No greeting … he went straight for the throat.
‘Several weeks of training, and you have yet to settle upon a pillar of magic,’ the King said.
Ezer’s veins went cold.
Of course, he knew. He had to know.
Had it beenArawnthat told him?
No.
He wouldn’t.
But … would he?
This man, wasting away before her eyes, was his father. And she wasonly an outsider in this space. His loyalty would be to his kingdom first.
Not to her.
‘Answer me, Unconsecrated,’ the King spat. ‘Have you made any progress at all?’
‘W-with Avane, Sir.’ Ezer forced the words out, grateful he wasn’t an Ehvermage who could sense her lie. ‘I … am leaning towards Avane.’
One of his two pillared gods.
His blue eyes narrowed.
Could two Sacred sense one another if they shared a god? She suddenly felt like he’d catch her in the lie, though it wasn’t entirely untrue.
‘Avane,’ the King said. ‘A god that has great power. Tell me, can you sense the current upon the wind now?’
She tried to swallow. But it felt like rocks were in her throat.
‘Tell me which direction the wind is flowing. Tell me what you sense right now.’
‘I …’ She glanced back at the harpist as a new song began. It suddenly felt too high-pitched. Too fast. ‘I’m not entirely?—’
South,the wind whispered to her.
‘South,’ she echoed it. ‘Towards the Sawteeth, Your Highness.’
He nodded his approval and she released a nervous breath.
‘It often does, these days. Like it pulls us towards the darkness. Like Avane is insisting we stay in the fight. And fight, we will. Even those who are not trained properly. Even those … who may only be talented at minding ravens … and brandishing a lucky guess.’
Her stomach roiled again.
She hadn’t been convincing enough.
‘You were chosen by the gods,’ the King said, and she caught a glimpse of his hands as he settled them in his lap. He wore rings like Kinlear, each one worth more than her life. His skin was papery-thin and bruised, swollen with arthritis at the knuckles. They were not at all the hands of a man in his forties. ‘And certainly chosen by Kinlear, who believes you to be somethingspecial.But make no mistake. Noone is special. Not even me.’ He nodded to himself, as if he appreciated his own line. ‘You wouldnotbe my choice, Raphonminder, as you are clearly from a bloodline incapable of holding their vows to the Five.’
She didn’t dare defend herself.
Not to him.
She just took his wrath as he dealt it, knowing she would prove himwrong.
‘You are not trained in magic,’ he said. ‘By the looks of you, frail as you are, you certainly are not capable of doinganythingto protect my son should the beast turn upon him.’
