Cordelle swallowed hard. “You wouldn’t really…”
“Oh, I would,” Riven said, matter-of-fact. “You’re not allowed to go be some stiff-robed, candle-snuffing lorekeeper.”
“We should talk about that,” I said, sobering. “They’re still expecting you to take the lorekeeper seat, aren’t they?”
Cordelle nodded. “Yeah. Once my father passes. I’m the only viable heir left.”
“But you don’t want it,” Ferrula said, not a question.
“No,” Cordy admitted. “I want this. Us. Kaelith and Kass. The squad.”
“We’ll find a way,” Zander said quietly from beside me. “Once this mission’s over, we’ll talk to Dorian. We’ll see if we can train another.”
“I could stage a kidnapping,” Jax offered. “Very convincing. Lots of chaos. Maybe a little nudity.”
Cordelle groaned, but there was a smile hiding in it. “Thank you. All of you.”
“You’re stuck with us,” Naia said, tossing a cushion at him. “Lorekeeper or not.”
Cordelle caught it and settled deeper into the bedding. “Good.” His voice was soft. “Because I don’t want to leave my family. After my father passes, this is all I have left.”
ChapterThirty-Seven
Zander frowned but didn’t push. Instead, he looked over at Cordelle, who was still blinking at the ceiling like he expected it to disappear.
“I’ve been thinking,” Zander said, rubbing a hand along his jaw. “If we got the proper permissions… Cordelle could serve as riderandlorekeeper.”
Cordy’s head snapped toward him. “You’d help me with that?”
Zander nodded. “You don’t belong locked in a tower, Cordelle. And we need someone with your mind in the field, and someone the fae and humans trust. That’s you.”
Cordelle looked stunned. “I’d love that.”
“We’d love that too,” Jax added, throwing an arm around Cordelle’s shoulders. “A lorekeeper with a dagger collection? That’s a terrifying advantage.”
Naia smiled. “We’ll help you train. Just because you’re recording history doesn’t mean you can’t rewrite it, too.”
Ferrula tossed a blanket toward her bunk and flopped down. “It’s settled then. We just have to convince the crown. No big deal.”
We drifted off quickly after that, the kind of deep, collective sleep that came only when you felt…safe. Or maybe the sanctuary had something to do with that. Either way, I barely felt my head hit the pillow before everything went dark.
And then, like a flash of light, we all sat up together.
“What the hell…” Tae mumbled.
“That’s definitely weird,” I muttered as we looked around. Not one of us had moved in our sleep. Not one blanket was disturbed.
There was no sun filtering through the roof, but a low hum of morning, of something awake, drifted in.
Zander got to his feet and opened the door.
A feast waited for us.
Sliced fruit with brilliant pink centers. Loaves of steaming bread that smelled like wild honey and spice. Fish glazed with something sweet and salty. And golden cups that never seemed to empty.
“Are we sure this isn’t a trap?” Riven asked, already chewing.
“It smells like heaven,” Jax said through a mouthful of something glazed and sticky.
