I scratched my wrist. “Devotion encapsulates…love isn’t the right word, not completely. Maybe the choice to embrace someone entirely. Their flaws, their contradictions. Everything they are.” I dropped my hand back to my side, not missing the way his brow creased. “I suspect that’s a love none of the Evergorne kings found. And the pendant. The blood-red stone represents passion, but a binding one. Devotion. A love that doesn’t falter when it’s asked to make sacrifices. Halendor.”
Lore’s snort broke through my train of thought. “The king of Halendor is brutal. Conniving. I don’t believe he’s capable of any kind of love, let alone selfless devotion.”
“Three objects, three locations,” I pointed out. “He may not be involved.”
“Let’s hope not,” Lore muttered. His voice dipped into a dangerous growl. “Given the chance, I will kill him.”
I tilted my head. “Truly?”
“Without hesitation.”
“And Dominion?” I swallowed as I recalled the golden bird with its half-lifted wings. “It could represent what your ancestors sought but never properly held. Power. Leadership. The ability to unite and protect, the strength that was weakened because they were incomplete.” I ran my tongue over my teeth, hesitating before continuing. “The golden featherdorn… It represents both strength and motion. And there’s beauty in that, yes, but it’s also vulnerable. I think it aligns with Irridain.”
Lore’s lips thinned, his expression darkening further. “Another king I’ll willingly slay.”
“Vicious, aren’t you?”
“No more than them.”
Enemies. Rivals for how many lifetimes? Could the curse tie into their rivalry as well?
“We’ll stay out of that king’s way too.” I focused on the altar, the ring on my finger, and the lingering unease warming my stomach.
“I think we need to go to each court,” Lore said. His voice came out hollow, like he expected we’d encounter more obstacles than the riddle implied.
“The three objects could be talismans. All this suggests we need to find them and use what’s still divided in some way, per the fate-like being who just visited us.” My heart tightened to the point my head spun, but I forced out my frustration with an exhale. “We’ll infiltrate the courts, find these talismans, and hope we can use them to end the curse.”
His solemn gaze met mine. “We don’t have much time.”
Farris’s mournful howl rang out, echoing in the room.
I blinked fast to keep from giving way to tears.
“Two weeks. Six days,” Lore said softly. “I could give you the hours and minutes left if you'd like.”
55
Lore
“Two weeks and six days.” She clenched her hands into fists, and I hated that her eyes shimmered with tears. The soft part of me ached to hold her, to tell her everything would be alright even when, deep in my heart, I suspected it wouldn’t. The sharper part of me wanted to lay waste to the world, to storm across the land until I found Prager. I’d wrap my hands around her throat and squeeze until she was nothing but a limp carcass.
But I suspected her curse would live on even if she died.
Reyla lifted and cradled her hand against her chest, and she studied me, her gaze sharp but carrying the frustration and dismay churning through me. “The first talisman is here atEvergorne, but where?”
Farris looked between us, almost as if he was listening to our conversation.
I had no idea where to begin. This castle held too many secrets, and it seemed every one of them was locked behind unknown mechanisms or riddles.
“It can be found. The fates have made sure of that.” She turned back to the altar and stared, almost mesmerized as she spun the ring around and around on her finger.
Her gaze narrowed. Without another word, she removed the ring, holding it between two fingers, scowling down at it as though she was tempted to throw it against a wall. With a growl, she moved closer to the altar.
“What are you doing?” I matched my steps to hers.
Determination flashed across her face. With a quick dart of her arm, she tucked the ring back into the depression at the center of the altar. The moment the stone slid into place, she stepped backward, her hand fleeing to the hilt of her dagger sheathed at her side.
“What did you?—”
