“It’s not that easy,” I said, allowing a halfhearted smile. “I have to be prepared so I know how to handle the situation. What if he decides to hold us captive? We barely escaped Crea last time.” I rubbed my shoulder automatically, the spot where the arrow had pierced through layers of skin and muscle.
“Whatever it is, our mission is to keep him away from the women and children in all the towns and villages,” Taj interjected. “And to warn him of the drakon. Maybe then he will decide to lower his weapons and help us tear this beast apart.”
I folded my hands in my lap. “Well, that’s our goal.”
I spent the rest of the day in the library.
The effort of looking through books was useless—I was sure I’d find nothing important in here.
The library was smaller than the one in Crea, though not any less luxurious. After picking out an old children’s fable, I sank into one of the sofas.
I loved to read. Whether it was reviewing speeches and contracts for King Sadim or reading a simple bedtime story, I enjoyed it.
I popped open the book, leaning against the armrest of the sofa. It was a soft green color, intricate forest-like designs patterning the spine, stretching across the back and front. I flipped to the table of contents. Hundreds of stories were labeled, a couple called, The Elven Princess, The Gnome’s Home, and Faery Fables.
I opened to The Elven Princess. Just before I could start reading, I heard the door creak open. I sat up straighter, alert, reaching towards my boot—only to remember it was empty.
The intruder of my me-time was a woman. She walked in,
clad in all black. She looked as if she was in her mid-thirties.
Leather boots rose to her the middle of her thighs. She wore dark pants and a fitted top. The left half of her head was covered in braids, draping her right shoulder with the rest of her hair.
Her gray eyes seemed to bore into mine.
“I’ve read that one at least a thousand times,” she said, her voice smooth. She jutted her chin towards the book in my hands. Silent, I waited for her to say more. “You must be Adalia. I’ve seen your Wanted posters all over the kingdom.” She must’ve thought what she said was funny, because then she let out a laugh.
“Who are you?” I asked blatantly.
“I work for King Adrean,” she said, patting the hilt of the sword at her side. “Just another person in the castle.”
She was definitely more than that.
The way she carried herself, full of confidence—that wasn’t
handed to “just any other person.”
I didn’t press for answers.
“How long will you be here?” I asked, lowering my eyes to the first page of The Elven Princess.
“I actually came for that book,” she said with a smile, again gesturing to the one in my hands. “But that’s alright. I remember it word for word. You can have it this time.”
What did she expect me to do? Thank her?
As she turned to leave the library, she looked over her shoulder, adding, “Page forty-one. That’s my favorite part.” Then, she was gone.
Curious, I turned to page forty-one. The chapter was titled The Serpent’s Scale. I’d read this story before; it was about an elf named Rinos who had been tasked with the duty of slaying an ocean serpent that had been destroying all the ships that dared cross its path, with scales stronger than any metal in existence. He lost hundreds of men, but at the end, he found that the serpent’s weakness was where its scale was missing, right behind its ear. Rinos prepared a harpoon, spearing the creature right through his head.
It was quite a heroic tale and was one of my personal favorites.
I yawned, shutting the book and tucking it under my arm.
Time to rest.
EIGHTEEN
It took another week to hear word from King Adrean. I knew he wasn’t as busy as they said; he enjoyed making me wait. I was in his territory now, and he knew he had the upper hand.
“Do you think we can convince the king to help us fight the drakon?” Lance suddenly asked, looking up from his bowl of broth.
Ashes shook her head. “Never. I’m telling you, he won’t do it. I know my mother too well—she’ll do her best to make this war happen.” She blinked, lifting a goblet to her lips. Then, she tilted her head, frowning, staring off into the distance. “I can’t believe she knows I’m here and hasn’t made an effort to meet me yet.” Ashes scowled, clearly distressed. She tried to portray the fact that she didn’t need her mother at all, but in truth, that was the opposite of what she really wanted.
“Why would she push for this war happen?” Lance asked. “Doesn’t she want what’s best for the kingdom? When is war ever good?”
“She’s . . . aggressive. She’s smart, but in a ‘God of War’ kind of way.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I suppose no amount of
persuading will change her mind?”
“If she treats me—her daughter—with such coldness, I doubt she’d ever listen to you. In fact,” Ashes said with a
smirk, “she sees you as competition. I’ve heard her talking about you a lot—her face goes sour and her eyes narrow into slits. Sometimes, her tongue flicks out like a snake.” She nudged Lance, snickering, “I can swear the end of it is forked.”
Lance raised an eyebrow, eyes meeting mine. “Be careful. She sounds evil. No offense,” he quickly added, his eyes darting to Ashes.
“None taken,” she said, rolling her eyes. “What a bitter woman,” Ashes sighed, shaking her head. “And I know nothing of her past, you know? She barely talks about herself. She can name every poison and its antidote, but she doesn’t even know when my birthday is.”
I pursed my lips. “So? I don’t even know when my birthday is.”
Their heads whipped towards me, wide-eyed.
“You don’t know how old you are?” Ashes asked, taken aback.
“I mean, I know the year, and the queen—Xavier’s mother—always used to pick a day a year to celebrate it, but I don’t know the exact date I was born.”
“You could be thirty!” Lance exclaimed. “This whole time, you could’ve been decades older than me.”
“If I were thirty I’d be less than a decade older than you. Maybe half,” I shook my head in annoyance. “And,” I patted my cheeks, wrinkling my nose, “do I look thirty to you?”
“Thirty?” Ashes gasped in horror. “Why, never. Now, forty-five I could believe.”
Both of them convulsed into fits of laughter, and I flicked Ashes on the forehead.
Before she could retaliate, the doors swung open. A woman
entered—the same one I had met in the library the other night.
Her gray, hawk-like eyes scanned the room, focusing on me.
“Come with me.”
I stood up.
“We’ll come with you,” Lance said, getting to his feet, tapping Ashes, who seemed to have frozen.
“The king wishes to see you alone,” the woman said. She held out her hand. “I’m Aedon.”
Suddenly, it clicked. Ashes’s horrified expression made sense.
This was her all-feared, ‘it’s complicated’ mother.
“Phoenix, would you like to come with me?” I offered sweetly. “You see,” I said, facing Aedon, “I don’t go anywhere without my handmaiden.” I smirked.
That seemed to get Aedon’s attention. Her gray eyes narrowed, head turning eerily slow. Her eyes fixed on her daughter.
“Handmaiden? Is that how low you’ve decided to sink?”
Ashes shot to her feet, her eyes on fire. “Is that the first thing you decide to say after not acknowledging my return for days?”
“I guard a king. That is the highest honor a soldier can receive.”
Ashes rolled her eyes. “I guard no one. Not even a king. We all know how that turned out,” Ashes said, looking at me through the corner of her eye.
I scowled.
“Yes,” Aedon let out a half-hearted sig
h, and with no feeling at all, looked Ashes in the eyes and said, “I didn’t expect you to amount to anything . . . Especially after going off on your own. You were perfectly fine here.” Then, she turned her
attention back to me. She didn’t even seem like the person I had met in the library. “The king is waiting.”
“Phoenix is coming with me,” I said coldly.
“He would like to speak to you alone.”
“Then I won’t speak to him.” I returned to my seat, coolly. “Thank you for your time.”
Aedon raised an eyebrow, resting a hand on her hip.
“You traveled this far only to achieve nothing because of this girl?”
I could feel Ashes burning next to me, fists clenching and unclenching.
“This girl is one of Astodia’s finest soldiers. You should be thanking your god that she decided to come here after the way she’s been treated. Her skills are good enough that I decided to take her in. She,” I said, getting to my feet, at eye-level with the steely-gazed woman before me, my words low but full of power, “is my apprentice.”
Aedon’s guile expression was wiped clean, replaced with a look of disgust.
“I’ll talk to the king and let you know what he decides.” With that, she turned on her heel and pushed through the doors, leaving a hanging silence behind her.
“Your apprentice, huh?” Lance asked with a smirk.
“My mother should be thanking who now?” Ashes said, her angry expression replaced with a sly grin.
“One of Astodia’s finest? Whoa,” Lance said, letting a hand drop over his heart, “I’ve never seen this side of you.”
“Yes, you of all people have. Don’t act so surprised,” I shot back, immediately regretting it. The tips of his ears turned red. “What I mean is,” I said, clearing my throat and collecting myself, “Only I bully you until you have no will to live. Not even your mother gets to do that.”
Ashes’ eyes widened, and I knew exactly what was coming.
“This feeling . . .” She held a hand over her heart, imitating
Lance, “I think I’m falling for you.”
They erupted into cackles, and I couldn’t believe they could actually pass as adults.
“Honestly, you two are embarrassing,” I grumbled, hitting the table with my hip. It skidded, burying itself into Lance’s stomach, whose laughter was immediately cut off. “That’s better.”
I was surprised when I realized the tremors had stopped.
I sat on the wooden bench, completely alone in the courtyard. A target stood a couple of feet in front of me, supported by a wooden stand.
I massaged the inside of my wrist, purposely avoiding eye contact with the bows that lay on the stand to my right.
Could I make the shot if I tried?
No. Go back.
I had to try, or I’d never find out. Sighing, I walked over to the stand and slung a bow over my shoulder, picking up a couple of arrows as well. I returned to my bench, adjusting the string.
I hadn’t put too much strain on my wrist. In fact, I had been treating it as if it was broken, which was wrong. I was supposed to get it back to normal by being active, not letting it hang uselessly by my side.
I stood up, spreading my feet apart and squared my shoulders. Then I raised the bow and nocked an arrow. I aimed for the center.
Still no tremor.
I smiled.
This was it. Everything was back to normal.
I pulled back the bow, squinting, the string brushing the side
of my nose.
And then, there it was. Right before I let go—the shiver.
The arrow sailed, this time hitting the white outer edge of the board. Well, at least it hit something.
The tremor was back, buzzing through my arm as if an angry bee was trapped inside.
Calmly, I walked over to the rack, setting the bow down gently. Keeping a relaxed mind and a steady heart, I returned the arrows to their place.
Then, I spun around and slammed my boot against the whole rack, watching it crash to the ground, falling apart.
Chest rising and falling, I turned away, storming back indoors.
Seeing his face reminded me how much I loathed him.
If only Renée could look past his appeal and realize what a slithering, slimy snake he was.
Alright, snakes weren’t slimy, but he was an exception.
Valentin smirked, seated on the sofa across from me. He had a book open in front of him.
I kept my eyes lowered to the pages of my book, trying hard not to make eye contact.
Valentin kept staring, and I inhaled, then exhaled deeply. He’s not bothering you, I said to myself.
My eyebrow twitched.
“I’m bothering you, aren’t I?”
“Absolutely not,” I said coolly, without looking up. “Carry on.” I was here first, which meant I was going to be the last to leave.
“You’ve become rather pretty since the last time I saw you.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Don’t you have Renée to shower
with your fraudulent displays of charm?”
“What charm?” he asked innocently.
That charm. Valentin’s eyes took me in, examining me. His gaze was almost bewitching, as if he wanted me to know that he knew me inside and out.
He didn’t.
It wasn’t charm, to be honest. It was an eerie beauty, almost, one that drew you in, but also sent shivers up and down your spine.
As if on cue, an icy wind gushed in, slamming open the windows and blowing out the fires.
I could barely see him now, but I could make out his figure and other objects from the silvery cast of the moonlight.
“You know what I have Renée for,” he said, his voice low. “You know what my plans are.”
“It’s obvious. I don’t know why the king is so clueless about it, though,” I said smoothly, shutting the book and setting it beside me.
“He’s not clueless. He thinks I’m stupid and have no power here. He’s wrong, though.” Valentin shook his head, leaning back against the chair and crossing his legs. “He doesn’t know Renée. I have her wrapped around my finger.”
“Alright,” I said, sitting straighter. “Let’s say the kingdom is yours. Then what?”
“What do you mean?”
“What about the drakon?”
That was when Valentin’s expression turned grim.
“I’ve been trying to figure out what to do about that wretched beast. It destroyed three of our towns already, and I can’t afford to lose another one.”
Did he care?
I almost laughed at myself for that thought. Of course he didn’t. He was probably only worried that he’d lose people that worshipped him.
He scowled. “You think it’s funny, don’t you?” I realized I was smiling unintentionally. “I wouldn’t expect more from a murderer.” Now, the smile was gone. “That seems to get to you, doesn’t it? Being called a murderer?”
“I was protecting my kingdom.”
“By tearing apart families?”
“It was my duty, and I served well.”
“Your duty to protect the king? Look how that turned out,” he scoffed. “You let him die too easily, Adalia. The same thing will happen to Lorelle and Zinovia. You will lose them because you fail to complete your goal every. Single. Time.”
I swallowed, anger bubbling inside me. I wanted to tell him he was wrong, but he was, in fact, correct.
When I had been an assassin for King Sadim, my job had been to protect him and Xavier. I failed both missions, leading to the death of both of them . . . well, Xavier faked his, but it was still a failure on my part. I left Lance behind and lost the only friends I ever had. I put Jax and Isabel in danger and lost most of my crew on the way to and from Trella, and, on top of that, I unleashed a beast upon the kingdoms, one which no one has the power to fight against. What could possibly destroy a fire of that eminence?
In my life, my worst fea
r had been failing. But thinking back now, I realized suddenly that my whole life had been one big epic mess.
I clenched my twitching wrist. It seemed that whenever I got stressed, the tremors became worse.
Valentin stood up, walking towards me. Then, as if it was an entirely casual thing to do, he sat down next to me.
“Your arm, let me see it.”
“What the hell do you think you’re—” He cut me off by grabbing it forcefully, pressing one cold thumb against the
center of my forearm.
“They told me they hit you when you were running. I knew it wouldn’t be fatal because of the location of the injury, but I was positive it would be damaging—how much, I couldn’t guess. The broadhead arrow could never be able to come out without severing vital—”
“Don’t touch me,” I said, yanking back my arm. “Your purpose was to make me despise myself or lose motivation. Well, it didn’t work.” I stood up abruptly, but he gripped my arm in a steely, vise-like grip.
I was going to punch a hole through his Highness’s face.
The prince stood up as well, towering over me.
“What if I asked you to join me?” he said. Valentin had a look in his eyes, one that I had never seen on the calm, collected prince’s face. “You and I would be undefeatable. Untouchable. Imagine that.”
I looked down at his fingers which gripped my arm so tightly I could feel my fingers throbbing.
And I took a moment to imagine it.
If I joined Valentin and the drakon somehow managed to get out of the picture, Valentin was right. With my help, Valentin would take over Dystalphi, no doubt about it. Next, he would take Crea, which was fairly easy because he’d have me on the inside. The hardest kingdom to destroy would be Astodia. Lorelle was strong and she had clever, powerful alliances.
But even so, she wouldn’t last. It would be three against one.
So what on earth was stopping me?
I could feel my fingers turning blue.
I thought for what seemed like an eternity, and Valentin waited patiently. It was then when I realized I was valuable to
him. He didn’t hate me, he hated that I wasn’t on his side.
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