I never was. I was so fucking naive.
Hot tears clawed down my cheeks. An alcove with a settee appeared ahead, and I let myself sink onto it, pressing the back of my hand to my mouth to smother a sob. My wings disappeared too, emotion overcoming the control of my magic.
The Issaraeth was dangerous. I had known it was wrong to allow him close. And yet I let him in anyway. All in some misguided attempt to manipulate him so I could gain power over him. And then, because I understood he wasn’t the monster I’d initially painted him to be.
Turns out I was right after all.
A warm, comforting hand on my shoulder made me flinch. I whipped my head up, expecting to findhimtowering over me. My heart skipped a beat when I noted a pearlescent halo. “Heraphia!”
In a blink, I’d launched myself at her, arms capturing her in a fierce hug. The moment she returned the embrace, grief wrapped like thorny vines around my heart.
“Shh, it’s okay,” my best friend soothed, wriggling a hand out to stroke my hair.
“Ho–how did you know I’d be here?” I sobbed, clutching her silky dress, soaking the fabric with hot salt. I didn’t care. The crown had enough coin to replace it.
“I had a vision about an hour ago,” she murmured softly, shifting again so she cradled me in her arms. With gentle ease, she sat us both on the settee. She gave berth to my bad knee too, which only made me cry harder.
“What did you See?” I pleaded, hoping I wouldn’t have to explain everything that had happened since we parted.
“Just that you’d be here, injured and upset,” she sighed, sweeping my locks over my shoulder.
I dried my tears on my sleeves, taking in the female who was more like a sister. Dark circles dotted her eyes, and new lines had appeared over her brows. In the span of a few weeks, she looked like she’d aged decades. Goddess, centuries even.
“And they just let you leave?” I whispered, suddenly very concerned that someone would walk up on us. Or that the Issaraeth was around. I dove into the well of magic in my chest and sought him out.
To my relief, he had gone somewhere else. Not that the bond was happy. At my perusal, it seared me like a hot fire poker. My hand flew to my ribs and rubbed like that could ease the ache.
A small smile tugged at the corner of Heraphia’s lips. “I also Saw that our posted guards would be called away shortly before this. I snuck out.”
A watery laugh burst out of me. I couldn’t have snuffed it if I tried. “Goddess, I missed you. I’m so sorry I left you behind, Heraphia, it was so selfish of me and I–”
She grabbed my hands and gave them a hard squeeze, cutting me off. “You did what you had to do to survive. I hold no ill wishes toward you.”
My shoulders slumped with relief. “Thank you, Heraphia. I’ve felt so guilty…”
She rose, checking either direction of the long hall. “We’ll have more time to speak later, but I’m afraid if we linger, I’ll be missed. And neither of us want that level of attention on us.”
“Definitely not,” I replied, suppressing a shudder at the memory of how, minutes before, the nobles had weighed my worth in that Goddess forsaken garden. When I put weight on my bad leg, it didn’t nearly hurt as much as my heart did. If violence was my value, I’d stab the Issaraeth in his sleep. Itwasn’t like I couldn’t find him if I wanted to. No, our fucking bond would lead me straight there.
But I would not abandon my Elessarum principles for him.
Especially not now.
Heraphia remained at my side as we ducked down a side hall, delving deeper into the palace. In my devastation, I hadn’t taken a moment to glean anything about my surroundings.
Safety came with knowledge, and now that I was in the belly of my enemies, I needed all the information I could gather.
Yet as we walked, I had to force my jaw shut so I didn’t gape at the opulence. Gilded vines, a mimicry to what waited outside these walls, climbed columns interspersed between hollows in the hall. Fine furniture jutted out, offering places to sit while one studied the indoor water features, delicate paintings, and other artifacts I couldn’t begin to name.
“They just…leave all this sitting out?” I questioned, gesturing to a bust gleaming with diamonds.
Heraphia grimaced. “Some of the palace sentinels are attuned to all the pieces so they know if something has been touched or moved. They are…unpleasant if they catch you.”
Why was I not surprised?
Trickling water caught my attention, and as we rounded a corner, it turned into a full roar. At the end of the hall, two doors sat on either side of a rushing fall. “The one on the left leads to the Divine Atrium, where we use our power and deliver prophecies. The one on the right leads to our sleeping quarters,” Heraphia explained as she steered us toward them. “You look exhausted. Let’s get you settled into a room first.”
Just then, baritone voices echoed behind us. We whipped around together, my magic immediately surging to the surface of my skin.
