And that noise a moment ago…what was it? It had sounded almost like a cry of pain.
She spotted an opening in the wall a short ways down. She knelt and crept toward it, paying little attention to the dirt and rocks staining and catching at the delicate threads of her dress.
The opening had hinges welded into the old stone bricks; there had been a gate here once. It was gone now, and vines and brambles had filled in most of the space. But she could see through to the other side thanks to a few gaps, so she made herself as small and as quiet as possible amongst the overgrowth, and she watched.
And what she saw was more of what she’d seen from her bedroom window:shadows.
More strange shadows.
It looked almost as if the king was…summoningthem. Or not fighting them off, at the very least. They moved swiftly and solidified into a distinguishable creature, just as before—only this time the creature was significantly smaller, and it moved on four legs instead of two.
That shadow beast leapt toward the king and twisted its way around his arm.
The king’s eyes looked strangely empty. He swayed on his feet, nearly toppling over several times. Each time he started to topple, Sephia’s breath caught in her throat. But every time, those strange shadows seemed to gather beneath him, catching him and forcing him back upright.
Was he unconscious?
I should help him, Sephia thought.
But she couldn’t. She could scarcely breathe. Her entire body tingled with dangerous energy—the energy of that innate Shadow magic inside of her. It felt almost as if it was trying to rise up to play with these shadows before her.
She was afraid to move, terrified that any motion might shake that magic free.
She heard footsteps approaching.
So did the shadows, apparently; they scattered and disappeared into the normal and lifeless darkness of dusk.
Her magic settled, and Sephia rose quickly and scampered away to a different hiding place, not wanting anyone to spot her so close to the unconscious king. She found a more solid stretch of wall—one still close enough to listen— and she pressed her back to it. She briefly closed her eyes and breathed in deep breath after deep breath, trying to steady her pounding heart.
She considered going back to her room, but before she could move, she heard a familiar voice.
Tarron.
He greeted his brother, and Sephia held her breath until she heard the king greet him back in a somewhat groggy voice.
Not unconscious, then.
The prince’s voice dropped to a whisper. Sephia kept her back pressed against the wall. She reached for one of the vines cascading down over that wall, squeezing tight, trying to steady herself.
She was too far away to hear most of the conversation between the king and the prince, and the few words that shedidcatch were in that confusing language of the Sun Court. But she could tell the prince was struggling to continue speaking in a hushed voice; it sounded like they were having an argument.
Curiosity got the better of her again. She gave that vine in her hand a quick tug. It stayed put. It was thick and sturdy, and there were several others like it—enough to support her weight as she hoisted herself up to peer over the wall once more.
She moved slowly, keeping herself half-hidden under a thick snarl of more vines. A bright red bug skittered out from beneath one of those vines and crawled over her wrist. She shivered. Swallowed down the urge to cry out and shake the pest away, and forced herself to focus on the king, on the places where the shadows had been so tightly wrapped around him a moment ago.
His back was to her, but his hands were still occasionally visible whenever he gestured. They looked as if they were still wrapped in shadows, grey and leathered and… shaking.
She gasped.
Tarron’s gaze shifted toward her. Sephia tried to drop out of sight, but it was too late—
He had seen her.
And he moved too quickly for her to escape; in the next instant he was around the wall and then upon her, despite the king’s insistence to leave her be.
“How long have you been hiding back there,spyingon us?” Prince Tarron demanded.
“I wasn’t spying,” Sephia shot back. “I-I heard an argument, and I wanted to make sure everything was okay. If you didn’t want people to listen, then you should have been quieter.”
