom’s second floor.
“I imagine you probably want to be alone with him,” Celeste said, squeezing my shoulder. “It’s so wonderful to have you back, Wynter. We were all so devastated to lose you and Alexander.”
I felt suddenly shy and awkward before her. I wasn’t used to such compassion. “Thank you,” I said, hoping she would hear the sincerity in my voice.
She smiled and hugged me again. “I’ll check on you later,” she said.
And then, she left. I took a deep breath and stepped into the ballroom. Really, I’d have preferred someone else be here. The king had said there were other people investigating the ballroom—Frederick and Eleanor—so why did it have to be just Dorian when I arrived? I gulped. I didn’t know what I was so afraid of. Maybe a small part of me was wondering if Dorian had been behind it all; if he’d meant me to fall. I was terrified I’d see disappointment, or even anger on his face, when he knew I’d survived. My footsteps echoed through the empty hall, announcing my presence.
“Did you need something?” Dorian asked coldly, without turning around.
“Celeste thought I should…” I trailed off.
I thought I should see you. I wanted to see you. I shook my head, trying to clear all the jumbled and wayward thoughts. When Dorian turned around, he looked so visibly stunned that I nearly laughed. Surprise was a new expression on him, it made him seem younger. Only the lurching of my stomach held me back. “You…” he said.
I cleared the space between us and paused a few feet away from him. Dorian’s surprise was fading into something wary and thoughtful. Up close, he looked very tired. His dark brown hair was disheveled, and his wrinkled shirt gave the impression that he’d had a rough night and dragged himself from bed. Silvery ink and blood were smeared over his forearm, the remains of some spell and his exertion at casting it. I tilted my head and tried to read the sigils. One of them vaguely rese
mbled memory. Another was something about crystals. I hadn’t even known Dorian used sigils; he favored using his battle-magic, his ice.
Dorian trailed his thumb over my jawline, his hand shaking. I looked up and met his cold, blue eyes. Even disheveled, Dorian looked as beautiful and dangerous as ever, like lightning streaking across the summer sky. The dark maroon shirt beneath his coal-black suit was unbuttoned, and he fidgeted with the open collar.
“You’re supposed to be dead,” he said.
Was he upset by my survival? If I’d died, he wouldn’t have needed to keep any promises he’d made to me. All evidence of his stealing and scheming would be gone, too. But his face was inscrutable. I clasped my hands together, trying to work up the courage to ask if he was happy to see me, but part of me was too afraid he’d give an honest answer.
“How did you manage this?” he asked.
The excuse Alexander and I had agreed on froze in my throat. I knew I wouldn’t be able to lie to Dorian about this, not convincingly at least.
“Can’t a girl have some mystery?” I asked, smiling coyly.
That was what he always said when he didn’t want to tell me something. I’d never turned it around on him before, and I hoped it would distract him enough, for now.
You’re hoping to charm him, Lucian said.
Maybe a little.
“Do you expect me to be satisfied with that rhetorical trick?” he asked.
I hesitated. “I don’t know,” I admitted.
“Well,” Dorian replied. “I don’t particularly care how you accomplished it. You’re alive, so I’m content. I’ll leave you to your secrets.”
I wasn’t sure I believed that. Dorian’s curiosity was probably driving him half-mad.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” I asked. “In the journal?”
“I’ve been a little busy,” Dorian frowned, “trying to figure out who attacked Viviane and killed you and Alexander. Though I suppose, if you’re both alive, that issue is no longer quite as pressing.”
“You promised you’d give my family an apartment once this was all finished,” I reminded him quietly. This is what I returned to Reverie for. No sense in waiting.
“I did, and I intend to,” Dorian said. “The problem, Wynter, is that I don’t know exactly when this will be finished. I’ll still need to have the authenticity of Nick’s journal verified. Then, if it is genuine, I’ll have to read it. And then, there might be something else. There’s usually something else.”
That didn’t make any sense to me. Surely he’d have read the journal already? I was pretty sure he was lying, and had already gone through the journal several times with a fine-tooth comb. That meant he already found what he was looking for, or more likely, he hadn’t, and didn’t know what to do next. I wished I’d read Nick’s journal before I’d given it to him. So much for my hope that I’d return and just…get the apartment for my family. If Dorian already had what he needed from me, what was I even doing up here?
“I don’t care if you break every promise you’ve ever made to me,” I said. “Just please, don’t break this one. It’s… it’s getting worse in the Lower Realms. I can’t go back to Gabriel, and I’m not sure how much longer Briar and Sterling can survive without me.”
Dorian offered his arm. “How did a brute like Gabriel raise such a selfless creature?”
“Dorian—” I bite my lip, frowning. I had no leverage, except for what I’d found in the forests, but I wasn’t sure how Dorian would take that information, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to play that card yet. It was the only one I had left.
“I’ll keep my promise to you, Wynter,” he said. “I’ve already said as much.”
Right. He had, but no matter how often he said it, I couldn’t make myself believe him. I took his arm and let him lead me from the ballroom. As we walked over one of the cracks, I tensed. Even through the shimmering substance gluing the floor together, I could see the green strip of forests, partially obscured by glass and the dark clouds below.
“In exchange for what?” I asked. “You already have the journal.”
“For now, settle in,” Dorian replied. “Enjoy your studies.”
“Enjoy myself,” I chuckled darkly, “when a mage is on the loose, terrorizing the students?
“Okay then,” Dorian amended. “Keep your head low and your ears open. At least you can stop sneaking into the library, for now, which should keep you off Du Lac’s radar. And it seems you have more talent than I first realized. You did somehow survive a fall from Reverie after all. Perhaps you can be more useful to me as a mage than a thief.”
What? I was no mage, but from the teasing smirk Dorian was giving me, I knew he was just fishing for answers. I’d surprised him, but I wasn’t ready to share Lucian with him yet. The last time I’d seen him, he’d talked about the dangers of our deception running too long. Now there was no end in sight. How long was he planning on keeping me up here?
“I should’ve known you’d want to change the rules,” I muttered.
“I haven’t changed the rules. I’ve just changed the piece I’m moving. It’s chess, Wynter.”
I scowled, and Dorian laughed.
“Now, don’t just glare. A lady would say something appropriately witty.”
Right. A lady. As if Dorian actually believed I was a lady from Argent.
“I’m too tired to be witty,” I said.
“Humor me,” Dorian replied.
I thought it over for a few seconds. “As a gentleman, you ought to realize I’ve never played chess and make allowances for me, Your Lordship.”
“Not bad. And I have made allowances. You just haven’t taken advantage of them.”
This was clearly some strange game to him, and I didn’t understand it at all.
“Then, you should teach me how?” I offered.
“I’m endeavoring to. You’re just a remarkably poor student,” Dorian said, sighing. “It’s probably in your blood, though. I’m sure your uncle was a poor student, too.”
My heart pained, thinking back to the last time I’d seen my uncle. He’d been ready to kill me. He nearly had. Who would have thought I could survive a fall from Reverie, only to be finished off by my own uncle? I didn’t know who’d educated Gabriel. He could read, write, and do math, which was rare in the Scraps. It was hard to imagine him as a student. Dorian seemed like he was waiting for a response, quirking an eyebrow at me as if he expected a response.
We walked slowly through the vaulted hallways, up a flight of curving stairs past oil portraits with gilded frames.
“I saw Gabriel,” I said. “He wanted to ransom Alexander.”
“A pity he didn’t try,” Dorian said. “If he did, I’m sure he’d have been slaughtered.”
I shivered, and if Dorian noticed, he had the grace not to mention it.
“I saw a forest, too,” I said. “A place with ruins and a lake.”
At this Dorian’s gaze intensified. He looked away, but I could tell I’d caught his interest. He’d read Nick’s letter, too.
“And did you find anything there?” He was practically holding his breath.
I wavered, wondering if I should tell him what I’d seen in the meadow.
Absolutely not, Lucian said. We’ve no idea what he will do with that knowledge, but it can’t be anything good.
But it was just a memory of his sister from at least seventeen years ago. What harm could it do now? On the other hand, if he was looking for the artifacts that Nick and Gwen destroyed, he’d be angry, and he probably wouldn’t need me anymore.
“Not really,” I replied. “What have you been doing, aside from licking crystals in the ballroom?”
“Did you hear that from Markus?” Dorian asked. “The man knows magic but absolutely nothing else. It’s really quite astonishing that someone so completely ignorant could pass the rigorous testing required to be on Council.”
I wondered if there’d alwa
ys been animosity between them, or if this was a more recent phenomenon, brought on by Du Lac blackmailing me into stealing Amelia’s tiara.
“If you’re trying to tell the difference between minerals with similar appearances,” Dorian continued, “the quickest way to tell is by taste. Markus believed those crystals were quartz, which has no taste. However, these were salty, leading me to think they’re instead halite or potentially sylvite.”
“But why does that matter?”
“Quartz is native to Reverie; the other two aren’t. Halite and sylvite are primarily found in coastal Argent and certain areas of Plumba. As for the significance of that, I’m not sure yet.”
“I thought Eleanor was looking over the ballroom with you,” I said.
“She was,” Dorian replied, “but she needed to speak with Viviane about a family matter.”
Had Alexander interrupted them? If not, we were about to. While I still hadn’t seen all of the vast Academy grounds, I was already more than familiar with the infirmary. We approached the entrance slowly, through the outdoor hallway on the third floor, framed by thick potted plants. White columns carved into figures supported the roof with their muscled shoulders.
“How is Viviane?” I asked. The last time I’d seen her, she tried to kill me and I’d stabbed her with a flaming sword. I knew it wasn’t her fault, and that she was being controlled by someone else, but I still wasn’t overly eager to see her.
“Not great,” Dorian replied. “She’s having terrible nightmares. Poor Viv, she woke up screaming at least four times last night. I was staying with her until Eleanor could arrive. She lives on the opposite end of the kingdom, so it takes some time for her to get here.”
No wonder he looked so tired. My stomach twisted uncomfortably. While Alexander and I had been relaxing in the Argent spa, Viviane was suffering and everyone else was mourning the fallen prince. I wondered if Dorian had mourned for me as well. He was surprised to see me, but was he happy? He was too difficult to read, but I allowed myself to imagine that some small part of him actually cared that I was still alive.
