I still hadn’t had nearly enough time to determine a path forward. With everything Iaoth wanted me to do, there wasn’t much time to think of a plan. My survival strategy hinged on completing everything she asked of me so that her claws would retract.
I said nothing else as I reentered the halls, this time headed for the training ring with the royal sentinels. And hopefully Maelsar.
Because the truth sank into my bones. There was no doubtin my mind that my fighting skills needed to be honed like my blades.
Because the greatest threat to our race wasn’t across the spine of Keleti, lying in wait in the Demon Realm.
No, it was standing in front of me wearing a smile.
War raged beyond the Skala Mountains, but soon, the spear of battle would pierce our borders once again.
And our monarchs weren’t doing nearly enough to stop it.
40
The fountain outside the Divine Atrium dripped, each bead plopping against the stone beneath in a slow, monotonous rhythm that did nothing to slow the erratic stutter of my own heart. For whatever reason, the Sightkeepers seemed not to notice that the rush had slowed to a trickle.
Instead, they stared at me, brows a little too high, hands resting in mock casualness, like they could hide the fact that if I made a sudden movement they’d draw their weapons and try to skewer me to the marble.
If I wanted entrance, there was no stopping me, despite what they whispered to themselves. I smirked at the one whose lip boasted a purple bruise from the previous day’s training session.
Hescowled in reply.
This was the game we played whenever I came to walk my mate to her healer.
At the thought of her, the chain linking our fates clawed at my chest. I gritted my teeth and looked away from the two, forcing slow breaths. As always, it punished me severely for the times I missed our daily interaction, so much so that during my earlier training session with Maelsar, I’d fallen to my knees, breathless, thinking my heart had split open.
Iaoth stole every minute of my time, bleeding me dry without a care in all the worlds. With her best hunter in Sivy, she set me to work from dawn until dusk, the shadow behind the crown. Whether it was wealthy merchants in the city who needed wooing—or Commanding, if they weren’t inclined to offer ageneroustithe—or murmurs of a rebel’s voice rising in the streets, I was always there, ensuring what the Koron and Korona wanted came to pass.
Sylaira still hadn’t emerged from the atrium. I sensed her, just beyond, yet out of reach. Physically and emotionally. Like I was easing myself onto a frozen lake, I tiptoed into our connection, trying to see what was happening behind those closed doors.
A frozen vault blocked my entry into her mind.
With a grumble, I retreated, fishing into my pocket and pulling out a notebook. Iaoth had tasked me with the table arrangement for the ball—something any servant could do, but instead reserved as a special kind of torture for me.
At this rate, I was never going to find a moment where her exacting standards were low enough to admit to that the Goddess had blessed me with a mate.
Sweat rolled down my spine as I scratched the parchment.
Sylaira didn’t understand what was at stake. I was being squeezed from all sides. Especially with Iaoth’s cutting remark about how pretty the new Seers I’d brought her were.
What did she know? And better yet, who had told her?
She was adept at keeping spies in her own realm—ones even I didn’t know about. Brittle at best, paranoid at worst. All because of our father and her husband.
The bond twirled in my chest, reveling in the well of undulating white. My head shot up, focus colliding with the door as it swung open, revealing my mate.
Eyes rimmed red.
Skin around them puffy.
Lips swollen.
She didn’t need to speak for me to know I was the cause. The feral desire to fix it all roared in my chest.
No crutches held her upright as she hobbled into the hall. The limp in her step was pronounced, but she lifted her chin and carried herself like she’d been born royal.
“Sylaira.” Her name slipped past my lips with a desperation that almost made me cringe.
