As it was, she did the only thing she could do; she flashed a bright light, and in that moment, the man swiped away at the black paint on his arms. And when the light had faded and everyone’s vision had cleared, he appeared healthy. Liane stepped back, her stomach churning as the Avatheos grasped the man’s arm and brought him to the edge of the balcony.
“He has been healed! Cyra be praised, hail the goddess’ chosen!” the people shouted in an exuberant cheer.
The ceremony continued on, but a veiled priestess came forward to escort her away, and Liane followed them out into the interior holding room. When she entered, she felt as if her legs were made of jelly, and she nearly collapsed, but she was caught by strong arms. And when she glanced up, it was to see Ludwig looking down at her.
“Ludwig?” Liane gasped. Stars above, it was good to see a friendly face.
He squeezed her hand to reassure her. But she knew from the lines bracketing his mouth that something had gone very wrong.
He escorted her back to her old rooms, and she never thought she’d be eager to return there.
“Luzie!” she called out as she entered, but there was no reply.
She turned to Ludwig and noticed for the first time the rising sun emblazoned on the front of his uniform. The sigil of the Midnight Guard.
“You joined the guard?” she asked and felt an odd sense of betrayal.
“I had no choice. Either I joined the Midnight Guard, or I would be dismissed from the temple. Like Luzie.”
Her stomach sank. “Why was Luzie dismissed?”
“Officially? Lewd acts,” Ludwig said.
“That can’t be true. Luzie...” Liane bit off the rest of her sentence. Why hadn’t she seen it sooner? This was all part of their plan. They’d taken Liane away from her family and her home, brought her into the temple, locked her in isolation, but even that hadn’t been enough. While she had been locked in the tower, they’d quietly removed her allies. She felt as if a snare was tightening around her neck, strangling out her breaths. Every instinct in her mind was telling her to run, to grab Ludwig and make their escape. But where could she go that the church wouldn’t follow when she had the thing they wanted most of all embedded in her spine?
“I don’t understand. How could you join the Midnight Guard?” Liane asked him.
Ludwig rubbed the back of his neck and looked around the room guiltily. “You were right. I’ve been keeping secrets.”
Her stomach clenched. Not again.
He waved his hands in front of him. “Not in that way. When I didn’t die from stardust withdrawal, I knew something wasn’t right. I started looking into the reasons, and then that elf helped the final piece of the puzzle fall into place for me. Stardust awakened the power in me. I don’t know how or why. But I took the test, and they’ve accepted me as their own. I had the training in arms, though I’m a probationary officer for now… I did it to protect you. I couldn’t leave you alone here in the temple.”
Liane felt a wave of relief wash through her. She knew she’d been unfair to Ludwig by not trusting him, but now she needed him more than ever.
“I wanted to explain myself to you a thousand times. But there never seemed to be the right time or place. I’ve had my doubts about the church for a while now. And they were sealed when they locked you up and dismissed Luzie.”
She grabbed his hands in hers and squeezed. There was still more healing to be done, but for the first time in a long while, she felt as if they were seeing eye to eye.
“I was wrong to trust the Avatheos. I should never have come to Basilia. I should have left when Erich offered to take me away.”
Ludwig scoffed. “I don’t know about that…”
She grabbed Ludwig’s arm as a drowning woman might a piece of flotsam. “I need you to find Erich. He knew all along, and he promised to save me.”
Ludwig looked at her for a long moment, and she feared he’d refuse, but he nodded slowly.
“I’ll find him, and we’ll get you out of here,” Ludwig said.
25
Erich felt like a philandering husband slinking home after curfew. He thought he was used to walking away. But seeing the disappointment on his uncle’s face in person felt as if Uncle Endland had driven Erich’s dagger into his gut. He had no choice other than to walk away. He couldn’t be king. Not with the dragon curse slowly consuming him. If he was lucky, he’d get Liane out before he lost all control. There was no future for Erich.
When he reached the city on foot, the sun was rising on a new day. Four days had passed since he’d last seen Liane. Two, since he’d attacked the city walls in dragon form.
Large swaths of the wall were scorched black, chunks were missing from the parapet, and the crumbled remains were scattered at the base of the wall. A line had formed at the gate that wound down the road, a mix of pilgrims and merchants coming into town to sell. Erich joined the queue behind two men whom he presumed to be father and son. They were perched on the back of a cart piled high with squash and root vegetables. The father was speaking with an old woman with a large bag strapped to her back, overladen with cabbages.
“Is it true she can heal the withering?” the woman asked with a furtive glance toward her companion, who was clutching his arm, which was concealed in his sleeve.
