“Care to find out what I know?” He smirked.
Kole turned to Iver. “Are you ever serious?” His words were a growl. Anger radiated from him, hating how things were turning out.
“So, it’s settled,” I stated, getting the room back on track. “I am going.” Though it was a statement, I looked at Willis for confirmation.
He dipped his head while his lips remained pressed into a displeased line. From his view, this was a gamble. A possibility to either help or harm his leader. But I would not allow for that harm to be because of my actions.
“When do we all leave?” Eislyn asked.
Willis said, “Prepare your forces now. We leave at dawn.”
Standing from the table, all eyes landed on me once more. “I am leaving tonight.” I turned to Kole and Eislyn. “And I am going alone.”
They both didn’t like it, apparent by the frowns on their faces, but nodded in understanding.
With anticipation, I turned and headed towards the exit.
I was going to see her again, to be near her. Despite the doubt the Seer planted in my mind, there was also hope. I could help Ariana by going to her, which meant that she wouldn’t send me away. For if I arrived only to be asked to leave, then how would that offer her any benefit? It wouldn’t.
I would go to her, keeping my promise, and bringing her home.
“One more thing.” Willis’s voice stilled me just before I reached for the door. “There is something all of you should know.” I turned to face him. “Ariana finally learned why the Sidhe King keeps conjurors separated from those without the gift.”
21
ARIANA
Cold silver eyes meet mine before sliding down my figure. Taking in the robe I wore, covering the thigh-high nightgown underneath. After bathing, I put on something comfortable and crawled back into bed.
Clause’s gaze stopped at my face and softened with a tinge of concern. “Did I wake you?” The plate in his hand lowered at his side. He seemed truly apologetic at the notion of disturbing my rest.
My hair swayed gently as I shook my head. “I tried to rest, but it never came.” I eyed the plate, filled with food. “Thank you for bringing that, but I am afraid my head is still spinning, and I am too nauseous to eat anything.”
His unyielding stare held mine. “I can leave it in your room, in case you change your mind.” It was a request to enter the chamber without actually asking the question.
The two of us had spent plenty of time alone, so why did this feel more uncomfortable than what was typical?
“Okay.” I stepped aside, letting himin. Knowing that he wished to speak about more than the food, and so did I. There were questions burning through me, demanding answers, preventing me from rest. I gently closed the door behind him.
He walked to the bedside table, lowering the plate onto it, before facing me once more.
“You were reckless today,” he said. The words sounded so simple from his lips, yet carried a strange weight.
A power drifted out of him, one that commanded the very room he stood in. It came from a dark place. He was the shadow that snuffed out all the light. The shadow that took no prisoners. The shadow that pulled everything into a dark abyss from which there was no escape. Except I refused to move, refused to allow him to cast that shadow over me.
An unease roamed through the room, sending my pulse climbing.
“I wouldn’t have had to be if your healers actually healed your people,” I stated, refusing to let his presence rattle me.
His jaw twitched, the only sign of his displeasure. “That has to be earned.”
“A boy’s life hung in the balance.” I took a single step towards him, my words a challenge. Why was he so stuck in this way of thinking?
“If he is too weak to survive, then he is too weak to serve. This is the way of life. The strong remain, the weak do not.”
Even though Clause once said he saw me as his potential equal, it was clear he also saw me as weak in caring for others. His views drove me mad.
Anger simmered under my skin, heating me. The rush of emotion made my head spin even faster. I didn’t have the energy to oppose him in his deepest thoughts. So instead, I asked for something else. “Why do you keep the conjurors in this city and the others outside?”
