With steady hands, far from the shaking mess she had once been, Amira deepened her focus. Her brows pulled together, a headache taking over.
Suddenly, the arrow shot up in the air, almost hitting Elyssa before it landed on the ground behind her. Elyssa had ducked just in time.
“Guess I was wrong about you not wanting to kill me,” Elyssa teased.
Amira’s heart squeezed tightly. She rushed forward. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
Elyssa cut her off. “I’m fine, really. You didn’t even hit me. Farren made a goddamn tree branch fall on my head once.”
Amira’s breathing evened. “And you’re still friends with him?”
Elyssa laughed. “Yeah, we even dated for a bit.”
Amira’s heart tightened in her chest. Had Elyssa not brought up the kiss because it didn’t mean anything to her, not because Amira had tried to ignore her today?
“Anyway, how did you feel using your magic? Be honest,” Elyssa quickly added.
Closing her eyes, Amira let the gentle wind caress her face. She felt strangely liberated, unburdened. It didn’t make sense. If she was trulycursed,she should feel different. She should feel appalled. Could it be true? Had Tarnan been right?
When she opened her eyes, she found Elyssa smiling at her. “I felt…powerful,” Amira admitted, letting the truth in. She had never felt stronger,morefree,than the split second she had been in control of her magic.
And she wanted to feel that again.
Chapter41
Rhay
“Don’t pick that one, white roses are so cliché,” Varsha said, sprawling on a beige velvet sofa. She was providing little to no help to Rhay. Unable to put off wedding planning any longer, Rhay had called in the palace gardener to choose the flower arrangement for the ceremony. The whole sitting room was decked out in all sorts of flowers, their scents mixing into an intoxicating aroma.
Pulling his hand back from the bouquet of roses on the long wooden table, Rhay turned to face Varsha. “You insisted on coming to help me, and now you’re saying no to everything.”
The afternoon sun shone through the high windows of the spacious sitting room, lighting Varsha’s teasing smile. “Because your suggestions are all terrible. Since when are you so uninspired?”
Rhay scoffed, dusting off his lilac silk shirt while trying to maintain his balance. He had clearly overdone it the night before. Seeing the room in the underground had rattled him to the bone. Images of dried blood and sharp instruments had plagued his mind all night, and drinking had been his only way to cope. He knew he’d had enough, but cutting himself off seemed impossible. Rhay had spent the last weeks avoiding Karwyn and his conscience as best as he could, but last night had made him doubt what the fuck he was doing more than ever.
“It’s Karwyn’s wedding. He would want something…traditional,” Rhay said after too long of a pause.
Standing up from the sofa, Varsha walked over to the bouquet of lilacs, inhaling their sweet scent. “Or maybe you don’t really want to plan this wedding. Maybe you know, deep down, that Karwyn only asked you to punish you and keep you away from what’s really going on.”
A whining sound invaded Rhay’s mind as Varsha threw his own thoughts back at him. It was becoming harder and harder to deflect.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’ve never been one to go into deep conversations.” Rhay grinned at her, but he knew he was still clinging to deflection. Damn him and his bad habits. “But we sure had our fun.”
“I’ve finally realised we can do more than enjoy ourselves. Don’t you want to do more than party away Karwyn’s silver? You do know that there’s a court meeting happening right now, don’t you?” Varsha asked as she put a lilac in the pocket of his blouse. “Have I ever told you about my brother?”
Rhay raised a quizzical eyebrow. “You have a brother?”
“He was a guard,” Varsha said, staring out the window.
“Was?” Cold zapped through his heart.
“He’s long gone.” Varsha turned to him, her tone somber for once. “He was so proud when he’d been picked…until he learnt his true duty, capturing powerful fae for Karwyn and his father to experiment on. When he rebelled, my brother met the same fate as those poor souls.”
Rhay shut his eyes, refusing to hold Varsha’s cloudy gaze. Being in the underground, saving Lora from doing Caelo knows what, had forced Rhay to confront the truth he had long chosen to ignore. Ever since Rhay had first glimpsed Harten Adelway’s darkness—something he had instilled in his son—he had looked the other way.
Taking in the profusion of flowers, Rhay’s chest tightened painfully. He saw Karwyn’s attempt at keeping him busy. He saw Amira’s face, telling him to try to be useful.
All Rhay had done was waste away. When would it end? If not now,when?Although he itched to get a drink, to make Varsha’s words and everything he had experienced these past months go away, he knew it was time for him to face Karwyn and ask for the truth.
