“Come now. Let’s clean up and rest,” Flor said, easing Honey up to her feet. Honey stared as if in shock, her arms hugging tight to her torso.
Magda peeled off her cloak.
“Meer,” she called.
The brownie appeared at her ankle. “Yes, Mistress?”
Magda held up the cloak for her to see.
Meer rolled her eyes. “What in the Lands—?”
“Long story,” she said as Meer pinched the edge of the cloak, tutting. In the next moment, she and the cloak were gone.
Kaelan approached her again, wiping the blood from his hands with some kind person’s handkerchief.
All around, the crowd spoke anxiously, attempting to ascertain what had happened without asking either of them directly.
“Are you all right?” he asked, bowing his head towards her.
“I’m—” She frowned, struck by a sudden sense of vulnerability. She ran her hands up her exposed arms and shoulders, avoiding eye contact with curious family members, some of them still picking themselves up from the ground.
He moved closer still, as if he could build a wall around her with his presence alone. “What is it?”
She shook her head, attempting to dispel the strange feeling. Yet, she found herself edging closer to him too, wanting to vanish into his shadow.
His cleaned hand slid around her waist. “Magda?”
When his hand pressed against the small of her back, her heart seized, her breath hitched.
He frowned. “What’s wrong?”
She pursed her lips, gaze searching the crowd. Everyone watched them. Hundreds of people filled the field.
It could’ve been any of them.
She reached up and clasped the back of Kaelan’s neck, brushing her lips along his cheek, kissing his earlobe. Under the breath of her kiss, she murmured, “The Enneahedron is gone.”
KAELAN CAUGHT HER ELBOWas she moved through the crowd, not stopping to converse with those who attempted to catch her eye.
“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” he murmured.
“Most definitely not,” she said.
Those that remained between her and Lavana stepped aside, as if inviting the confrontation, hiding their mouths behind their goblets as they whispered to one another.
Lavana turned to face Magda as the path between them cleared. Riker paled, brow pinching. Lavana pushed aside the trailing hem of her cloak and smiled like a cat inviting a mouse in for tea.
“Dearest coz,” she purred. “How gracious of you to make your way to greet me.”
Magda slid her arm from Kaelan’s grip, biting back the accusation and the question foremost on her mind.
Did you steal the Enneahedron? Where is it?
She struggled to smile. “How are you, sweet coz?”
Riker opened his mouth as if to speak, but Lavana threw her hand up against his chest, halting him.
“Quite well,” Lavana said. “Do you like my new belt?”
