And my heart was already half-shredded apart, imagining of Lyrae as a child on the streets of Southwell, starving, responsible for her sister, because she thought she was…worthless.
Which was the very last word I’d use to describe Lyrae Antares, but now I understood why her eyes had teared up, describing children playing in the streets of Tempeste. The weight of failure struck me, the knowledge that everyone’s dreams would end, once Gravelock took back the Triune.
No, Ihadto make this work.
This was my fight.Mine.
I wanted to walk the streets of Tempeste with Lyrae. I wanted to hear this laughter, see the lights and the vendors for myself. I wanted to see her smile, the way I had yet to see her smile, and I wanted to kiss her and love her and worm myself inside her big, generous heart, so she would never be able to carve me out.
The crows told me Gravelock was making preparations.
There was not enough time now to complete the spell.
But…this was my fight, and if I failed, then I failed Lyrae, too.
“Find a room, light a fire, keep the girl warm. I’ll find the second draught, and then…then we’ll see.”
Varian’s jaw tightened, but he nodded and cut off to the left, heading down a side corridor, Lyrae throwing me a deadly glare over her shoulder and all I could think of was how it would feel to have someone love me as fiercely as she did her sister.
“Come, I’ll give you the potion, you can stretch it out, maybe buy us some extra time.” I told Ryland, keeping my hands in my pockets so I didn’t wrap them around his throat. “These next hours will be dicey enough without worrying about having a traitor at our backs.”
I took a breath, then asked the question I already knew the answer to. “I’m assuming this…development isn’t a complete surprise?”
“I suspected,” Ryland murmured, staring after them.
My eyes kept drifting to the Crown he still held, wave after wave of heart pounding magic calling to me like a siren’s song.Magic that made my blood sing.
Magic that made me want to take that thing, put it on my head and make the world bow.
Danger,the music seemed to say.
Use me,the power coaxed, skating over me with invisible fingers, tracing over my body like a lover’s hand, until they slowly captured my heart and squeezed, their grip cold and cruel and immutable.
No,I told that cunning voice.Not yet.
“A long time ago…Ariel was skilled at locating certain treasure, but far too young to be a proper member of my little…cadre of thieves.” His eyes slid away, something like shame on his face. “But I recognized her…unusual skills, and would occasionally bring her along. Never anything dangerous, but I gave her a taste for the life—the excitement, the thrill.”
“And…?”
“And there’s a lot you don’t know, Rooke. About Lyrae, about what happened between those early years and now. You know we wanted Gravelock dead for betraying us.” Some of that cold clarity was returning to his eyes, his mouth set in a tight line.
“You’ve made it abundantly clear over the years.”
“There was more, we just didn’t put it together until we saw Ariel. Fifty years ago, Ariel found Varian in a tavern in Tempeste. We were…well, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is, Ariel convinced Var—for old times’ sake—to help her with a little job.”
“I take it this little job wasn’t little at all?” I headed down the same hall Lyrae and Varian had disappeared into, opening the door to my workroom, the smell of old books,potions and chemicals hitting me full in the face. Ryland followed me in, fingers skating over half full bottles, open books, a container of crushed black salt.
After a moment’s hesitation, he set the Crown on the work table, stepping away quickly, as if he couldn’t stand to even look at the thing.
“Ariel and Var stole some ancestral golden sword from the Fae King, but the item itself isn’t what was important. The point is, Varian described the sword as teeth-grindingly powerful, and Ariel went straight to it, no hesitation, no fumbling around, as if she knew exactly where it was hidden.”
“And then you knew.”
“And then I knew,” he agreed, rubbing his temples.
“Keeping all that information to yourself might very well get us all dead,” I muttered.
“Up until yesterday, I didn’t know Ariel was alive. Her special skills were the last thing on my mind. All I thought about was getting her out of there.” He paused. “And Lyrae.”
