“He’s only doing it to appease my uncle.”
“You’re a terrible liar. I’ve known Castiel since we were children, and I’ve never seen him respond to anyone the way he does you. He loves you.”
I swallowed against the rising lump in my throat.
“And you love him,” she finished with a nod. “The once terrifying Demon Daughter of Eira has grown softer than an Anolynian lamb.”
I jabbed my elbow into her side, but she didn’t so much as flinch to the assault. I scanned her profile, admiring the strength in every line of her features. “I’m happy for you. And the king.”
Her gaze caught mine. “I told him he should choose you.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
She shrugged. “Before I left to search for your killer, I impressed upon him the importance of such an alignment and told him he should pursue you.”
Annoyance flushed through me. I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, he didn’t.”
One brow shot up as she regarded me.
I rolled my eyes. “It worried me that he suddenly became more familiar and cordial, but nothing more.”
She huffed a laugh, her attention returning to her betrothed.
“What made you decide to accept him?” I asked.
“I didn’t accept him. He accepted me.” She spared me a rueful smile, a laugh in her eyes. “The whole time I was gone, I cursed my foolishness. When we heard you’d been captured, I was worried, but once we found you and you were relatively sound—” She snorted, scanning me from head to toe. “—I decided to put the screw to my mother’s words. When we returned, I asked him to marry me.”
Just then Riaan glanced over to his fiancée with a look so smoldering that I blushed for her.
I coughed, glancing away. “I’m happy for you. But what of your mother? And why haven’t I seen her?”
Melia’s expression was vacant. “I haven’t discussed my attachment to the king yet. And since she’s left, I won’t be able to discuss it with her anytime soon.”
“She left?” Why did a sense of panic suddenly fill my chest? “When will she be back?”
Her shoulders lifted. “Next week. Next year. I never know. She said something vague about preparing for the imminent battle she feels is coming.”
“That’s helpful.”
Melia hummed her agreement.
A rush of voices caught my attention as the meeting around the king’s desk broke apart. Castiel and Riaan moved to our sides, followed by the generals, their expressions grim.
Riaan spoke first. “Princess Ilianna, we’ll triple the guard around your uncle. In the morning we’ll see what his answer is and when he intends to return home. Melia, we need you to send the falcry—”
“Not Ketrina,” Melia interrupted. “She’s still too young.”
Riaan nodded. “Send Gomez and Verity then, with a message to the borders to discover if what Johan is saying is true and if his men are really outside the boundaries. We’ll also send spies to the town to locate these men Johan says are there.”
“Will the people travel back to their homes tonight?” I asked as Johan’s threat repeated within my mind.
General Amara answered. “The closest towns may, although most will stay in tents on our grounds.”
“Perhaps when they leave it would be best to have them escorted back with guards.”
Riaan nodded. “Do you think Johan’s men would attack the town?”
My eyes narrowed. Could the king know of Johan’s plans? I didn’t dare ask. “If what Johan says is true and he does have men here, and he feels provoked to do so… yes. He will.”
Riaan gave Castiel a meaningful glance. “Then we’ll have no choice but to find these men and silence them.”
“And you don’t think killing them will set off Johan?” I asked as alarm coursed through me.
He smiled. “Who said anything about killing them? That won’t happen unless they make the first move. We’ll just send two ready men for every one of Johan’s and be prepared for the worst. Right, Generals?”
Dag, Beau, and Amara all gave their verbal consent, but Vega only nodded, watching me with an unreadable expression. I met his glare with my own until he left with the others to carry out his kings’ orders.
I waited for them to shut the door, then turned to those who remained. “Cyris?”
“He’ll watch your uncle and report when he can,” Riaan said.
Castiel touched my shoulder. “We need to return to the festivities. We don’t want the townsfolk to think there is anything wrong.” His hand swept a strand of wild hair from my shoulder. Then he cursed again.
I jumped. “What—”
“He did hurt you.” His fingers reached to touch my neck, but I covered the damage with my hand and winced at the pain. Johan had drawn blood.
“It’s only a scratch.”
Castiel’s eyes grew large. “It’s only a—Ilianna—”
“If you please, gentlemen, I’ve had an incredibly long night, and with the recent…” My voice trailed off; I was more tired than I had ever been. “I wish to retire to my bed. Please.”
Concern and some other emotion I couldn’t put a name to deepened the wrinkles of Castiel’s handsome face.
I intertwined my fingers with his. “Please.”
I could sense Riaan watching us—feel his eyes upon our connected hands. How strange it was for him to see me allow any affection—to allow any type of contact at all. But Castiel’s touch was different. “Brother,” the king said, “Ilianna may retire, but I need you to return with me.”
Castiel nodded, his thumb rubbing circles upon my skin. “Very well. I’ll escort Ilianna to her room and meet you after.”
That satisfied Riaan, who offered his arm to Melia and left.
As we walked, music floated to us from the festivities below. An eerie chill crept through my body. The good people of Anolyn had no idea that at this precise time, a madman held the closest town hostage, plotting to kill each and every one of them when they returned if I didn’t obey his wishes.
“Why didn’t you use your magic on your uncle?” Castiel asked, breaking through my morose thoughts.
“I—” I clamped my mouth shut.
“You are powerful, Ilianna. More so than you know.”
I huffed out a breath. “But all my life, I’ve hated magicians. And when I realized what I was becoming, I kept it hidden to stop my uncle from gaining the satisfaction that I was the magician he always wanted. I can’t give him that satisfaction now.”
“That doesn’t matter anymore. You’re not the same little girl. What you did at the First Harvest—no one so inexperienced as you are has ever been able to do so much. You either learn to use your magic to defend yourself or get comfortable with me never leaving your side.”
As we moved down the hallway leading to the prince’s private suites, he halted me by the wrist and pulled me close. One hand wrapped behind my back, possessively, the other lifted my face, bringing our lips nearly touching.
My breath hitched in my lungs and fire exploded to his touch.
“And I mean never, Ilianna. You’ll be so sick of me, but I won’t care. I’ll protect you from even yourself if you won’t see it my way.”
“That won’t be necessary,” I said, leaning away from him.
“Then stop hesitating. Stop holding back. If you keep practicing and using this magic as a day-to-day thing, you’ll become even more powerful than that parlor trick you rely on. The Demon Daughter will have nothing on Ilianna Drakara.”
A pang of jealousy hit, strange and intense, but it didn’t come from me. Nervously, I tucked away the bizarre sensation. “Very well,” I said, stepping from his grasp. The heat from his body fled. I wished I could stay in his arms forever, but I couldn’t. Castiel couldn’t be with me for what I had to do. “I’ll practice with Sameen before I retire. Thank you for seeing me to my room—to your room.”
He gently placed his fingers along the l
ength of my jaw. “I will be back as soon as I can. There’ll be extra guards at both yours and your uncle’s doors. He will not bother you again tonight.”
No, he wouldn’t. He had already given me the message he wanted to give, and now he would expect nothing but complete obedience.
“Nothing’s going to be the same after tonight, is it?” I asked, knowing the truth whether he chose to answer or not.
Castiel’s touch stilled. “No. But do we want it to stay the same?” He pressed his lips to the inside of my palm in a pleasingly intimate gesture, then spun on his heel and left me at his door.
I froze, in awe of the man who had offered for me. He was heart-shattering and remarkable in every way, but could he ever be mine? Cold seeped into my pores.
Sameen arrived, exhausted and a little befuddled from too much drink. When I made to apologize for interrupting her fun, she waved it off. “Nonsense. After your uncle arrived, I sobered right up.” She shivered, giving me a knowing glance, then proceeded to change me from my evening dress into my nightgown. “I knew you’d be needing me, and rightly so. Besides, it’s better to leave the merriment to the youth, whose bodies will not suffer much for their revelries.”
A low fire crackled in the prince’s spacious bedroom suite. While my lady’s maid prepared our bed, I perused Castiel’s room, even glancing within his armoire when Sameen wasn’t watching. Not that I found anything worth sneaking a peek at. Castiel was apparently a minimalist, his possessions relatively few compared to what… well, what I expected of other royalty.
It was hard to pull my thoughts away from the nauseating fact that my uncle festered within what had become my home, infecting its walls with his sickness. Regardless, I directed Sameen to sit across from me on the floor. I hadn’t practiced my magic in days. Melora’s potion stayed tucked away; I didn’t dare use it. I couldn’t afford to be weary. Sameen, on the other hand, I needed to tire out, and I had only a few hours in which to do so.
Then I would finally face my uncle.
And die.
I shook away the thought and gathered different objects of all shapes and sizes. First I focused on casting things away from me as the prince had taught me to do, but when I tried to bring them back, nothing worked. Castiel was able to lift Lieutenant Scores off the ground several inches. I either didn’t have that power or didn’t know how to hone it. But then I remembered something else.
On the day of the First Harvest as well as the night of my abduction, I had been able to work through touch. And not even direct touch.
I took a deep breath and placed my hands flat to the cold stone floor. It was harder without the seer’s potion, but not impossible. I closed my eyes, envisioning the objects Sameen placed on the ground in front of her. After a few minutes of concentration, I moved the book a fraction. Then a few minutes later, I drew it halfway to me. Then all the way. Sameen, who watched in awe, clapped her approval.
“I’ve never seen Castiel use his magic that way. It’s—”
“Absurd,” I finished for her, but it was what I could do.
“It’s not absurd,” she said. “Think about it, Ilianna. It’s different. That means it’ll be unexpected. That is always a good thing.”
And she was right. Tucking my frustration, I splayed my fingers upon the cold floor. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the feel of every divot and groove of the stone. I breathed and pressed firmly against it.
Warmth pulsed in my fingers and traveled up my arms. A delicious excitement lifted the corners of my mouth as I sensed several lifeforces pressing back. Each had a different flavor and temperature. A book, a plant, and Sameen, who prayed to the gods to give me strength.
Drawing upon our connection, I tugged, and Sameen gasped. “What in Anolyn’s blue sky—” A rush of shocking curses flooded the room as she flew across the floor on her bottom. She slid to a stop in front of me, her skirts scrunched in an unladylike heap above her knees.
Despite the foreboding gloom that had settled upon me, a laugh bubbled past my lips. Two guards ran into the room, armed and ready. Sameen jumped to her feet faster than I’d ever seen her move and shoved them back out the doors.
She turned to me, hands on her hips. “Next time, young lady, move the plant!”
Sameen snored soundly. Exhaustion had claimed her quickly, rendering it unnecessary for me to fake my own sleep. Curled up on my side and beneath the comfort of several layers of blankets, I watched the door to Castiel’s room in the low light of a dying fire until the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. A cold draft was the only sign of intrusion.
Siana.
An involuntary chill crawled my skin as the slippery devil, cloaked in black, slid through the prince’s window without a whisper. I sat up, and she froze, waiting for my reaction. I held her gaze. Then, not really knowing what I did, I carefully pressed my fingers to Sameen’s cheek. Concentrating on my powers, I willed her to stay asleep before I slipped from bed.
The assassin’s invisible blade pressed against my back as I crept to the far end of the room, but if Siana wanted to kill me, I doubted there was much I could do to stop her.
Her voice came to me from over my shoulder, too close for comfort. “You wanted to talk to me?” Amusement shone in her eyes, but her face was a stone mask. Beneath her cloak, she wore leathers of black that hugged her uniquely curved body.
Forcibly, I reminded myself to breathe, more anxious than I cared to display. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come.”
“I was intrigued. But I’m even more shocked that the prince has you in his quarters. Castiel has never had a woman in his chambers before. Ever.”
I cataloged that piece of information. “I need to get out of my room. Tonight. Without the prince knowing.”
She lowered the hood of her cloak. One brow raised. “To escape?”
Spine rigid, I forced myself to say the words out loud. “To kill my uncle.”
Silence settled within the room. I fought the desire to squirm beneath her narrowed gaze. Finally, she spoke. “And why would you want to do that?”
“For the very reason you would want to… and more. Johan is forcing me to leave. He doesn’t want a union between kingdoms. It’s all been a lie.”
“What does he want?” she asked carefully.
If I only knew. “Whatever it is, it won’t be good.”
Suddenly, I doubted my haphazard plan, but it was the only one I had. Death mocked me, ready to claim me one way or the other. Either I would die facing my uncle, or the reaper would accept my soul when I lost it to the Wraith Queen herself.
“The king and his brother will be busy with their men tonight, ensuring the safety of their people against your crackpot uncle. I must protect the crown. What made you think I’d help you?”
I paced to the low fire in the grate. The last time I’d faced my uncle, I had lost, but I was unarmed and unprepared. The memory of it burned beneath my ear. It had been right after my most recent punishment, carried out by Weylan himself. Beaten to the brink of bitterness, I didn’t think my uncle could subject me to anything crueler than he’d already done. But then he announced his plan to give me to the king of Anolyn.
It was the last straw.
I had grabbed the closest weapon to me, a letter opener, and advanced on him, but he was quicker. His weapon? An iron poker pulled from the red-hot flames of his hearth. My punishment remained for everyone to see, a reminder of what Johan was capable of.
Practically the only father I had ever known, he never loved me, and he never would. I was nothing to him other than a way to gain influence over his people and power over his enemies.
I rolled my neck to alleviate the imaginary pain. “All I need is for you to make my guards disappear.”
“When?”
I glanced at the sleeping form of my lady’s maid. “Soon. Within the hour.”
Siana huffed, her voice low. “You ask a lot, don’t you?”
My gaze returned to the assassin. �
��And I’ll need a weapon.”
She froze. Then a hint of a smile tugged at her mouth. Wordlessly, she unbuckled her belt strapped with not one, but two long daggers. Keeping her eyes on me, she dropped them into my outstretched hands.
Death of a Maid
Silence blanketed the castle. An eerie moon shone brightly upon the grounds, highlighting a sea of tents filled with slumbering countrymen. Sameen rested in a deep sleep and hopefully would stay that way until it was all over. The assassin had left the same way she had entered, and I waited impatiently for her signal.
I didn’t have to wait long. A rap at the door sounded. I scuttled to the bed where Sameen still slept and again pressed my fingers to her skin. A pulse of magic vibrated through my touch.
“Sleep sound,” I said, then exited the room.
The assassin waited for me beyond the threshold. Two guards stood several paces away, their back toward us. I raised my brows, gesturing to them.
She shrugged. “The best I could do in such short time was to replace your current guards with my own men. They are loyal to the crown, and to me.”
I nodded, slipping down the hallway the opposite direction, but the assassin’s continued presence pushed against me. I whirled. “What do you think you’re doing?"
“Protecting my investment. If you’re unsuccessful, I’ll be there to clean up the mess. Can’t have this come back on me.”
I hummed. “So you’ll kill me if I fail?” An old fear threatened, nearly changing my mind altogether, but I couldn’t run anymore. Not from my uncle, not from the Wraith Queen, and not from Anolyn’s assassin. I added Siana to the growing list of people that wanted me dead.
She smiled. “I’ll kill your uncle, too, if that makes you feel better.”
I huffed a laugh. “Actually, it does.”
Taking a deep breath, I headed toward my old room. Down a flight of stairs, I paused to peek around the corner to ensure the hallway was clear. I slowed to a crawl, then around another corner.
Two shadowed mounds littered the ground in front of what should have been my uncle’s room. A hitch in my throat stopped any warning as the assassin rushed past me. She dropped to her knees to inspect the bodies. “Your uncle’s men,” she said, telling me what I already knew. “Dead.”
Of Blood and Deceit Page 31
