His hand trembled as he lifted it first to his mouth, then, as if he didn’t know what to do with it, smoothed it over the hair at his forehead. King Altos swiveled his eyes to Daris, who confirmed with a brief nod.
“So,” Terena continued in the silence, “I, more than anyone, know what the shroud is. And I say again, the one you have is fake. So trade it for Pytho. Please.”
The king did not speak, so Terena was compelled to add, “I’m assuming you needed the shroud for whatever Spartan prophecy you believe in. Hopefully, it had to do with me?”
“But… but…”
Terena was genuinely concerned now for the king. He seemed so out of sorts, she looked to Daris for help.
“You’re the Heir?”
At his softly spoken question, Terena smiled thinly at him.
“The oracle?—”
“Did he say anything about us?” she asked.
“What?”
Terena walked a few steps closer to the king. “Did Solon say anything about us?”
“Aye. But he’s…” King Altos shook his head. “The messenger wanted to confirm the rumors he’d heard about you being here. I told him you were but that you’d left. And that’s when he asked for the shroud.”
“When do you need to respond? I’m assuming the messenger isstill here.”
Altos nodded. “He’s still here and I have until tomorrow to reply.”
Terena turned to Daris. “Give him the shroud. Duke Aurora must have also given you the letter of authentication he’d drawn up and the only way to guarantee it is for him to take it north to open the portal which,” she laughed and rubbed at her forehead before she looked over at the king with her hand out, “I don’t think he’ll ever do.”
“There’s something else,” Altos said with a grimace. “We’ve received word from our allies in Heylisia the emperor is rounding up trackers. He’s holding three of them so far. No one knows why.”
Sonah gasped and Terena’s heart skipped. Rydon had told them a while back the northern king was looking for trackers as well. That they were supposed to have powers like Terena. But whether or not they were gods or had powers gifted to them wasn’t clear.
There was still so much she didn’t know, but she wasn’t going to volunteer the information to King Altos. Not until she was certain of his own motives.
That got her thinking about Bethana’s fangs, and she pulled them out of her pocket.
Terena held up the pouch and tilted her head. “We’ll have to worry about that later. For now, I have the item you requested, Your Majesty,” she said with only a hint of a sneer. “But I’ll need something else from you first.”
She saw Daris stiffen.
The king folded his arms and waited.
“Why do you need them?” she asked.
Daris straightened as the king glanced at him. “They are said to have powerful magic,” he hedged.
Terena waited for him to continue but he stared back at her, his face impassive.
She closed her eyes and sighed. When she looked at him again, she motioned with her hand. “Aye? What king of magic?”
“That’s Spartan business.”
Terena grinned. “Unbelievable.” A second later, she tossed him the pouch, and he caught it awkwardly at the last moment. “Our bargainis complete, then. I’ll be taking my sister and my leave of you, Your Majesty.” This last she said with a deep, mocking bow.
Striding back to Sonah, Terena took hold of her hand and walked toward the door.
“Wait.”
