She trailed behind, hovering outside of the entry to the Solaris common area on the second floor landing, pacing while she waited for Deneya to return. It took a good ten minutes, but the woman descended blessedly alone.
Deneya’s eyebrows shot upward in a look that Eira read as her being surprised or impressed. She gave a tilt of her head and Eira followed wordlessly down and back to the common area. Deneya didn’t say anything until she had loaded a plate for herself and they were seated at a table positioned by one of the archways overlooking the river.
“I doubt we have very long to speak freely.” Deneya dug into her food with a haste that matched her words. “Our connection is tangential. It’s known, but only as a loose, professional relationship through my function as a queen’s guard.” Even though Deneya wasn’t wearing the same plate as the honor guard from the day before, she did have a cape of red pinned at her shoulders. “I’ve no intention of showing you any favoritism that could potentially link us as more than that.”
“Understood.”
“Good.” Deneya glanced up from her food. “I suppose you want your test from the court?”
“I do.” Eira didn’t see the point in trying to hide it.
“New shadows are always so eager at the start,” Deneya murmured to herself with a chuckle. Eira didn’t remark. Shewaseager—eager to see Ferro brought to a swift and harsh justice. “It’s been arranged for you to go to the Archives of Yargen this afternoon, a bit of sightseeing.”
“I get to go to the Archives?” Eira whispered in excitement.
Deneya nodded. “You and the other competitors from Solaris. As well as Levit and the senators.” Her brief grimace told Eira that the senators hadn’t been any less demanding after they’d been escorted to their accommodations. “Naturally, this will not just be a pleasure trip for you.”
“Naturally.”
“Listen closely.” Deneya leaned forward. “At the entrance to the Larks’ halls there is a particularly large bookcase. At its edge is a hidden panel. Go up the passage and meet with the man at the top of the last ladder. Take what he gives you, and bring it back to the court tomorrow night. Ducot will escort you again.”
Larks’ halls. Secret passage. And meeting with an unknown man. Even though she had a thousand questions about the details, Eira committed what little information Deneya had given her to memory and tried to limit her inquiry to only what was essential.
“How will I know if I have the right passage?”
“You’ll figure it out.” Deneya wiped her mouth with her napkin and stood.
“How will I step away from the group without arousing suspicion?”
“I’m sure you’ll figure that out, too.” A smirk slid across her lips. “You were the one who wanted to be a part of the Court of Shadows.”
“Yes, but—”
“No buts,” Deneya interrupted. “You thrive in this life, or you die trying. Good luck.”
With that, Deneya departed, leaving Eira with her table scraps for company and just a few hours to figure out some kind of plan.
6
“When did you get up?” Cullen jostled Eira from her thoughts. She didn’t know how long she’d been staring at the empty plate.
“A while ago, not long after dawn.”
“Are you usually an early riser?” Cullen glanced over his shoulder as he began to fill up his own plate of food.
“It varies.” Eira shrugged. “I think most of the time, yes. Alyss would say so. But sometimes I stay up too late and then can’t wake.”
“You did have an early night.” He paused at the chair Deneya had been seated in…not long ago. An hour ago? Eira couldn’t tell beyond the morning was brighter than it had been when Deneya had left. She’d been utterly lost in thought since then. “Mind if I sit with you?”
She hummed, making a show of considering his question. “I think it’d be better if you sat awkwardly somewhere else and we didn’t talk to each other, even though we’re the only two people here and know each other well.”
“You’re likely right.” Cullen was fighting a grin and losing. “Wouldn’t want to act like normal friends or anything.”
Normal friends…was that what they were? The words didn’t fit right. They hung between them like a poorly fitted dress—too large in some places and too small in others, too much yet somehow not enough. Eira bit her lip. Cullen had been there at every consequential turn over the past four months. She could almost still taste his lips on hers from their first day at court. She could still feel his arms when he’d been her source of stability after the revelation, and later when hoisted her from the brink of death as she struggled to get Marcus back to Solarin.
No, “normal friends” wasn’t what they were. But Eira couldn’t put her finger on a better description. Cullen’s jovial expression began to fall as she stared at him, lower lip worried between her teeth.
“You know what?” she said hastily, before her knack for genuinely making things awkward kicked in. “We wouldn’t want it to be uncomfortable for anyone else if they come down. I think we should make the sacrifice and sit together.”
