“Yes, well, I prefer to avoid witnesses.”
“As do I,” she said through her teeth.
“Are you embarrassed about mystaminacomment? Ah, I see you are.” He took an annoyingly long sip of wine, an obvious test of her patience. “I didn’t lurk and watch, if that’s what you’re wondering. Yes, I first worldwalked to your castle this evening at an inopportune time and chose to attempt my visit later when I thought you’d be more amenable to a chat. I made my presence known almost as soon as I appeared in your bedroom, so don’t paint me as a pervert.” He said the last part with a chuckle.
She thinned her lips to show just how little amusement she found in this. “Pervert or no, the fact that you worldwalked straight to my bedroom proves you’ve been there before. Maybe you didn’t spend weeks wandering my castle, but you spent enough time there to orient yourself, as you’ve already admitted, and one of those locations was my most private space.”
With a cold grin, he leaned forward, elbows propped on the table, and laced his fingers. “You really are a worldwalker. You know exactly how my magic works.”
She sucked in a breath but tried to keep her expression even. Damn, even with her precautions, she’d given too much away. “Just because I know how your magic works doesn’t mean I’m the same as you.”
He perched his chin on his laced hands and stared at her with unblinking silver-blue eyes. “Then why is your heart beating so fast?”
What…
What the hell did that mean? Sounds of the busy pub continued to blare around them. There was no way he could hear her heartbeat in such a loud room. Unless…
Was he…clairaudient?
He was half witch, which meant he had a sensory affinity of some sort. Could it be that while she’d been sensing truth and lies from his energy fluctuations, he was doing the same, but with her pulse?
Darius leaned back from the table and swirled his glass. “How is Ailan?”
Cora’s heart lurched before she could steel herself.
He snorted a laugh. “That reaction tells me you have met my sister indeed. I won’t ask where she’d been hiding, for I haven’t given you enough reasons to trust me yet. And I assume she is behind the Veil by now. Does she look younger than me? I imagine aging has been far gentler on her than it has on me, if she’s stayed in Lela this whole time.”
She refused to address Ailan. Refused to admit any affiliation with her. Instead, she trained her voice to speak with level curiosity. “You aged poorly because you lived in Syrus?”
“Yes,” he said, making no comment on her change of subject. “Living in Syrus, so far from El’Ara’s heart, aged me horribly, yet my body refused to die. As soon as I set foot across the Khero-Vinias border, though, I felt healthier than I had in centuries. I didn’t fully understand what was happening, but I’d learned enough from Desmond’s report to understand that themora—my birthright—was healing me. Then the Veil tore and my aging began to reverse—just the slightest bit—and pieces of memories slowly snapped into place. My magic grew stronger. I believe I’ll regain the rest of my youth once I become Morkaius.”
Cora couldn’t keep the glare from her eyes.
“Ah, of course. You still don’t believe I deserve to be Morkaius. To you I’m still an evil Elvyn overlord who murdered his mother and seeks vengeance on his sister. So let’s face these misbeliefs head-on and start with where it all began. Let’s talk about my darling mother.”
45
As much as Cora wanted to avoid listening to Darius drone on about his mother issues, she couldn’t deny her curiosity. She’d heard Ailan’s side of what had happened, as well as Garot’s tale. But how did Darius see those same events? The fact that he used a dragon as his kingdom’s sigil, despite never succeeding in bonding with one, suggested his perspective may be far different.
Perhaps the perspective of her enemy could give her an advantage.
Cora released a bored sigh so as not to appear too eager. “Fine, justify your actions. Let’s hear it.”
He smirked, and his expression held something like admiration. “I’m confident you’ll feel differently once you’ve heard my side.”
“Do tell.”
He swirled his glass, drained its dregs, then lifted the empty cup. Yet another test of her patience as he waited for the serving woman to return. Cora still hadn’t sipped her ale and had no intention of doing so. Her arms remained folded over her chest, her jaw tight.
Finally, the serving woman filled his glass and Darius took a sip, a satisfied look on his face. “The Dragon’s Arms is the highest value public house in Syrus under the principles of leisure, liberation, and inebriation. Should the pub stand for other values, such as quietude, relaxation, and propriety, The Dragon’s Arms would be a low-value establishment. Whereas the Golden Shore Inn, a few streets down, exemplifies those values to the highest standard.”
Cora frowned, unsure of what this had to do with his mother.
He continued. “When stripped of principle, neither establishment is better or worse than the other, just different. You can see that, right? Take your personal preferences away and simply see each of those public houses for what they are. Under its own set of principles, each establishment is considered high value. Given the opportunity to demonstrate those principles to clientele who seek the same, each business is allowed to thrive. That is what the Kingdom of Syrus stands for. No one is limited by birth, bloodline, or social class. Instead, everyone is judged by merit and how they serve certain values.”
“Syrus is a meritocracy?”
He nodded. “That was all I ever wanted for El’Ara. And the first person who ever put that idea in my head was my mother, Satsara. From as early as I can remember, she’d whisper stories about my father, who was no longer a prince but the King of Syrus by then. She told me I was a prince of two worlds, and an heir to two kinds of magic. She marveled over my abilities as a worldwalker and filled my mind with visions of the future. One day I would be Morkara, and the most unique one El’Ara had ever had—one with the blood of human royalty and the power of a witch, as well as all the powers that came with directing themora. I could bring advancement to the fae realm, find ways to utilize my witch magic to blend with themora.
