I spun toward her, stretching for the hope in her story. “Is that why you remained a secret? Because Maksim was afraid for your life?”
Her chin wobbled, but her voice did not. “It was not said like that. But I’m sure that’s why. Look at what happened to you once the realm learned about your survival. Multiple attempts to kill you before the council had even decided. And my father has said the palace guards have stopped assassins every day since you were made heir to the throne.” She inhaled so deeply that her shoulders rose and fell. “It will only get worse.”
I craned my neck to find Taelon. “Is that true? Assassins every day?”
He narrowed his gaze on the back of Katrinka’s head in a concerned way. “No, of course not.” He cleared his throat. “Not every day.”
Implying that there were still plenty.
The occasional assassin should be expected. But who was sending them?
Oliver choked back something that sounded surprisingly like a laugh. “You’re surprised that people are trying to kill you, Tess? Only you.”
“And what does that mean?” I demanded to know.
“Hmm,” Caspian mused, sidling up to me and forcing Oliver to move behind us. “Only that the Allisand darling hates it when people hate her, possibly?”
My brow furrowed tightly. “No, that’s not true.” And that was all I was determined to say about the matter. But then he didn’t immediately respond, so I couldn’t help but say, “I genuinely understand that people hate the position, the ruler of the realm. I’m sure Tyrn has had his fair share of would-be assassins.”
“Aha!” Caspian crowed. “You can’t stand the idea of someone hating you. You have to blame theposition.”
He mimicked my voice at the end, though he sounded nothing like me.
“She has not even been in power long enough to garner true hatred,” Taelon added diplomatically. “Of course they hate what she stands for.”
Caspian looked at me, his long legs and wide strides taunting me to walk faster. “Do you only surround yourself with people who tell you exactly what you want to hear?”
We’d reached a part of the gardens I’d never been to before. The narrow path opened up to sprawling pastures. The grass was allowed to grow taller here. So tall that the tops turned white and waved like wheat in the gentle breeze. It reminded me of Heprin. Of the Rolling Hills of Gain. And my heart thumped in my chest so fiercely that I thought it would punch a hole straight through my skin.
Oliver glanced back at me. “Tess?”
I shook my head, shaking off Caspian’s insult. “I did not know, or we would have visited much sooner.”
The two of us set off down a gentle slope of the land, our hands brushing the tops of the tall grass as we went. Memories assuaged my vision as I thought of all the times Oliver and I had run through fields nearly identical to this one as children. Or when we would hide from Father Tarkus when he wanted us to scrub pots and pans larger than our entire bodies. When we were older and unafraid of hard work, we would take books, stretch out like kittens in the soft blanket of grass, and read for hours in warm sunlight.
Oliver was as silently reverent as I. No doubt remembering the scent of home. The touch of Heprin on our skin and in our souls. I had never expected to miss the Temple. Or the priests who raised me. But as the wheat grass tickled my ankles and caressed my palms, a wide, gaping hole opened inside me.
How lucky was I to have two homes? How blessed had I been to be found by Father Garius and not whisked off to a damp, cold prison like Castle Bale?
The Light had looked out for me. I could not deny my fortune.
Even now, as assassins hunted me and I learned to navigate the difficult pathways toward the throne, I knew a bigger purpose than my life was playing out. Something, something good, had orchestrated these events in my life. Even if I had faced hard things, the outcome had been blessed. And I could not speak for the gratitude stuck in my throat.
The wheatlike grass met a copse of trees but did not cease to grow. Our steps became more difficult as roots tangled in the thick grass where we could not see. Without the sunlight to feed the grass, one would think it would wither beneath the thick canopy of leaves overhead. But it did not. It seemed even denser in the shade.
Oliver and I pushed forward, both of us fascinated by the strange, familiar grass. Someone called my name from behind us, but I was too focused on moving forward to turn around.
After several minutes of walking and stumbling over tangled roots, the grass finally did give way to a shorter version of itself. In fact, the whole of this small forest seemed to make way for something else entirely.
ChapterSix
Acrumbling stone temple sat in the middle of a large opening. It was a much smaller version of the Temple of Eternal Light, but I would have recognized its replica anywhere.
The roof had caved in over everywhere but the chapel. And the forest had moved in. The pale stone walls were nearly covered in pale green ivy. One of the large trees with exposed roots seemed to have sprouted up directly in the center of the building—probably why and how the roof had disappeared. Some of the stained glass windows were still intact and playing magnificently with the shafts of light poking in through the forest ceiling. And some had broken away. It was beauty and mayhem all at once. The past in the present. The decayed in the vibrant life of forest surrounding it.
And in and out of the dark trees surrounding it, fireflies blinked.
“What is this place?” Katrinka gasped, sounding out of breath. Whether it was from the difficult hike here or the serene splendor of the old chapel, I could not say.
