But her expression was taut. Peyton observed her aunt curiously. “What’s wrong, Jubil?”
Jubil shook her head faintly, her eyes never leaving the black castle. “Something is not right.”
“What’s not right?” Ivy asked.
Jubil pulled her shawl about her tightly as if to ward off a growing apprehension. “I smell a good deal of darkness. It’s everywhere.”
Ivy sighed sharply. “Are you flying again?”
Jubil shook her head firmly, much to their surprise. “Nay, little goats. Not today. What I smell can be sensed without the aid of a potent.”
The two women turned their attention to the massive structure. “What kind of darkness, Jubil?”
When their aunt did not answer, they turned to her with concern. Jubil was riveted to the bastion; suddenly, she shuddered involuntarily and turned away.
“You have got to leave, Peyton,” she whispered sharply. “You must demand that Alec return you to St. Cloven. ’Tis not safe for you here.”
Peyton and Ivy passed curious glances. “Why?” Peyton demanded softly, feeling herself being unwillingly pulled into her aunt’s anxiety.
Jubil inhaled deeply, her eyes closed as she attempted to regain some of her composure. But the talons of uneasinessrefused to release her. Since the very moment they set foot inside the keep, she had been buffeted by the turbulent grasp of terror.
“Beware of the threat from within,” she suddenly whispered, sounding very much like the crazed woman they had come to expect. However, the insanity was not drug-induced this time. It was real. “The threat, Peyton, the threat! You must leave!”
Peyton went to her aunt, wrapping a comforting arm about her shoulders. “There is no threat, Jubil. Alec will protect me.”
Underneath her grasp, Jubil was shaking. She suddenly grabbed her niece by the arms, pushing her toward the gates. “Go, Peyton. Run home. Run home, sweetheart!”
Peyton tried to pull herself free of the insistent grasp.
“Stop pushing, Jubil. I am not going anywhere.”
Ali, in the midst of disassembling Alec’s elite guard, saw what was transpiring and left the duties to a senior sergeant. He came upon the two women quickly.
“What’s amiss, ladies?” he asked.
Peyton was having difficulty dislodging her aunt’s hand from her arm until Ali broke the grasp. “Jubil’s exhausted. Can we retire now, Ali?”
He opened his mouth to reply when Jubil suddenly turned on him, sinking her nails into his mahogany flesh. “She must leave, Ali. ’Tis not safe for her here!”
She had drawn blood, but he did not flinch as he disengaged her claws. “She is safer with Alec than with God himself, Jubil. Come, let’s get you inside.”
Jubil was quivering terribly. Peyton and Ivy passed concerned glances, wondering if their aunt wasn’t having a mental breakdown as a result of years of imbibing potions. With Ali firmly on one side and Ivy on the other, they began to move Jubil toward the castle.
Jubil did everything but drag her heels. She pleaded, she coaxed, and she threatened. Still, they refused to listen to her.Peyton’s life was depending upon what she was able to sense and distress overwhelmed her when she realized they were not taking her seriously. The only person who ever remotely listened to her was nowhere to be found, and she began to beg to speak to Alec.
Still, they refused to listen. Peyton’s life was in serious jeopardy and no one believed her.
No one.
Her sense of desperation consumed her.
By the time they reached the cool innards of Blackstone, Jubil had worked herself into such a state that the moment she smelled the damp must, she fainted dead away in Ali’s arms.
Alec had precededhis mother and the king into Blackstone by several minutes, ample time to locate his father. Although his mother hadn’t mentioned his father’s mental state, a suspicion nagged at him, so much so that he had to find his father personally to quell his own apprehension.
His first destination was his father’s solar. As he passed through the servant’s corridor and into the grand hall, several familiar faces greeted him. The servants looked shocked and pleased to see Alec, but he brushed past them without acknowledgement. By the time he hit the foyer, he heard a familiar voice calling to him and paused in his serious quest. Toby was moving toward him from the kitchens.
“Where’s my father?” Alec demanded. “Edward’s here, for Christ’s sake.”
