“There is a barrier there, one only you and your magic can undo. It must be done, for the fate of this world… for the future of Solaris.” His eyes widened slightly as she spoke and Vi knew she’d struck the right chord. “Your father will bring the North to its knees with the power of the Caverns. But only you can unlock it.”
“Why now?”
“Because there are those who would move against you and your family.” Vi lifted the sword. “Youmust be the one to act. Should this sword fall into the wrong hands, it will spell disaster for us all.” Or at least another blasted revolution of the world. And Vi had vowed no more of those. This world would be it, the last time the vortex spun. “Before we go… there’s something I wish to give you.”
Vi pulled out the key to her Tower room from her pocket. “Minister Egmun allowed me use of the uppermost room in this Tower, but I fear I will not need it after tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because that is how the wheel of fate turns,” Vi said ominously. She wanted to seem mystical, too improbable to be real. “I have a feeling the room will prove useful to you.”
Vi thrust the key in his hand, closing his fingers around it. Aldrik’s hand wrapped around hers tightly, the key between them. He stared up at her with eyes so similar to Fiera’s, similar tohers.
This man is not your father.
“Tell me what’s really happening.”
“I can’t.”
He ripped his hand away and stood, looking down at her. “You were insolent, right from the start. You’re lucky you have such utility to Egmun and my family or I would’ve seen you thrown in the dungeon.”
Vi lifted a hand to her chest and gave a small bow to hide her amusement. Her smirk would only make him more upset. “Thank you for not doing so.”
“You said we must go.” Aldrik shoved the key she’d given him into his pocket. “Carry on, then.”
“Very well.” She was on her feet as well, out the library, up, and across to one of the other doors that led to the palace. Aldrik faltered in the hall.
“The minister?”
“He will meet us at the stables.” Vi held open the door for the prince. “Come along, now.”
They walked in silence through the narrow hallway that connected the Tower to the palace. When they emerged, Aldrik immediately went for another side hall and Vi trusted him to lead them in the fastest way possible down to the stables. They passed a long stretch of windows that overlooked an inner courtyard. A lush garden flourished within—a greenhouse in the shape of a birdcage that Vi knew had been made to house Fiera’s roses.
It was supposed to have been a gift from the Emperor—but it was a gift never seen by his bride.
The two emerged onto the dusty grounds of the stables. Two horses were out, tacked and waiting. Vi glanced around, seeing no sign of Deneya or their warstriders. She took a deep breath, ready to let out a sigh of relief. Everything was going according to plan.
A sharp pain seared through her abdomen. Vi’s next breath emerged as a gurgle. The metallic taste of blood filled her throat.
She gawked, blood pouring from her mouth and down her chest. It mingled with the blood flowing around the point of a sword made of ice sticking out of her abdomen.
There was asword of icesticking out of her abdomen. Her first thoughts went to Adela. The bloody pirate queen had somehow found her after all these years. She’d known of Vi’s hunt for the crown.
Yet another thing she’d missed.
Vi blinked several times, trying to force her eyes to focus around the pain. Aldrik’s mouth was fixed in a soundless scream as he gaped at her. The presence of the boy was the only thing that didn’t make Yargen’s words of power come immediately.
The sword withdrew, and without its support, Vi fell limply to the ground.
Chapter Nine
“M-Minister, explain yourself,”Aldrik demanded, his voice shaking.
Egmun appeared in Vi’s field of vision. The sword of ice he’d been holding evaporated into mist. “She was a traitor to the crown. I was exploiting her for as long as she was useful.” Egmun led a blindfolded man with a rope, a gag suppressing his pleas for help. “Just like this one.”
“What’s going on?” Aldrik looked up at the minister with none of the ferocity his question held. “She told me we were heading to the Crystal Caverns, that people were acting against my family.”
“That is true.” Vi watched as Egmun rested his hand on the young man’s shoulder. She gritted her teeth to keep from saying anything. “They are called the Knights of Jadar; they’ve hated your family since well before you were born, and she was one of them.”
