I traced the edge of the key with my thumb. “He tried, but I didn’t understand it very well.”
Dearan sighed and plopped down in a seat on the other side of the desk. “Fae magic can do a lot of things,but when it’s used to hurt or attack, it becomes vulnerable. Magic isn’t designed to coerce, despite the ways that fae have manipulated it to do just that.”
He waved his hand. “But that’s not the point. Daneira was beyond intolerable when she was here, trying to convince Bylur to marry her. Bylur was trying to organize a council to rule Kalshana and protect it, primarily from her. If he had told us he was going to attack her, we could have reinforced his magic and stopped her from turning it around. But he didn’t want to attack her. They were too evenly matched, and he didn’t want to do anything that would encourage her to start a war to take over Kalshana.”
He blew out a big breath of air and shook his head. “I still don’t know how she got to him, but something made him try to forcibly remove her from Kalshana with magic. She was strong enough that she redirected the attack back on Bylur, but she added her own attack to it, with the conditions you know. She never would have been able to make that curse stick if he hadn’t attacked first. Bylur is too strong.”
I pressed the pad of my thumb against the tip of the key—it would be an easy habit to fall into, like rubbing my mother’s ring had been. “So,” I clarified, “she probably planned the curse in advance and then waited for him to attack so she could use his attack to carry her curse?”
He rubbed his temples. “She probably even provoked him deliberately so he would eventually attack her.”
I stood up. “So how do I undo a curse like that?”
Dearan stood too. “You don’t. She included a breaking point—the conditions you were trying to meet—which strengthened the attack’s hold on him. He belongs to her now, unless she pulls her magic off or dies.”
I grinned. “Dearan. You just gave me two ways to free him.”
His eyes widened. “Auria. Bylur would kill me if I let you try to attack her.”
“I won’t attack her. I’ll convince her to take her magic off him.”
He looked more serious than I’d seen him before. “She won’t agree.”
I folded my arms. “Then I’ll kill her.”
“Auria!” He waved his hands to the side. “You can’t. She’s afae queen. She’ll have you killed as soon as she knows you’re in the castle. Or enslaved.”
I gripped the key. “I’m going to get him back, Dearan. So help me or go find me someone who can.”
Rat saved him from answering. The bird flew through the door that Dearan had left open, crashed onto the desk, and squawked at me. I scooped him into my arms and nuzzled his feathery head against my cheek.
Then I gave Dearan a look. “Rat believes in me.”
Dearan ran a hand through his hair. “I believe in you too. I just… think you’re crazy.”
I smiled. “That was the tone of a fae resigned to helping me.”
Ivodar shifted his weight, like he wanted to join the conversation but didn’t qualify because he wasn’t a noble.
I tipped a chin at him. “Ivodar. What are you thinking?”
“I’ll go with you. I’ve patrolled all of Kalshana and know where the footbridge entrance is.” He hesitated but added. “I won’t be useful for much besides a bodyguard after we cross the bridge though.”
“This is madness,” Dearan mumbled, “but if you won’t be persuaded otherwise, I’d suggest waking Dedalus and asking him for advice. He’s the only person I know who’s been to Kerebos.”
Rat flew up to my shoulder, and I folded my arms. “He hates me.”
Dearan shook his head. “Nobody hates you after last night. Not even Dedalus. And you need information if you’re going to march into a monster’s lair.”
A valid point. “Will you ask him to come talk to me here?”
A slow, cocky grin spread across Dearan’s face. “Auria. You are Lady of House Umbran. In Bylur’s absence, you command the castle and everyone in it. I would be happy to deliver yoursummonsto the angsty Lord Dedalus because you have every right to demand his help.”
I’m sure it was meant to make me laugh, but the thought of any kind of ruling position was so foreign to me that I almost decided to ignore all the advice andsneak into Kerebos on my own. I’d spent most of my life as a thief, after all.
But I refused to lose Bylur for information that Dedalus might have, even if he hated me. “Will you ask him to come here nicely, Dearan?”
He laughed a genuine laugh that felt completely out of place with my heavy mood and waved as he strode out the door.
