by Mary Weber
“Such boldness. Let me guesss—jealous of her beauty? Because, in point of fact, it’s her political cunning that will take her far.”
I ignore his slight and try to keep my eyes from Eogan and Adora, both of whom I can feel staring at my back. “But what’s she really here for? And what can she do as a Mortisfaire?”
“Ah. I see.” He keeps his hand on my waist and glides us around another couple. “Those, my dear, are the golden-egged questions, aren’t they? Look around—everyone’s dying to find out and yet terrified. So consider it an honor I happen to know more than them, and that I’ve, thus far, allowed you to live long enough to ask. Simply put, she’s here to offer the help of the Dark Army she’s been putting together right under Bron’s nose. As far as being a Mortisfaire, I’m certain you’ve heard she’s a descendant on her mother’s side of that particular Uathúil lineage. A certain sect of maidens able to kill a person by turning his heart to stone. Very intriguing. And quite useful.”
A shiver skitters down my spine. “How does she do it?”
“A whispered word, I’m told.”
“So even you admit she’s dangerous. And King Sedric thinks it’s wise accepting her offer of an army supposedly made of monsters?”
“My dear girl, wars are won by taking risksss. And monsters? Where do you get your information?”
“So you admire her, and King Sedric interacts with her. A little ironic considering your intolerance for Elementals, don’t you think?”
“Perhaps because Elementals are rumored to be the more dangerous. But tell me, is that a confessssion I hear? An official admission that you are, in fact, an Elemental?”
I clear my throat and try to keep my voice steady. “I’d like to know when and where the Bron airships will strike.”
He startles a second before breaking into laughter. “What makes you think I know?”
“You’re spying for them. I trust you’ve got your own backside covered enough to avoid the explosion areas. Like the High Court or Castle, for instance—when do they plan to hit those?”
“Oh my dear, what incredible spunk you have. It’s a shame you’re working with Eogan. But for amusement’s sake—because truly, you do amuse me—let’s sssay I knew.” He twirls me beneath his arm until I’m an awkward mess of arms and legs. “Why in Faelen would I tell you?”
“To spare unnecessary deaths. To recant your patheticness before I tell Adora.”
“Let’s see . . . the first does nothing for me. And the second will only get your boy over there killed. Speaking of which, he seems quite interested in usss this evening. Shall we give him something to wonder about?”
“Leave him out—”
His icy lips press over mine in a slippery kiss. But before I can push him away, he’s already grabbed my wrist and whirled me in the direction of Eogan. Then reels me back in with a smug expression aimed at the trainer.
“Are you trying to set me off?” I say furiously. “And I swear if you so much as touch Eogan, a hail of—”
“How perfectly delightful it would be to set you off,” he whispers, and a mental image emerges of the two of us standing side by side, crowned and robed, beneath a lightning storm raining destruction on all five kingdoms. He smiles. “Imagine the fun we’d have together. And Eogan knows it. Just look at how he’s watching usss. So cold. So callous. Disapproving of such brazen fraternizing between an old student and a new.” He shakes his head and sighs. “Once a trainer, always a trainer.”
I start in shock.
“That’s right. Didn’t he tell you? I was his first and most powerful pupil. Until we parted ways many yearsss ago. Then you came along.” He runs an icy finger down my cheek. “I wonder . . . are you more powerful than me?”
He’s a Uathúil too? Keep him talking, Nym. “What’s your power?”
He leans so close his mouth touches my ear. “Sometime I’d like to show you. But for now, if you’ll excussse me, I think Princess Rasha has just arrived. Which ought to be fascinating watching her and Lady Isobel paired next to each other in Adora’s houssse, don’t you think?” He spins me away and strolls off, leaving me to regain my balance in front of Eogan.
CHAPTER 24
EOGAN’S FACE IS A MASKED WALL AS HE WATCHES Myles stride away.
I dust off the lord protectorate’s clammy slime from my arms and mutter, “You didn’t tell me he was your pupil.”
Eogan shifts his cool gaze to mine. His eyes drop to my lips, and a glint of irritation flares, then disappears. “There are a lot of things I don’t tell you. And, clearly, there’s no need seeing as you’ve quite an effective way of soliciting information on your own.”
I frown. “He kissed me. And I believe soliciting information was the reason for us attending these parties.”
“That’s a bit daft considering today’s conversation and the fact that I specifically asked you to leave Myles to me.”
An instant later his expression brightens with fakeness. “Ah, Colin! Perfect timing. I think Nym was hoping you’d keep her company for a while. If you’ll both excuse me . . .”
He walks off as Colin bumps my arm and chuckles. I paste a grin on my face before I’m tempted to rip his off and hope to kracken he doesn’t notice me shaking. “So you survived the lovestruck mermaids.” I nod to the dance floor. “For a minute there I thought we’d see blood and limbs flying.”
He flexes. “I was like music for those ol’ gals. So, you gonna tell me what you an’ Master Bolcrane did today? And please don’t let it be that you destroyed half the Bron armada without me.”
“Only a third of it,” I correct, and then smirk when he can’t tell I’m teasing. I start to fill him in on our trip to the valley but stop when it’s clear he’s never visited the place and his only interest is whether violence was involved. “So what’d you do all day?” I ask instead.
“Slept in the library most of it. Until Adora caught me. She wanted to go over her plan for me an’ you savin’ the world. It’s a pretty good one actually.”
I’m immediately all ears. “Go on.”
He scratches his bald head before ducking close. “Okay, so here’s the thing. Rumor has it that the top Bron generals really ’ave taken the pass just above Litchfell Forest. And there’s goin’ to be a meetin’ in a keep there in two days time. Right around the same place that the dwarf said the plague hit. Good cover, huh?”
I wait, with a premonition that says I’m not going to like the rest.
“All we do is sneak in an’ assassinate—”
I’m shaking my head before he finishes. “No. No way. I’m not killing them.”
“Nym, you can’t be serious. Don’t you get it? Like Eogan said—they’re going to wipe out Faelen if we don’t.”
“Like Eogan said.” And yet he seemed to say differently today. I shake my head again. “How about let’s not talk about it tonight?” I say to Colin. Mainly because I don’t want to fight about it. My head hurts and I don’t know what to think, and Eogan’s got me confused again.
“Tell me about Princess Rasha,” I add with my sweetest smile, hoping he’ll take the drift in topic.
“Did you see her? She’s got reddish eyes. Talk about strange. Bet it’d scare the bloomers off Breck to know I stood near her.”
I follow his hand to where he’s pointing, but the crowd blocks my view as they’re abruptly moving toward Adora’s banquet hall. Someone’s just announced it’s time to eat.
“Did you see Breck today?” I ask hesitantly. We trail behind the flow of guests to the wide doors until we hit a wall of bodies caught up in conversation.
“Nah, Lady Isobel’s been too busy bossin’ ’er around.” Colin presses us forward to see what the interruption is just as I catch my name spoken unusually loud.
“My precious nephew and twice-removed niece,” Adora is saying as the crowd shifts, revealing the twisted grin plaguing her face. “You’ll have to forgive Nym though. It’s hardly been over three weeks since I rescued her from h
er horrendous life—what with her parents and the favor house.”
I stall as my stomach hits the floor.
“Accidentally set the house on fire with the morning coals. Literally killed her parents in their beds. I’ve always chosen to believe she didn’t know what she was doing, poor thing. Can you imagine murdering your own parents?” The words—even as they’re spitting from her mouth, I’m silently begging her to reel them back. What is she saying? What is she doing?
She turns to stare straight at me, as if surprised I’m standing there, except her glare makes it clear she knew. Her dress swishes as she steps aside for her listeners to get a complete look at her subject of humiliation. “You can imagine how unstable she still is because of it. I’m only glad I found her in time to save her from the favor-house life she would’ve gone back to.”
Lord Myles’s smirk is unconscionable, but it’s not him I’m seeing. King Sedric, a woman I presume is Princess Rasha, Colin beside me—they all blur together as my gaze comes to rest on the one person I can’t bear to hear this.
Eogan.
I watch his face blanch as my soul slides open in front of him. My chest shaking and my eyes freezing in place in confirmation of Adora’s words. I killed my parents. The only parts she’s left out are the Elemental aspect and the fact that my time at the favor house lasted less than five hours before I destroyed everything within a half-terrameter radius.
My mouth turns acidic, and my legs begin to quake so hard it’s like they’re echoing the crumbling inside of me. I can’t breathe. How she found out about those things is inconceivable. I don’t even bother to excuse myself. I rush off to find a servant’s passage to die in.
When I reach a hallway, it’s occupied, and just as I’m hurrying past to find another corridor, it dawns on me that the people standing in it are Lady Isobel and Breck. I pause, and they both tip their heads up. Isobel’s expression turns to annoyance. Has she been lecturing the poor servant?
“I expect those things washed by morning,” I hear her say loudly, then she turns on her heel and strides for the door leading outside. Not even bothering to look back at us.
“Breck?”
She ignores me and feels her way into a side hall that goes to the kitchen.
I lean against the wood-paneled wall and slide to the ground. If I shut my eyes, perhaps I can pretend this evening is just a trick of the light and I’ll be back in the valley with Eogan, with the magic and crystal shield and his whispered breath in my hair. What’s going on with Breck . . . What Eogan thinks of me . . . I have no idea. Not that it matters. Because I don’t want it to matter.
But it all matters.
One minute, three minutes, ten minutes go by. I don’t move.
“I don’t know what you’ve done to infuriate Lady Adora, but that was unkind of her.”
I spin to find the Luminescent, Princess Rasha, watching me. What’d she do—follow me?
I glare at her. Maybe eighteen or nineteen, her hair is the beautiful color of the cocoa stone and her skin like a rich sunburn, and Colin’s right—there’s a peculiar red hue to her gaze as she takes in my face, my shame, my Elemental eyes.
“What do you want?” I mutter.
She steps forward and stares harder at me, and for whatever reason I can’t look away.
“She’s not your aunt,” she says, and it’s a realization, not a question. She nods. “Explains her attitude.”
“She’s my owner,” I say, so we’re perfectly clear.
The Luminescent nods again. “Owner of your body perhaps, but not your spirit.”
A rush of tears attacks my throat. I stifle them back and ask again, “What do you want?”
“To offer friendship, I think. For a time when you’ll need it. The spirit in you isn’t broken, just unbelieving. But in order to fly . . .” She holds out an airy hand. “You hold the key to your own cage.”
Is she on some sort of herbs? I pull back as if she’s offered poison. She sounds like Eogan. “Excuse me,” I mutter, and, stumbling to my feet, I practically throw myself down the hall and out the servants’ door, gulping in the cool air against my hot face.
I find the path that leads toward the barn and start down it, head throbbing under my fingers. Somewhere ahead of me a woman giggles. Whoever it is I hope she chokes.
When the pouty laugh surfaces again, I look up.
And come to a full stop in front of Eogan, who’s entwined in the arms of the Drust ambassador, Isobel.
“You always were more stubborn than your Bron brother,” she says as he lifts his gaze to meet mine.
CHAPTER 25
EOGAN’S FACE IS STIFF AS STONE AS ISOBEL SLIDES her hand across his chest. And even though he’s not reciprocating, I’m fully aware he’s not stepping away from her either.
She covers her mouth in mock surprise and, edging around him, winks at me. “Ooh, looks like we’ve been caught. And by the slave girl training to be a soldier.”
My eyes flash to Eogan. My throat goes dry.
“Oh, don’t worry,” she soothes. “He didn’t rat on you. I already knew what you were the moment I saw you. Eogan always was the best at training others to do the dirty work for him, weren’t you, darling? Although . . .” She climbs her fingers up his chest, and a pang of jealousy shoves against my ribs. “It’s only recently I heard you’d surfaced to trade in real soldiers to train Uathúils.” She looks back at me. “Which begs the question, what kind are you?”
Eogan pulls her hand off him. “That’s enough, Isobel.”
The lady laughs. “Oh come now. Surely the girl can speak for herself. Or has King Odion’s twin lost his sense of patience?”
My gaze darts to Eogan’s face, and I’m abruptly coughing on my own air as I take a step back from both of them. King Odion’s twin? Is she jesting? But no, she’s not. Suddenly my tongue’s forgotten how to move and my head’s reeling like a swing because that blasted spasm of jealousy has been joined by confusion and pain gouging my gut. What the hulls, Eogan? I can’t speak even if I wanted to.
His expression is furious and he’s abruptly peeling himself from her. “Isobel, enough. Nym, go inside.”
“Well now, you’ve just made it awkward.” She pouts. “Is it because I spilled your little secret, Ezeoha? It’s not as if they won’t find out once Odion comes tromping through. And look at her—she won’t tell anyone. I’m sure the poor thing’s got secrets of her own. Anyway, someone in her position’s just grateful to be alive, aren’t you, dear? From the looks of it, she’s far too weak-minded to consider betraying an heir to the throne.”
“Eogan—”
“Eogan, is it?” The woman’s lips curl. “On a first-name basis, I see. How interesting.” She sharpens her gaze, giving me a once-over through the lantern-lit dark. She puts a hand on his shoulder and leans up to his ear, watching my reaction. I steady my chin and hope the rising anger hides the raw jealousy now eating its way through my skin.
She steps forward but pauses when I square my shoulders and glare.
“Oh Ezeoha,” she purrs, “I do believe her secrets are even more entertaining than I thought. This Uathúil has a thing for you.” She reaches toward me, but Eogan’s hand is swift as he pulls her back. Her tone twists clear as death. “Trust me, sweetie, he’s only capable of one love interest, and you’re not his type.”
If I strike her with lightning, can I take them both out? I let the sky overhead rumble as Eogan issues a warning, but, abruptly, Colin’s running over, waving his arm. He stops when he sees Lady Isobel, then blurts out, “A messenger just told King Sedric that the Barren Cliffs have been breache—”
His sentence is cut off by a deafening explosion.
It sounds exactly as if the sky’s falling.
Eogan grabs Colin and me and shoves us down as the ground shivers. The air fills with roaring and my gut drops into my knees. The sound keeps going, rattling my teeth, my head, my fingers. Isobel also stoops just as another eruption hits and my eardrums nea
rly burst.
Then Colin’s shoving Eogan off of us, yelling something. We follow his pointing finger toward the valley between us and the High Court.
It’s bathed in orange flames.
I start running, but Eogan lashes out for my hand. It takes a moment before I stop fighting him long enough to decipher his moving lips. “Go inside!”
I shake my head just as more mini-explosions catch my attention, farther off along the mountains. They’re travelling down the entire Hythra Crescent. A chain of tangerine glows spark up in the distance, and my heart ignites with grief and fury all in one beat.
Eogan’s grip firms as he turns to Colin. “Both of you go change into your leathers.” He presses us toward the house as Adora’s guests spill out in a scene identical to the one my first night here.
Except this time the bombs aren’t trial runs.
Abruptly, Adora is beside us, yelling commands before turning and saying, “Eogan, please join me in my chambers. The High Council wishes your presence. Colin and Nym, go to your rooms. Lady Isobel, you’ll understand if I graciously ask that you get comfortable in your room until we have an assessment on the situation. After that, we’d appreciate your presence and input as well.”
Isobel smiles. “Of course. I suddenly feel a headache coming on anyway. You’ll send the blind servant up with tea, I expect.” She presses fingers to her temple and, shooting a seductive smile at Eogan, struts through the excited crowd to the house. From the corner of my eye, I catch Myles standing in the center of the frenzy, staring up at the blaze with a twisted grin on his face. Then Colin and Adora are following Isobel. Eogan clamps a hand on my shoulder to push me after them.
“The world’s going to hulls and she needs a cup of tea?” I say in a withering tone. “Nice girlfriend you’ve got there.”
He propels me faster. “Don’t, Nym. This isn’t the time.”
“Right. Because then we’d have to talk about what a complete liar Eogan, King Odion’s twin, is, wouldn’t we? Does Adora know?”
He catches the servants’ door and holds it open as another blast ignites the dark in the distance, mirroring the blaze in his eyes. “No. And we’ll discuss this later. Go to your room and wait for me.” His voice lowers. “Don’t make me lock you in.”
