He didn’t look away, so I kept talking. “I just need to know that he’s still whole, somewhere within that monster’s hold. I…I need to know that he can come back to me.”
Zayn closed his eyes for such a long moment, I thought he might be going back to sleep. But then he opened them and said, “I don’t know how whole I am now. I don’t know what I’m returning to, really. But I haven’t forgotten everything from when my body was not entirely my own. And we were the same cousins we’d always been, as far as Aleks knew. He told me things he wouldn’t have told Lorien, obviously—maybe things he didn’t have a chance to tell you, even. And…”
I was holding my breath, I realized.
I loosed it, gripping the bedpost as I started to feel lightheaded. “...And?”
“And I know that he’ll fight to get back to you, no matter what it takes.”
The knife wasthe last thing I had to pack.
It was Aleksander’s—a beautiful white blade with sapphires inlaid in its handle—and one of several things he’d left behind in his room on the last fateful day we’d had together. I hadn’t disturbed much in that room since that day. Partly because I could barely bring myself to go inside it, but also because I wanted him to return and find it all waiting for him exactly as he’d left it.
Maybe it was foolish to think I could bring him back as if nothing had happened.
But I was still going to try.
“Are we preparing for something I should know about?” came Thalia’s sudden voice, making me jump.
I quickly tucked the knife into the inner pocket of my satchel and turned to face her.
Thalia looked between the bag and me, her lips pursing. “I get the feeling I’ve stumbled upon a secret.”
“You startled me, is all. You didn’t knock.”
“The door was open.”
“…I must have been too distracted to close it,” I said, more to myself than her.
“You’re planning something,” she accused.
“So? I’m thedestined Queen of Rivenholt. My days are filled with making plans.”
“Yes, but you have that look in your eyes that tells me thisisn’ta plan you’ve cleared with your advisors. Or with anyone who cares about you.”
“It’s very sweet that you’re finally admitting you care about me.”
She scowled.
I moved on to adjusting the baldric strapped across my chest.
“This has to do with Lorien, I assume?”
Rather than answering her, I took Grimnor from where it lay in its ceremonial casing on my dresser, and I situated it at my hip.
The legendary Sword of Shadow hummed as it settled against me, the subtle pulse of its magic falling into rhythm with my heartbeat. Faint shadows skipped across my skin as if excited by the sword’s presence. I briefly took hold of Grimnor’s handle, guiding those swirls of darkness into its blade, letting them become one with each other.
I hadn’t wielded this sword since the battle at Midna, save for a few brief practice sessions. I hoped I wouldn’t need to wield it tonight.
I would be prepared, either way.
Thalia stared at it, her expression tight. “Explain yourself.”
As often as she’d stood by my side here lately, I owed her as much, I decided.
With a sigh, I took the knife I’d just hidden from my bag and fixed it into a sheath at my thigh. As I did, I also revealed the only part I’d left out when recounting the visit Lorien had paid me yesterday. The last words he’d spoken, inviting me—no,commanding me—to meet him in the throne room at the Palace of Midna. To come alone.
Unsurprisingly, Thalia didn’t agree with this plan.
