I should be in denial of all these ridiculous claims.
Instead, I feel nothing. I take another, larger sip from the goblet and close my eyes as the elixir slides down my aching throat. “Did my mother know?”
“Yes. Iywan ensured that I kept her asleep, but she appeared to me in a dream when there was a lapse in the effects of the potion that I was giving her. It’s how I came to realize the dire mistake the Zenith was making. If they used you to open the Veil, who’s to know what would come forth. It would be catastrophic.”
I watch her uneasily as I finish the elixir. “Why should I trust a word of what you say?”
“Because, Princess, I have seen your power, and I can assure you that I do not want to awaken the enchantress again.”
My heart plummets into my stomach. Gods, neither do I.
Suddenly remembering the thick black veins that had lined my arms back in the dungeons, I flip my arms over. My skin is speckled with cuts and bruises but nothing else. I search within myself for power, for that cold presence, but there’s only nervous energy coursing through my veins.
Briony takes the cup from me. “Princess, I’d like to answer more of your questions, but as we speak, Lord Commander Rheon and a few of his men are riding to Paramount. He expects a bride tethered to a conduit for his wielding, and if he doesn’t get that… well, he has the entire Royal Brigade and the Zenith at his fingertips. I’m afraid Paramount is not safe for you anymore. In fact, the whole kingdom will be in danger if the Zenith gets their hands on you.”
I’m a weapon to be wielded. Gods… I expect to be more moved by this news, but fatigue has thrown a blanket over my emotions. “Are you suggesting that I run,Priestess?” I still have so many questions about her loyalty, her title, her dedication to the god of death.
She nods. “Respectfully… Not suggesting—telling. Angharad is already prepared to get you to safety.” She stands and helps me to my feet. My legs are reluctant to support my weight, and I’m overcome with nauseating exhaustion. Briony slings my arm around her, and we start down the hallway.
Then her words circle back to me.More than one that shares her blood.More than one? As in more than me? My thoughts all meld together into a mess.
“Is my mother still alive?” I ask, already struggling to keep my breathing steady.
Briony catches her lower lip between her teeth, then slowly shakes her head. “I’m sorry…”
My chest constricts, sensation trickling back into me for a moment before ebbing away. “What did you mean when you said more than one shares my mother’s blood. Are you referring to my brother? Because he’s—” A brawny soldier clad in charcoal livery rounds on us, and I nearly swallow my tongue from the startled yelp I bite back. Her uninjured brown eye regards me with a respectful intensity.
“Sorry to scare you, Your Highness,” she says. For her intimidating appearance, her voice is warm and melodic. “But we must hurry.”
This must be Angharad.
I nod and Briony releases me to the soldier. I glance over my shoulder to thank Briony, but Angharad yanks me down the hallway so aggressively that my feet leave the ground for a moment. Everything aches. Even my soul aches. I want to lie down on the floor and never get up.
Don’t you dare, says that cool voice in my head.
My back jolts straight, my muscles straining, and I bite back a grunt as I’m half dragged down the hallway. Feetpounding on the floor, we launch ourselves into the cool night air. Pains shoot through my shins as I struggle to keep up with Angharad’s racing steps across the small, covered bridge from the castle.
I open my mouth to ask where we’re going, but I can hardly breathe, let alone speak. I try to make sense of Angharad’s direction. Rather than taking a more secluded path, she moves right to the front of the castle, through the hedge-lined pathways and past oddly wilting flowers, straight toward the rocky trail that runs alongside the loch below.
Hugging myself against the wind that whips around me, I drag uneven breaths into my lungs. My chest burns, my throat is raw.
“There she is!” a voice calls. Briony?
Angharad and I turn toward Briony whose arm is outstretched, her finger pointing at me.
A stocky man in brown Royal Brigade livery stands beside her, a few other soldiers at his back. The dozens of stripes and patches on his uniform clearly denotes his high rank. Thehighestrank.
Lord Commander Rheon.
Shit …
All hopes of catching my breath vanish, and my pulse skitters.
Angharad’s unaffected eye is intent, almost… regretful? “Stay alive,” she says, gently placing her hands on my shoulders.
As I pull in a ragged breath to question her, she shoves me.
I stagger backward, throwing my arms out to catch myself, but the back of my heel slams into the low wall behind me. I get one last look at the castle looming ahead, at the bright, full moon in the inky sky. The breeze chills my body as I tumble off the edge of the cliff. My stomach lurches, my hands grasping at anything, at everything.
