I do my best, but I can't hide my surprise at his sudden arrival. He’s older than I expected. Deep lines mar his face, and an all-white beard covers most of his jaw. Gray streaks run through his black hair, and his bright jade eyes gleam in the dim light of the Great Hall.
Malachi stares at me, but the others don’t seem to notice him. Silas remains lost in thought while the others watch the dancers move through the room.
“Briar, Queen of Daramveer.”
His deep voice coils into my mind despite his lips remaining still. I attempt to look away, but it’s as if my gaze is fixed on his.
“The others neither see nor hear me. Only you, Briar,” he nearly hisses. “How lucky.”
A horrified feeling courses through my veins, leaving me fixated on Malachi’s face. Silas pulls his gaze up and notices my frozen state. Even from my periphery, a wave of dread washes over him as his face drains of color.
He knows exactly who I see.
“You’ve traveled far to be here.”
I blink, unable to move or react.
“You think you will win this kingdom over?”
His hands rest on the table, and I notice the slightest movement. Black vines start to slither from his sleeves toward me. The thin vines snap on the wooden table, drowning out the muffled beats of the music. One quickly moves my way, attempting to wrap around my wrist, and my stomach rolls.
Terror floods me.
His piercing gaze settles into my soul, and I study them—they aren’t eyes like Silas’s or Fen’s. They are different—darker—and something I’ve never seen before. I burrow down, attempting to focus on my magic, begging my shadows to come forward. I needthem to shift me out of this castle immediately. I need to get the fuck away from this man.
“Briar,” Silas says beside me. “Don’t listen to what the shadows say.”
A tear settles heavily on my lower lid as I remain stuck.
“Look at me.”
Still in a trance, my eyes sluggishly blink. Malachi furrows his brow, watching me slowly return to life against his hold.
“Briar,” Silas says once more, louder, causing the others to look our way. “Eyes on me.”
Fen and Aerona ignore us, choosing not to involve themselves with what’s happening. They already know.
“Please,” Silas reverts to a gentle voice.
I blink harder this time, and Malachi begins to fade into black smoke. His eyes burn into Silas as he watches his son pull me back into my body and out of his invisible claws that wrap around my mind.
He vanishes as a tear rolls down my cheek.
I gasp, and my back hits the tall chair behind me.
“Briar?” Maines calls from down the table. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
My chest heaves, and I shiver, thankful that the vines are gone and no longer snaking toward me. Silas turns my entire chair as if it were weightless and wraps his arms around me momentarily.
“I am so fucking sorry.” He presses his head against mine, barely whispering, “I’ll explain everything soon.”
Tears begin to form in the corners of my eyes again, but I refuse to let Aerona see me cry another tear.
“W—Why,” I barely muster out, “didn’t you warn me?”
Silas notices my state, and regret hangs in his eyes, like bringing me here was possibly the worst mistake he could have ever made.
The far back doors of the Great Hall pulse as someone approaches, the darkness of the shadows concealed by the night.
