“Well. And furious at me.” Lord Balik’s face softened when he spoke of his heir. “The moment he woke, he wanted me to find you two. To assure you I was still loyal, but I forbade it. I could not stop seeing those shadows. Could not stop wondering.”
His gaze drifted to the fire, and he sipped once more.
“Wondering what?” Thyra asked bluntly. “We will answer what we can. This relationship is important to us, and we don’t want to lose it.”
“You have not,” Lord Balik replied, and I swore my heart stopped from relief. “I considered it, of course, but I made a vow, and I intend to see it through.” He shook his head as though remembering something baffling. “Also, Filip threatened to reject his role as heir if I broke our alliance. Unnecessary, but the steadfastness in the lad lit a fire under my arse.”
Bless Filip. Loyal, noble, sweet Filip.
“Thank you for saving him,” the high lord added.
“Of course,” I replied. “Filip is dear to me. Not saving him was never an option—not even before we made our promise to you to watch over your children.”
“However, your saving of my son doesn’t mean that I don’t have questions,” the high lord added, his honeyed gaze turnedto steel. “I have many. And I expect them to be answered openly and honestly.”
Thyra replied first. “You know our darkest secret, and we won’t hide anything else.”
“Have you always had this magic?”
I exhaled. “No. Let me explain.”
And explain I did. I took Lord Balik through that day in the mountain tunnels, the day of discovery and darkness I wished had never happened. Any time I glossed over something or forgot a detail, Thyra supplied the information. Together we worked to paint a vivid portrait of King Érebo and how he had violated us, how the magic felt being broken open and how it roiled within us. By the time we finished, the Warden of the Southlands had paled.
He set down his drink with a trembling hand. “That day we went to the library, you wished to learn more about him and his kind.Andyour magic, I assume?”
“That’s right,” Thyra said.
“When did you practice?”
“Any time we were not in public spaces or sparring,” Thyra replied. “We were either trying to practice—for a while the shadows didn’t come on demand—or studying.”
“Do they come on demand now?”
I cringed, and the motion did not go unnoticed.
“I’ll take that as a no?”
“Better than before, but saving Filip, while I am happy it happened, wasn’t exactly planned.” I pressed my lips together before continuing. “If I could have used any other power to do so, I would have, but that day the shadows acted so fast. On instinct.”
“However, I did create shadow figures,” Thyra said. “During the scuffle in the city.”
Lord Balik frowned. “I heard about that.”
“We’re hoping it was a turning point,” I said and meant it. Violence had bloomed yesterday, but hope had too. It only needed to be nourished, just as Marit said.
“Are the figures like those in your sword?” Lord Balik asked.
“Yes, although I’d say those are both more reliable but also riskier to use.”
Thyra nodded. “We might not want this power, but it has been useful a handful of times.”
Lord Balik blinked. “You don’t want the magic?”
“No,” my twin and I answered in unison.
“We’ve grown somewhat used to it,” I added, “but we didn’t want such a thing then, and we still don’t want it now.”
“Even if that magic is the only way to defeat the Shadow King? And perhaps by extension King Magnus?”
