“For one thing, the head steward said the servant had only been there a month and shouldn’t have been retrieving such important things, and for another, I remember now that his hair was an unusual color. It had a reddish tint to it.”
I thought of all the many people of this continent, and while there were many different shades of brown and black, red was certainly an oddity. “Then surely this servant isn’t our spy if he stands out so much.”
Talon shook his head. “It was very subtle—I only could tell because of the way the light hit his hair.”
“It’s the best lead we have, so we should go seek him out,” I said.
“Let’s start with the servants’ quarters. The easiest thing to do would be to speak to Bran, the head steward, and ask him where we can find the man I remember.”
I nodded. “I’ll get dressed, then.”
But when I moved toward my dressing room, it suddenly felt like the room was spinning, and I swayed a bit.
Talon looked at me sharply before moving toward me like he was afraid I’d faint. “Are you in pain?”
I shook my head. “I’m fine. I just got a little lightheaded.”
“We can put this off,” he said. “Wait until you’re fully recovered. You were attacked only last night.”
“We both know we can’t wait any longer,” I said. “I’m not injured enough to delay this.”
He looked like he wanted to argue with me more about it, but he knew I had a point.
But once I was alone inside my dressing room, my ribs protested my every movement with a stabbing pain. The scratches on my arms burned beneath their wrappings, and I was thankful we wouldn’t be immediately going into battle. Still, I wanted to dress in a way that made me prepared for anything. My hands shook as I hurriedly pulled on clothing that was both tight-fitting—and therefore easier to fight in—and warm. Soon, we would face many more attackers alongside the shadowy sorcerer, with no guarantee that my wind power would be enough to defeat it.
I came out of the dressing room, only to find Talon waiting right outside—as if he was afraid I might have fainted or something inside. Knowing he would guard me against whatever was to come made me feel safe somehow despite just having been attacked in my own room.
We both moved toward the door, and my mind raced ahead. Maybe if I had the power to completely control the wind, I would be able to destroy Ozul and keep it from killing again. As terrifying as the attack from Raven had been, though, it had shown me that I would do anything to keep more innocent people from falling prey to that demon.
Even if it meant facing more walking corpses.
30
Talon
Knowing the Devourer left behind walking corpses and seeing one nearly tear Zara’s throat out had turned out to be two very different things. The thought of what could have happened if I hadn’t gotten there when I did tormented me. I would never let her sleep alone in her room again, even if I had to torture myself by standing guard and not touching her.
I stole another glance at her, now thankfully changed out of that sheer nightgown. She was too damned beautiful.
Even now, when I should have been focused on finding the spy, I wanted to kiss her again. The way her soft lips felt under mine, the little breathy sounds she made, and the way her cinnamon smell had enveloped me made me burn with desire. As soon as she fell asleep, I had to disentangle myself from her warmth and scent to keep myself from falling upon her again like a starving man. I had stood beside the bed, guarding her while she slept. My thoughts had tortured me.
But last night didn’t change the fact that she was promised to the emperor. I gritted my teeth at the thought of having to watchher marry Altair—how could I endure it now that I had finally acted on the fantasy that had tormented me since we first flew back to the palace together, of finally touching her, kissing her? I couldn’t stand aside and let her tie herself to Altair, not only because I wanted her for myself, but also because I couldn’t stand to watch her suffer at his hands. But her looming marriage to Altair was a problem for another time.
We made our way quietly through the plain and cold servants’ quarters. Here, the same stony walls of the mountain continued, but there were no tapestries or art to break up the monotony. As we walked, I noted how few servants we came across. The palace had a staff of over two hundred people, not including guards, so we should have seen someone by now. But the halls were empty.
We passed many doors that led to individual servants’ rooms. Finally, we arrived at a set of double doors near the kitchen. The head steward position came with a larger set of rooms that included a small sitting area, bathing room, and bedroom. “This is Bran’s room,” I told Zara.
“I hope we’re not disturbing him,” she said, a line of worry creasing her brow. “It’s still so early.”
A smile pulled at the corner of my lips. Altair wouldn’t have given a single thought to disturbing a servant in the middle of the night, much less dawn, but Zara thought of others, no matter their social status.
I knocked on the door lightly. After a moment, we heard footsteps. Bran answered, looking disheveled with rumpled clothing and mussed hair, but he was still wearing his steward attire of a dove-gray tunic and pants.
He paled when he saw us. “Future Empress Zara, Commander Talon,” he said with a bow, “how may I serve you?”
I glanced behind us at the empty hallway. Still, someone could be around the corner listening, and I didn’t want the potential spy to get spooked if he heard we were seeking him out. “May we come in? Just for a moment,” I added when his eyebrows shot into his hairline.
“Of—of course,” he said, stepping aside so we could enter.
