Eira didn’t miss the way he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She put on a confident smile and resisted pointing out that his presence hadn’t done much to prevent them from getting into trouble so far. “Of course we will. But will there still be guards?”
Levit nodded. It was a moderate reassurance. Though Ulvarth had proved he had no trouble dancing around Lumeria’s knights to date.
“Are the games really going to start today? Even after…what happened last night?” Alyss said delicately.
“I had the same question,” Levit said solemnly. “It seemed like too much, after…” He trailed off, glancing her way.
“You don’t have to tiptoe around what happened. I know; I was there,” Eira said plainly. “I’m fine.”
Alyss reached out to gently touch her shoulder. “You might think that, but—”
“Alyss.” Eira grabbed her friend’s hand firmly, trying to show her own strength and steadiness. “I am the one who decides how I am, and how I’m not. I need you to trust me in that…and trust that I will come to you should it change.”
“Well, then, after the Pillars at the ball, and all the chaos, the royals are adamant that everything must continue on as planned,” Levit continued with more confidence. Eiraappreciated him, despite all odds, giving her that faith. “I don’t understand it. But they seemed to think there had been enough delays in finalizing the treaty, as it were.”
“They could just sign it and get it over with, and then use the tournament to celebrate,” Alyss mused, squeezing Eira’s hand once before letting it go.
“That’s not how these things work,” Noelle said. “Ceremony and grand displays are important. They show pride and strength. A treaty signed in haste could be considered suspect. Not to mention, there could be other last-minute negotiations that might still be happening behind the scenes… And who knows what else.”
Vi and Taavin had seemed a bit on edge when Eira had met them earlier in the Archives. Eira wondered if there was more to it that she wasn’t seeing.You must begin trusting us…we see the whole picture, Vi had said. What more was there at play that Eira didn’t know about? Or were they just nobles trying to claim they had matters in hand so they didn’t look bad?
“You’ll learn more about the ceremonies once you arrive. But the carriages are waiting downstairs and we’re on a tight schedule today. So we shouldn’t delay further.” Levit started out of the main common area.
Noelle was right behind him. Then Alyss. Eira moved to leave but snagged once more on memories. She ran her fingers over the mantle by the door where the original dagger had been hidden on one side, and the passage to the Court of Shadows was on the other.
What had become of Harott? The mistress of the manor who had been born to the name Yewin. The mother of Ferro. Vi and Taavin had told Eira that she had been taken into custody. But what did that really mean? And would it be more substantial and permanent than Ulvarth’s imprisonment was? Or would Yewinalso slip into the night, surviving long enough to become their next threat?
Everyone could be an enemy if you waited long enough.
“Are you ready?” Alyss asked softly, still nearly startling Eira out of her skin and banishing the tarnished memories as though they were little more than nightmares in the daylight.
“Yes.” Eira kept her magic right under her skin and at the ready. She kept her head cool and emotions level. “I’ve never been more ready.”
2
Downstairs was utter chaos. The noise of trunks bumping together, excited conversations from other competitors, and barked orders from the porters echoed up to them well before they arrived on the ground floor. It was carried on the smell of freshly polished boot leathers and floral perfumes from exotic blooms.
The elfin contingent was already in the process of leaving. Each of them was dressed in an ornate, flowing, silken robe with layered chiffon overtop that turned the main entry into a haze of color. Eira paused on the stairs, admiring their grace, the fashions that were so different from all she’d ever known.
A pair of stormy gray eyes turned her way and, somehow, amid the bustle and the crowd, locked with hers.
Before last night, she’d only ever seen him from afar among the elfin competitors. But then Deneya had put him on her dance card as one of the eligible lords and now Olivin’s ethereal features were stuck with her. He’d coiffed his hair only partially back today, or perhaps it had fallen loose from the style he’d put it in last night. Dark strands hung in the air around his sharp features, as weightless as the chiffon cape attached to his shoulders that framed him like gossamer wings.
Neither of them broke the stare. She wondered if he was waiting for her to say something. Or perhaps she was waiting for him. Between them, he was the one who was still a shadow. Unless the events of the past day had changed his mind about the shifting powers in Risen. Perhaps he was waiting on her to make a move. To give him a signal. The second stretched on, and yet it was somehow over in an instant. He was gone.
No…he hadn’t changed his mind. That would be foolish. He had no reason for his trust in the court to be shaken. The rest of the shadows would be the same. They would remain loyal to the Specters—continue trusting Deneya, Lorn, and Rebec as they’d always done. Even though the ignorance and hubris of those three had led to the Court being nearly destroyed, they would still demand unquestioning fealty.
Though, perhaps Ducot would feel differently. Eira had always thought he seemed a bit different than the other shadows, a bit less of a thoughtless follower, perhaps. But, regardless of how he felt about the court, how he felt aboutherafter what she’d done remained to be seen.
And what did Deneya think of her? The leader of it all and the one who had drawn Eira into that world…
Eira imagined Deneya deep in the underbelly of Risen, looming over her table, lording over what remained of the shadows after the Pillars’ assault. Would she leave the rebuilding to come to the countryside for the tournament? Or would she remain here, searching for Ulvarth? If she was smart, she’d come to the countryside. Ulvarth was going to make a move at the games; he’d told her as much with the dagger and his threat.
May the best woman win, Eira thought. Deneya’s shadows versus Eira and her friends. She didn’t know who would get to Ulvarth first, but Eira had a dark certainty that they weren’t all going to make it out alive.
Only one group of competitors was allowed in the courtyard at a time due to the swell of citizenry that had amassed outside the gates. The Solaris contingent stood just out of the sunlight on the inside of the double doors of the manor, watching as Meru’s competitors entered their carriages to great fanfare and applause.
“You can tell who has the advantage of local support,” Alyss observed.
