The wind whistles between us, the pillow grass of the training field swaying as we stare at each other. “I want freedom,” she whispers, lifting her chin. “And I will do whatever I need to in order to get it.”
Haylee offers me a small smile before she brushes past, only making it a few steps before I ask, “What was the other room?”
“What?”
“You said your uncle would always take you to two rooms in the palace. One was the council chambers. What was the other?” This entire conversation had started because I wanted toknow why she was pursuing Nox despite knowing his heart was elsewhere. Despiteclaiminghers was as well. But the woman who looks at me now isn’t some lovestruck fawn trying to win over a man who isn’t interested in her. That fact makes my stomach sink with realization. In all the time I’ve known Haylee, I’ve never once thought her a liar. But secrets don’t always come in the form of lies spoken—I know that all too well. Sometimes, betrayals happen in what is kept hidden. In what is never said.
“It was the throne room,” she says, turning to head back towards Galdr.
My eyes shut, my hand going lax around the bow. My mind begins to run through all of our previous interactions, going as far back as when we first met as children. Had Haylee befriended me because she saw a girl being picked on and felt bad? Or had she, even then, seen me as nothing more than an opportunity? She wanted freedom, and the only way for her to gain that was through power. What was more powerful than befriending the princess of the kingdom?
My eyes open, my lips pursing as I stare in the direction she disappeared. “Marrying the prince.”
The palace library is practically empty—only the sound of pages turning disrupts the otherwise oppressive silence. Sitting at Elora’s desk, I wait for the red-headed librarian to show while I peruse a book that talks about the first instances of imbuing dragon stone with magic. It’s not a firsthand account, more of a researcher’s thoughts on why it makes such a great conduit for our magic. One interesting theory is the makeup of the onyx mountains themselves. While the Fae Kingdom’s temperatures are generally cooler than ours, since they are farther north than the rest of the Continent, their mountains are rumoredto have warmcoresmade of more than just rock. The author theorizes that this is why the dragons settled there as opposed to anywhere else on the Continent. It’s an interesting hypothesis but not exactly what I’m looking for.
Still, there have been a few noteworthy pieces of information on imbuing stone and the history of the practice. Laying the book face down on the table, I stretch my arms as I yawn and stand, rounding the desk to where Elora keeps paper and pens for note taking. I grab a black pen and find a notepad, laying it on top of the desk as I flip through the pages to find a blank one.
Most of them contain Elora’s thoughts on whatever book she is currently reading, one of which includeddoodlesof the characters kissing. I continue to pass pages of drawings and quickly jotted notes when a name catches my eye. Pausing, I hold the notepad open and reread to confirm what I saw.Rhea Maxwell.
“What the fuck?” I whisper, scanning the length of the paper and its back side. By the time I’ve finished reading everything, my heart is racing in my throat.
“Hello, hello!” My head shoots up as her voice rings out from somewhere down the center aisle.
Moving quickly, I rip the two pages out and fold them before stuffing them into my pocket and putting the notebook back in the drawer. Elora rounds the corner a second later, carrying a large bag of books. She looks as she normally does—like she’s in a rush but the place she is hurrying to is just the next chapter of her current read. With her unassuming personality, it would be easy for her to fly under the radar as the rat within our kingdom. She already had the trust of Nox, of Daje and Cass too. What information has she been privy to?
“Okay, so I was incredibly bored last night at work and started thinking about other materials that could mirror the…Mirror.” She snorts as she heaves her bag onto the desk withathud, beginning to pull books from it. “Glossy, reflective materials, regardless of whether we know if they hold magic or not. And that brought me to glass.” She pushes her glasses up her nose where they have slipped, medium gray eyes meeting mine with excitement.
“Mages can’t imbue glass,” I remind her, keeping my voice level despite the way my fists clench at my sides.
“Right, we can’t do it toourglass. But what if there was a special type of glass from the Fae Kingdom? Just like how there is dragon stone?”
“It’s never been recorded.” Not once.
“Well, not in the texts we havehere,” she counters, leaning a hip against the table. “But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Or that it might be kept secret by the fae or hidden in texts that I don’t have access to.” Her eyebrow lifts, and she tosses her plait over her shoulder. “What if there is dragonglassand that’s what we need to fix the Mirror?”
“A fair guess,” I tell her, rounding the desk. “I’ll see if Elisha has anything that might cover it in the Galdr library.” Or if thearchivesdo.
“Wait, right now?” she asks as I pass her. “I thought we were going to look through these books together!”
“I had something come up. I’ll meet you here tomorrow.” I leave her grumbling behind me as I make my way out of the library and into one of the main halls, my muscles tense. I need to show someone who knows Elora what I found, who can at theveryleast tell me if I’m overreacting or if we should have her questioned immediately. Nox is too close to the situation to ask him to judge fairly, and that leaves only one person I trust that I can ask.
Daje.
Chapter Sixty-Two: Bahira
Itiltmyheadto look up at the small house built into the wide banya tree, the leaves above it hued with tips of ruby and gold, the transformation from summer to autumn in full effect. I was surprised to learn that Daje had moved out of the home he shared with his father, that he had apparently done it while I was in the Shifter Kingdom, if what Cass told me is true. Tugging my cloak more tightly around my shoulders, I climb up the two flights of stairs, the landing extending into a wide balcony thatleads to the front door. I don’t give myself any more time to second guess before I cross the distance and knock.
His answer is almost immediate.
“Bahira,” he says, startled blue eyes flaring. “What are you doing here?” Just enough of the setting sun peeks through the treetops to gild the front of the home with golden light, painting his skin the same color and giving him a lovely bronzed look that he’d love a compliment on from anyone other than me.
“I need to talk to you.”
His chin drops to his chest as holds my gaze, hand running over his shaved head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea—”
“It isn’t about us,” I add quickly, then wince when I realize that doesn’t sound any better. “I mean, it has to do with Elora. Just give me a few minutes, and then I’ll leave. We can even talk out here if it makes you more comfortable.”
Letting loose a sigh, he steps back and waves his hand. “Come on in.”
