“And then what?” Mavlyn asked. She’d curled her fingers around the bars now, her grip so tight her knuckles were turning white. “Even if we can escape, we have no idea where Quye is. Why wasn’t she in her rooms? Who was that imposter? And if we can’t escape, then what is Lord Oren going to do with us?”
Her voice pitched higher and higher with each word, and Leap realized Mavlyn was terrified. Guilt swamped him as he took a good look at her—her eyes were like saucers, her face pale beneath her dark complexion, and her chest was rising and falling so rapidly he worried she was going to hyperventilate.
Of course she’s terrified, you idiot. She’s an earth fae who got caught committing a crime in air fae territory. Even you don’t know what’s going to happen to her, especially now that the kingdom is about to be thrown into an upheaval.
But of course, he couldn’t say that. Not when Mavlyn looked like she was about to have a panic attack.
“I don’t know exactly what’s happened to Quye,” Leap said in a soothing tone. “But if I had to guess, I’d say that my uncle has hidden her somewhere to ensure she’s protected during the coming political unrest. She’s his own daughter, and most precious commodity, or at least she is after his own heir.” He snorted. “Uncle Oren would never let anything happen to her.”
“Oh.” Mavlyn’s grip on the bars loosened, and her shoulders relaxed. “Well, if that’s the case, then at least she’s safe.”
Leap frowned. “You were that worried about her?”
“Of course I was.” Mavlyn’s cheeks pinkened, and she glanced away. “I thought something terrible had happened to her, that maybe General Slaugh’s shadow soldiers had gotten to her, and Lord Oren had installed a stand-in so no one would know.” She chewed her bottom lip, her brow furrowing with worry as she met his gaze. “Are you sure that isn’t a possibility?”
“It’s extremely unlikely.” Leap sat up and crossed his arms, studying Mavlyn closely. “Are you sure there isn’t something else going on?”
“I think you’re the one who should be answering that question,” Mavlyn pointed out. “I understand whyI’mlocked up in chains, but why are you? You’re Lord Oren’snephew. Shouldn’t they at least give you a proper bed to sleep on?”
Leap snorted. “They know if they put me in a regular room I’ll escape the moment they lock the door. Besides, Uncle Oren isn’t exactly happy I’ve spent the last couple of years hiding from him. Not only would he not bat an eye if I told him I’d spent the night in a jail cell, he’d probably say it was good character-building.”
“Giant’s Teeth.” Mavlyn shook her head. “You’ve got a pretty messed up family dynamic, Leap.”
“Ha.” Leap flopped back onto the cot. “You don’t know the half of it.”
“It’s too bad you’re not on good terms with your uncle,” she mused. “If you were, we might be able to convince him to help Adara.”
Leap scowled. “That would require actually going back to Angtun. Which I have no intention of doing.”
Leap rolled over on his cot to face the wall, but he could still feel Mavlyn’s gaze boring into the space between his shoulder blades. His body tensed, and he braced himself for more arguments and questions. But to Leap’s surprise, Mavlyn didn’t ask him anything more. She merely settled down on her own cot, and within no time, the soft sound of her snores filled the air.
It took a lot longer for sleep to find Leap. Thoughts of his family and the life he’d left behind swirled behind his eyelids, most notably a pair of taunting yellow eyes and a mocking sneer. His gut clenched, and he rolled over in his bed, praying that the nightmare he’d run away from wouldn’t be waiting for him in Angtun when he returned.
But he knew better than to expect the Radiants to answer. A reckoning was coming, and his time had finally run out.
15
Einar
After Lady Axlya dismissed Adara, Prentis escorted us out of the audience chamber and handed us off to the steward so we could be shown to our rooms. I half-expected the steward to give us rooms in opposite wings, but to my surprise and relief, he placed us in the same hall, only a few doors apart. A change of clothes awaited me on the bed, and as I looked at the feather mattress with its plumped-up pillows, exhaustion began to drag at my limbs.
Before I could even think of collapsing on my bed and passing out for a few hours, the door behind me flew open. I spun on my heel, wings flaring out behind me as I prepared to confront the intruder. But instead of a guard or assassin or some other enemy, it was Adara who stalked into the room.
“Can you believe this?” she slammed the door behind her hard enough to shake the walls, her cornflower blue eyes blazing with righteous fury. The skirts and trailing sleeves of her gown flared out behind her as she stalked across the room toward me, wisps of lavender blue hair escaping from her braids to frame her flushed cheeks. “Cascada stood up in front of a roomful of nobles and claimed she and her friends killed my mother and defeated Nox. And we’re expected to justbelievethat?”
“It does seem a little far-fetched,” I admitted, leaning against the mantle to watch Adara pace around the room. “But it’s not impossible. Nox might have realized that using Gelsyne as a host was not in her best interest after allowing you to leave the castle alive. She might have cast your mother aside in favor of choosing a better host.”
“Like who?”
“I don’t know.” Adara tore at her hair, and the tresses tumbled free, pins scattering across the floor, as haphazard as her emotions seemed to be. She turned to face me, her bottom lip trembling, eyes shining with unshed tears. “I just know Cascada has to be lying about killing my mother. Because if she isn’t, all of this has been for nothing. And I don’t know how to deal with that.”
“Oh, Adara.” My chest ached at the heartbreak on her face, and I reached out to pull her into my arms. But she dodged my attempt at an embrace, shaking her head.
“I can’t keep using you as a shoulder to cry on, Einar.” She swiped at her eyes. “I need to be able to stand on my own two feet. To stop crumbling every time I get hit with another bit of bad news. This is my life now.” She sucked in a shuddering breath and squared her shoulders. “I can’t afford to be weak.”
Adara started to pace again, but I reached out and snagged her by the waist, dragging her against me. “First of all,” I said, using a clawed hand to brush one of her tresses away from her face, “there’s nothing weak about you, so stop saying stupid things like that. And second of all—” I grabbed her hand and placed it right over my heart—"You can use me for anything you damn well want.”
The air thickened between us, and Adara slowly curled her hand around the fabric of my shirt. Her nails scraped against my skin, sending a tremor of need through me, and I silently cursed the shackles around my wrists that prevented me from touching her the way I wanted to.
