“That’s different, and you know it,” she says. “Dover is my mate. That trumps any marriage of convenience orchestrated by his parents. Not to mention, in your case, it would be treason. Sorscha is a princess, the heir to the throne.”
“I understand that, but you yourself said that there was no life for you without Dover. That’s how I feel about Jace.”
“Sometimes it does feel like that,” she admits. “But I know who I am without him. Would it break me if I lost him? Yes. But would it kill me? No. No matter what, mate or not, he’s just a male. I won’t let loss define my life. Define me.” Her fervor simmers into something softer as she lays a hand on my shoulder.
“Sorscha is my princess and my friend, but so are you. She may be willfully ignorant at times, but she has eyes, and after last night—the way you reacted when Jace was attacked, how he fought, how he killed to protect you…”
I think of the moment he saw me fall to that horrible creature. The way he screamed my name, the way he cut down those creatures like he would tear the entire world apart to get to me. That’s when I realized I would do no less.
“Do you think she knows?” I ask, sobering.
“I think anyone that gets within thirty paces of you two knows. But I think she’s been willfully blind up to this point. I don’t know how much longer you can count on that.”
And here I thought we were being discreet.
Zadyn surprises me by bursting through the door, eyes wide and face flushed. We leap to our feet, startled.
“Ilsa’s dead,” he announces, glancing between us.
“Oh my gods,” Marideth breathes, clasping her hand to her mouth. “No.”
“What happened?” I ask, boy drama momentarily forgotten.
Zadyn steps into the room and closes the door behind him. He pauses, looking at Mar hesitantly. “I’m sorry, Mar, you may not want to hear this.”
“I do.” She steels herself, taking my hand and squeezing hard. “I need to.”
Zadyn sighs wearily and continues. “Her body was strungup from the ceiling in the Grand Hall and dropped in the middle of the dance floor. She’d been dead for a day already. Her body had been drained of blood, just like the victims of the border attacks.”
“The creatures from the maze did this,” I say. “And if her blood was drained, too—then they must be the ones behind the border attacks. But why kill her and then make a public show of it?”
“To send a message. A warning that the castle isn’t safe.” Zadyn glances between us. “We’re on lockdown until the guards finish searching the grounds.”
Jace.
My heart sinks.
He’s undoubtedly out there searching for the danger. If he gets hurt, and the last time we spoke, we were fighting, and I was giving him hell…
“I’m going out there.” The alcohol hits me the second I step toward the door. I wobble on unsteady feet before Zadyn reaches out to steady me.
“You’re not going anywhere like this. You’re drunk.”
“I am not!” I protest, my tongue feeling thick.
“Would you just listen to me for once?” He rolls his eyes, taking the nearly empty bottle from me and shaking it to prove his point.
“Oh, fine. We can just sit here like helpless idiots while others do all the work,” I grumble, tossing my arms up in the air.
“I need to find Dover,” Mar says, bracing my shoulders.
“But we’re on lockdown.” I make a taunting face at Zadyn, who ignores it.
“I dare the guards to try and stop me. Besides, no one takes lockdown seriously around here.” She shrugs.
“They should when there’s an actual threat,” I point out, but she waves an idle hand.
“There are guards everywhere right now—lockdown is probably the safest time to be roaming the halls. But you. Are you going to be alright?”
