Her eyes travel down. She inhales. “What is that?”
My smile grows. “I think your shadows like me.”
As if in agreement, they slip further up my arm, twisting and snaking around my skin, the brush of a feather. Selene’s eyes widen. “I did that in my sleep?”
“Mmm.” My other hand runs through her hair. “I have no complaints.”
Only that she thought I might leave her, even subconsciously. “I would very much like to kiss you again.”
A flush spreads over her face. “If you think it’s necessary.”
I do. Very much so, in fact. She breathes in as I tilt up her chin, leaning down to brush my lips over hers before she pulls back. “I haven’t cleaned my teeth.”
“Believe me when I say that not a single part of you is offensive to me. Particularly when I get to see you soft from sleep, with your hair rumpled and your lips swollen from my kisses.”
Her blush deepens. “Callan. I don’t know how to respond to that.”
She will, in time. I fully intend to coax all of her thoughts from her, one kiss at a time. One morning at a time, and I want all of them with her. My head raises at the sound of shouting from outside. It only grows, one shrill voice joined by more, and then many. “Can you pull the shadows back?”
It takes a moment before they unfurl. Reluctantly, I shift out from beneath her as Selene sits up. “What’s happening?”
I move to look out of the window. The crowd outside passes by the house, all of the grim faces moving in the same direction.
Fuck. “It’s a Reaping. Someone has emerged as Caelumnai.”
I turn on my heel, striding over and grabbing my boots. “Stay here. Promise me.”
“What’s happening?” Selene’s brow furrows. “Perhaps I could help—”
“Don’t go out there.” I shove my feet into my boots, barely lacing them before I head for the door. “Petyr’s soldiers have identified a new maegis user. They’re branding them. Stay here, and I’ll come back for you. There could be trouble.”
There is trouble. I can taste it in the air, even without the shouting, as I step outside. I skirt around the edges of the muttering, angry crowd that has gathered, all of them focused on the stage in the corner of the square. People push the oilskins that are easier to hide behind back from their faces, their anger heating the air until sweat prickles the back of my neck.
It feels like a tinderbox. All it needs is a spark.
The rope of the gallows is tossed up, out of the way, and a trembling girl is pinned in place on her knees on the stage, tear stains on her cheeks and her palms pressed against the floor. Blonde hair trails from an undone braid that falls down past her shoulders.
Merrick and Matthias attempt to push through the soldiers stationed in front of the dais, held back from moving any further. Matthias bellows toward the woman standing on the stage, angrier than I’ve heard him in twenty years. “She’s too damned young for this. We do not brand children, Wendlyn!”
Sol stands close by, braced and ready, watching the soldiers closely. His hand rests on his sword.
“Get away from her!” Ryn roars from where two soldiers pin him down against the ground, bucking and twisting. “She’s agods-damned child! Get your fucking hands off her!”
From the dais, Wendlyn watches impassively. Her pretty black silk gown, filled with golden thread that echoes the Boreasan royal crest, stands out amongst the stark anger that surrounds us. Her eyes flick to me as I push through. “I’m sorry. You know the law. If she has maegis, she is considered an adult.”
“It’s wrong!” Ryn shouts desperately. “You have it wrong!Leesa!”
Leesa hangs her head. Her quiet sobs are silent as I stop beside a still-struggling Ryn. My hand lands on his shoulder, gripping it as the soldiers eye me warily. “What happened?”
“Da,” he gasps. His face is wet with tears. “He’s in Ellas now, Callan. He went in the night, and Leesa found him. She… It's a mistake. She’s too young. Tell them,please.”
Gods.Jonas.I shift my attention to Wendlyn. “What makes you think she has maegis?”
Leesa only sobs harder. But Wendlyn? She looks empty. The all-too-familiar bruising tracks up her arms, a hideous pattern of old and new interrupted by thin linen bandages.
My anger at my brother deepens. Little wonder that she follows his orders so obediently. Wendlyn stares out at the growing, angry crowd, her words bland. As if she’s not even listening. “It was reported to us. And her eyes do not lie.”
I jump up the steps, barging past the soldiers who still hesitate when faced with my lineage. Matthias, Merrick and Sol follow, spreading out around me. The guards on the dais raise their weapons, and I feel my eyes begin to glow. “Step aside.”
