“We want to know.” Alyss folded her arms. “Please.”
“I—” A pulse of magic distracted her. Eira glanced into the corner of the room in time to see an all-black cat stepping from the shadows through ripples of reality. Where an animal once was, an amber-haired woman now stood.
“She can’t tell you, because it’s not her place to tell.” Rebec, Deneya’s right hand and Specter of the Court of Shadows, smiled thinly. “But now that you’re here, you’ve seen too much to leave without knowing.”
“Without knowing what?” Noelle asked.
“Please, don’t. They don’t need to be involved,” Eira beseeched on her friends’ behalf.
“They already are,” Rebec said sharply. “Now, come along, you three.”
“Where?” Alyss asked, looking thoroughly confused.
“To the Court of Shadows.”
28
There was a secret passage within the secret passage, which didn’t surprise Eira in the slightest. Rebec led them through a door that was covered in blocks on one side, made to look flush with the stone walls of the passage save for a small, hidden lever.
The passage down into the depths of Risen wasn’t unlike the pathway from the manor. It was several sloping halls, a couple of stairwells, and stretches that would have been in complete darkness if not for Noelle’s light. Eira glanced at her friends. Alyss seemed to have a mix of awe and concern. Noelle kept her eyes on Rebec. There was a tough and brutal side to her friend that the tournament was bringing out. Eira wasn’t sure if Noelle had always known it had been there. Or if it was a surprise to even her.
“We don’t have to go—” Eira tried to say. Rebec cut her off with a glare. It was too late for backtracking. Alyss and Noelle had seen their secret access; they’d run into Rebec; they were in the Court of Shadows now, or dead.
And it was all Eira’s fault.
The four ended up at the intricately locked door. Rebec produced the key and with a flourish of her arm announced, “Welcome, ladies, to the Court of Shadows.”
“What exactly is the Court of Shadows?” Noelle asked.
Alyss stared at the caverns in silent awe.
“All will be made clear, soon enough. This way, if you please.” Rebec wore a grin that said she really didn’t care what they pleased. It would’ve been far more accurate if she’d said,follow me or die.
Noelle seemed to pick up on the threat and her expression continued to darken as they walked down the main path.
With every step, Eira’s feet felt heavier. She was unraveling. The world was spinning out of her control and there was nothing she could do to bring it back together. The pieces of the game she’d started back in Solaris were scattered to the winds, the board flipped, and all of Risen had gone upside-down as it had fallen into the hands of the Pillars. Ferro was gaining more and more control. Secrets were budding in the most unexpected of corners. And the stakes seemed higher by the second even if Eira couldn’t yet entirely fathom their depths.
Expectedly, Deneya was waiting for them.
“D-Deneya?” Alyss said, jaw nearly hitting the floor.
Deneya just folded her arms, offering no explanation as to her position or why they were here. Instead, she said simply, “What is the meaning of this?”
Rebec offered a brief explanation of Eira leading them into the secret passage, speaking over any attempt from Eira to recount events for herself.
Deneya pinched the bridge of her nose. “Word of the incident in the Archives has already reached me… If you weren’t competitors, you’d be dead.”
“I don’t think the Pillars cared that we’re competitors. They would have killed us if we hadn’t fought back,” Noelle said.
“Oh, I’m not talking about the Pillars in the Archives. I’d kill you myself for being here.”
Eira’s stomach clenched. It felt as if the organ was contorting itself, folding over countless times until it was a tiny, dense rock that sank deep into the pit of all her worst fears. She breathed in and out, trying to stop the world from spinning as Deneya turned her unnatural eyes to her.
“Care to explain yourself?”
“Ferro came to me…” Eira worked to keep her voice level as she told Deneya everything—Ferro, running to the Archives, them hunting for the records that could elaborate on his claim of owning the manor. As she spoke, Deneya’s expression wavered from the blank slate she’d originally presented. There was genuine shock in her eyes at the idea that the manor was originally under Pillar control. Midway through Eira’s tale, Lorn arrived and stood by Rebec, looking utterly unsurprised to see them. When she finished, Rebec leaned over, whispering in his ear what Eira assumed to be the parts he missed.
“What did you find?” Deneya looked to Alyss and Noelle.
