“What are you doing here?!” hissed a voice.
My head whirled to see Torrin. There was a fierce rage on his face that turned to bewilderment as I charged at him and pressed my dagger to his throat.
“You…” I growled, shoving him back against the castle wall. “Tell me you didn’t have a part in this.” Tears began spilling out of my eyes, but otherwise, my face showed no weakness. Silas had said they were friends, but did he betray him? Take away one of the people he loved most? I didn’t even have time to register that my damned elixir failed. “Tell me!”
Torrin was taken aback. “Why do you always think the worst of me? Are you crazy?” He went to move, and I pushed my dagger harder against his throat.
“Move, and I will kill you,” I seethed. “Who is it? Who is Kayin, Torrin?”
He clenched his jaw, angry brown eyes bouncing between mine.
“WHO?” I yelled.
“Keep it down!” he hissed. “Fuck,” he muttered in defeat. “I don’t know, and before you slice my neck open, I mean it. Kayin claimed to be a seer like Igon. She was somehow able to utilizemygift to speak with you, to speak with me. Turns out it wasn’t a shared ability but one that was…borrowed, somehow.”
“Damnit, Torrin! And you just trusted this voice?” I had trusted her, too. I was a damn fool.
He tensed. “She knew things only a seer could know. Trust me, I didn’t just believe her with nothing to back it up.” He sighed and gently touched my arm.
I shook it off. “What information did she give that made you trust her? When did you know?”
He bit his lip, clearly wishing not to tell me, then sighed. “Kayin told me three years ago that Silas La’Rune would find his Soul-Tie at sixteen years of age. That she would be a red-haired girl living in the Outer Ring…and that she would be a Mage.”
My body stilled, and I looked at him in disbelief. “Soul-Tie? I don’t under—”
“You two were fated for one another, Lena. A Soul-Tie connection is a gift from the Goddess Celluna—” He winced. “Kayin also said you were not well versed in the Gods or Goddesses.”
I widened my eyes. It was true I knew little of the Gods the Mages served, though I was aware they shared names with the human ones. I knew little of my culture at all. Mother and I were always so scared of being discovered that we kept most talk of heritage to a minimum.
And a Soul-Tie…that would explain why Silas would be drawn to someone like me. If something like that really existed, anyway.
“I knew to trust her when I saw you, Lena,” Torrin continued, my dagger still pressed into his neck. “And Igon had told me before I departed from Ames that I would have someone speak destiny to me. He didn’t specifically say who or what. But Kayin spoke just as he said the person would. Gave direction.”
“Why?” I pressed. “Why tell you all of this? And if she were truly on the Queen’s side, why didn’t she see this coming? Why didn't she stop it?”
“I don’t know.” His eyes bounced between mine in despair. “I was just as shocked by all of this as you. Kayin told me last night that she accomplished what she needed using my gift. And that she will speak to me again when the time is right.” He gazed into my eyes with intensity. “Iswearto you, Lena, I had no idea that the Queen was going to be killed.”
I shook. “Kayin told me to go to Ames with you…tomorrow. Did she tell you that?”
“She did.”
“So, was it she who killed the Queen? And what of Silas? How do we know he is safe?” My lip trembled. “I won’t be goinganywhereif I think he’s—”
“I know,” he interrupted gently. “The person responsible for the Queen’s death has already been captured. I know not the details, but apparently, the King discovered the scene shortly after the woman took her life.”
My stomach sank.
“A…woman?” I loosened the pressure of my weapon against Torrin’s neck.
His jaw flexed. “I haven’t been told who specifically was caught.”
“So, it could be her?”
“I…I don’t know,” he whispered.
I glanced up at the towering black fortress. Could Kayin be a prisoner in the castle?
“I can’t believe this,” I breathed as I lowered my dagger.
