Why is he trying to talk to me? And what was that scene in the Great Hall? And even more importantly, how did he help me survive that trial?
It doesn’t do any good to let the questions slow me down, though. Only he has the answers I need, so the sooner I get there,the better. The only problem is that every time I’m near him, he makes my body want things that are dangerous.
He’s the Prince of Bones. Not some handsome prince in my father’s court. He’s the kind of person I’ve trained to fight my entire life, and yet, when I’m near him, my body begs me to let him do far more than run those crimson fingernails over me. And then there are the stories about him. Beauty’s champion, yet no one who’s ever entered his bedroom has left it alive. His seduction is as dangerous as the blade and shadows he wields, and it’s something I don’t even know how to train to fight against.
I swing onto the ledge and see him sitting silently. His eyes move over my cloak-covered body. Something about the look in his eyes sends a shiver of fear through me. It’s as if the cloak and armor don’t protect me from his gaze.
“You asked me to meet you,” I finally say to break the silence.
There’s a cold mask over any emotions he may have. In this moment, he looks like you’d imagine the Champion of Death and Beauty. “You did well in the trial,” he says softly, his gaze moving back to the bridge, which we have a clear vantage point of. “You haven’t broken any rules, so there shouldn’t be any repercussions.”
I cock my head. “But you…”
His head snaps toward me, and his eyes tell me exactly what his mouth doesn’t.Shut your mouth.“It seems Nyxthos is interested in you. You can feel him, can’t you? There’s a darkness lingering around you like a cloud.”
Oh.Hedid something that broke the rules, and if Nyxthos finds out, there won’t be anything I or anyone else can do to save himfrom his punishment. “I felt a darkness, but I thought it might be you. How do you know all the things you know? We were sure our hiding place was secret.”
He raises a hand, and stone from the ledge we’re on flows into a chair. “I was born with the powers of all the original Great Houses. I hold the powers of Shadow, Flame, Earth, and Steel by birth. One of Earth’s most unique abilities includes being extremely good at finding things or people. It wouldn’t matter where you hid in Castle Lachlan, I could find you in moments.”
“That’s aninterestingpower. It doesn’t feel as though it’s as powerful as Shadows or Flame, though.”
He shrugs. “Not all powers are for the same situations. Sidon says the Great Houses were given powers to protect Nyth and the creatures that depended on magic. The House of Flames was supposed to be the ones who could protect them with violence. Shadows were for being wherever they were needed. Earth was for building fortifications from enemies and the environment. The House of Steel was supposed to be the adaptable one, capable of becoming whatever was needed. The purpose of the Houses was lost for thousands of years, and now it doesn’t even matter since the Houses have either become Godforged or mostly unimportant.”
He says it all as if he’s reciting from a book. No emotions. It’s drastically different from the way he acts in groups. He’s just staring into the distance, not trying to draw me in or convince me to tell him anything.
“Is there a reason you told me to come meet you?” I finally ask.
He slowly stands up, finally turning to look at me again. “You want a safe place in Castle Lachlan, but you won’t find it. My powers are not entirely unique, and while there exists no one other than my mother and myself with the blood of the House of Earth, there are Lesser Fae and a handful of Kaelith’s troops who can do something similar.”
“That’s unfortunate,” I say, but for some reason, Azric still seems preoccupied. He looks like my father when he’s considering something important. I change subjects to draw his attention. “Why’d you put a target on my back in the Great Hall? Darian thinks I should try to keep my head down.”
Azric shrugs. “Maybe that would have been the right decision before Lucine called all that attention to you. Everyone knew you wereinterestingalready, but they didn’t have a reason to want to ally themselves with you. Maybe they wouldn’t have thought very much about it, but remember, little Priestess, the ones in the trials with you have been cutting each other’s throats for eighty years. They’ve learned to watch their backs first. Now you need them to want you close to them.”
He moves toward me, and it seems like I’ve pulled his attention back to the conversation. “I may have put a target on your back, but I also gave people a reason to think you’re valuable. There are plenty who respect my Uncle and are willing to be a part of his team, but you’re a human. You’re nothing to them. Now, I’ve made all of them reconsider whether you have some redeeming traits.”
He pauses for a moment, his eyes turning into slits. This time, it’s him that changes the subject. “Show me the pouch you stole from me.”
I take a step back. “Why? You said you didn’t care.”
He smiles, and suddenly, the boredom disappears. “My little Priestess,” he says through a sneer, “you’ll quickly learn that it’s best to do as I tell you. If not, I might have to force you to do it.”
He crosses the distance between us in an instant, a flash of shadows the only proof he’d shadow walked the ten feet. He’s inches away from me, and every fiber of my being tells me to run. “You have it on you, don’t you? I can feel it.”
His hands move to the cord that ties my cloak closed, and as he begins to untie it, I grab his wrists to push them away. “I’ll show you the pouch,” I say.
“Darling, you missed your chance to do this the easy way.” No matter how hard I push or pull, his hands are unfazed. He gently undoes the cloak and pulls it off me. I try to catch it, to take it back from him, but as soon as it’s off my neck, it disappears.Hedoesn’t go anywhere, but the cloak is nowhere to be found.
“What’d you do with it?” I say, and genuine fear winds its way up my spine, turning my voice shrill. “I need my cloak!”
“I’m sure you’ll find it. I have a feeling that there’s very little that will keep you from finding anything that’slost.” He steps back, a wide smile on his lips. “But that’s a task you can finish when we’re done talking.”
I feel naked without my cloak. No Infusions. No way to hide my motions. I’m not a Priest if I’m not wearing that cloak. I think I’dfeel more secure wearing the cloak and no armor, to be completely honest with myself.
“Give me my cloak back!” I say, and I know my voice is far too loud. Gods, I feel like a little girl who’s had her doll stolen by a group of bullies except that this doll has the keys to my survival in it.
Azric just smiles, and shadows wrap around me. They carry me to the seat he’d made from stone earlier. As soon as I try to cry out, more shadows cover my mouth. “Now, now, little Priestess. We don’t want to give away our hiding place. It’d be very unfortunate if someone were to station a guard closer. Papa Rhaskar might end up being forced to fight when he came to restock your potions.”
The thought of my father being surprised by guards stops my struggling. He leans forward, that frustrating smirk on his lips, and he says, “You need to understand something, and you need to understand it right now. I’m helping you. You know exactly how I’ve helped you already, and I’m going to teach you to fight the things you’re going to face in the third and fourth trials. But you are going to do what I say when I say it. You will not refuse me, or there will be consequences. It doesn’t matter what I tell you to do, you need to listen, and you need to obey. If you don’t, you could end up dead, and that will be very inconvenient for both of us. Do you understand me?”
