CHAPTER 50
CALLYN
The king has been gone for a week.
In public, the queen is steadfast and kind, issuing orders to have the damaged parts of the palace rebuilt, meeting with soldiers and advisers, making plans to look forward to no magic in Syhl Shallow. No scravers have attacked. None have even beenseen. Heralds ride through the city to declare that the king has returned to Emberfall to rule, that magic has departed Syhl Shallow.
In private, I see the queen’s sorrow.
I know she worries about the traitors who are still surely among the army on this side of the border. I’ve heard Verin vow to find out which generals gave the order to abandon their duties and leave the field, but I still don’t quite trust her—especially when days pass and none of the soldiers have admitted to any wrongdoing.
But the queen doesn’t seem pressed to discover who might have been working against her. Maybe she feels as though they wereallworking against her. I remember the way her advisers were ready to send the king out alone, the way King Grey took her face in his handsand swore to yield for her. The way he made a choice—so she wouldn’t have to.
Some evenings we sit together, watching Nora play games with little Sinna, but her grief is obvious. Her regret is obvious. She loves her husband, but she fears for her people. She fears what his magic woulddoto her people.
All the while, I think of the magic in my veins.
I think of the magic inhers.
The king’s magic was failing. So was Tycho’s. We both stopped the scravers—me and the queen.
But she doesn’t say a word, so I don’t either.
I begin to think that perhaps our magic will fade, that no one will ever know. That perhaps her sacrifice will work, and any threats will be on the other side of the border.
Just as this hope settles in my chest, Lord Alek appears to meet with the queen. Privately.
I am not asked to join them, and I sit and fret the whole time. I can only imagine what he’s telling her. If my magic is known to the people, will the queen send me to Emberfall, too? Will she lock me away in the dungeon? Will I be hanged for possessing magic? I spend the entire time listening to Nora and Sinna bicker about the prettiest tiles of their game, and the whole time I wait for guards to come drag me off to the stone prison.
But when the queen returns, she looks at my face in surprise. “Callyn, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Is he still here?” I gasp. “Lord Alek?”
“Of course. He said he would like to speak with you.”
“What . . . what did he tell you?”
I have no right to ask, but I can’t help myself. Her eyebrows pinch together. “He simply wished to give me a list of which Houses have reasserted their loyalty. Did you expect something else?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head rapidly. “Nothing.”
“He’s waiting in the salon.”
I pinch myself. I need to get it together.
When I arrive in the salon, he looks the way he always looks—which is to say he’s buttoned into perfect attire, every thread exactly where it should be. His red hair is vibrant in the sunlight streaming through the windows, and when he looks at me, his expression is bored.
That feels like a slap in the face.
“I’ve told the queen that considering the king’s absence, your services to me are no longer required.” His voice is flat. Cold. “I should not have kept you away from your duties with the young princess as long as I did.”
“Oh,” I say, surprised.
But then I don’t know what else to say.
I blink and I remember him above me, and I have to take a slow breath. “I wish you well then, my lord.” My voice almost breaks, startling me, and I have to turn for the door.
“Callyn,” he says.
