“I learned because someone used to tease me for my lack of knowledge.”
“Right.” I shifted to look at him, and when our eyes met, he scooted his chair back like I’d burned him with my gaze. It broke my trance enough that I remembered what I was doing. “Why am I here? Where is here? Who are you?”
His eyes crinkled, and a breath of a laugh left his lips. “My name is Alandris, and I am the Grand Arch Magus of the Mages Consortium, where you are currently located.”
I’d heard of the place in our travels. It was the only place in the realm where you could go to train your magic under the best of the best. People supposedly considered it a place of neutral allegiance, a paradise for Mages where no one would exploit their abilities. But rumors had spread of the claws of greed digging their way in, corrupting its leaders. If there is one thing you learn at sea, it is that no place is truly neutral. There was no such thing as paradise. No one was immune to wanting more, and more came at a cost. Usually, your morality.
Alandris, the Grand Arch Magus. Beautiful—but no doubt with hands painted red like the rest of them. I would no longer be distracted, at least. “Why were my crew and I captured at sea? Collecting on our bounty?”
He seemed startled by the change in my tone, but he returned my coldness in kind. It was a drastic enough shift that I’d had to stifle my shock. “Yes. You are fugitives of the Elven Kingdom of Val’Naeris. Four of you were specifically mentioned in the bounty, but we’re in the process of securing your ship as well.”
“You sent a Fae to capture us—seems like overkill. Why do you have a Fae in your back pocket to begin with?”
“Power.”
I scoffed. “Of course.”
His mouth twitched, and I could’ve sworn it edged towards a smile. “I’ve decided against turning you in for the very same reason. You see, Jyuri reported the strangest thing. He mentioned you used magic against him. Quite powerful magic, or it could have been, had it been harnessed properly. That sort of innate ability is not something I can ignore.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Nairu, the Fae never lie.” He folded his arms in front of him. “You’ll be staying here at the Consortium as a Mage in training, mastering your ability, until I figure out what to do with you. In exchange, I will harbor your crew as fugitives rather than turning them into my King.”
“And if I refuse?”
He furrowed his brow. “Then I’ll have to force you to stay, and I imagine your friends will be executed. The King is old and rarely stays his hand these days. His son, the Prince, and I have a good relationship. I believe I could have the charges dropped altogether, though it will take time.”
“Time?” I repeat through clenched teeth.
“I’m sure it could be arranged by the time you finish your training.”
I hate this bastard. It was idiotic of me to have been attracted to him—however, briefly it was.“I want to speak with my Captain first.”
Alandris stood from his seat and walked towards the door. “I’ll have Lorian sent to you in the morning. You can stay in the room you’ve been in the past week for now. You’ll be assigned a room in the dormitories once you’re officially accepted as a Mage.”
It infuriated me that he spoke as if he knew I was going to agree to his plot.Wait. Week!? I had been unconscious for a week? And my screwed-up mind had been hearing his voice while I slept?I shuddered at the thought. He’d probably been talking in the room and my mind had confused him with someone who wasn’t a total prick.
“I presume you can find your way back?” He asked, though he didn’t wait for my response before he left the room.
“Sure thing. Thanks.”
I didn’t head back to the room immediately. My head was a mess, and returning to bed would only result in tossing and turning, stewing over my thoughts and emotions. I decided to distract myself in the way I’d always done when I was a child—with a book. Nothing was better at calming me than words on a page. I scoured the shelves for something less textbook and more storybook. I easily forgot the reality of life when lost in make-believe. Back then, it had been for forgetting that I was alone, trapped in a room. Now, it was for forgetting I was alone, trapped in a castle.
There were several ways I’d imagined my conversation with Lorian going about what we should do about the impossible situation we’d found ourselves in. How it was actually going was nowhere near what I’d expected. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it was going the exact opposite of how I’d expected.
“It’s our best shot, Nairu.” Lorian sat on the edge of my bed while I paced the room. “I know it isn’t fair. I am the one who got us into this screwed-up mess, and now I’m relying on you to get us out of it. I know—but this could be a blessing in disguise.”
“Except it won’t stop at him wanting to train me how to use my magic. He isn’t doing this out of the goodness of his heart. There is always an end goal, and I will not spend my life in service to a bastard like that. These are the types of corrupt leaders we sail the realm to put a stop to, and you’re asking me to put myself in the position to be used by him.”
“It isn’t like that.” He stood and put his hands on my shoulders. “I promise, I would never ask you to do this if it wasn’t our only option for getting out of this alive, or if I thought it would put you in danger. Alandris is not a bad male. He willprotect you while you’re under his care here at the Consortium, and Kaelias, Makatza, and I will be here, too. He has his reasons for what he’s doing.”
I swallowed. “You’re lying to me.”
“I’m not.”
“But you aren’t telling me everything you know.”
Though it was difficult to catch, Lorian had a distinct tell if you knew what you were looking for. He would pinch his brows together just for the briefest of moments when he lied. I’d caught onto it after losing to him in cards one too many times. Now it was ingrained in my mind. He’d done it the moment I’d accused him of lying, and thus confirmed my suspicions in the same instant. If not outright lying, at the very least, he was withholding information.
