Ezryn kneels beside me. “The tokens and the weapons are intertwined. During wartimes, this ensured the Queen’s chosen always had a way to protect themselves.”
“But Kel always kept the Sword of the Protector under his bed.” A pretty stupid hiding spot, figuring my drunk ass and a bunch of goblins were able to find it.
Ezryn takes a deep breath. “The sword represented a lot of things to Kel. Things he wasn’t ready to carry with him at all times.”
I nod and rise to my feet. “We need to find the others.”
We make our way to the elevator. It rattles and begins its descent. “Keep your eyes on the mountains.”
I swallow in a dry throat, keeping my eyes fixed on the mountain range beyond. But even with my back turned, it does not block out the smell.Prince of Blood.That’s what the Nightingale had called him. Just how many died so he could save me?
I would do the same to save him. To save any of them.
And as the elevator clangs to a stop at the bottom of the monastery, I know I may have to.
99
Dayton
“Dayton! Day, please wake up.”
An image swirls before me, and I’m not at all surprised by it. Loose brown hair, that heart-shaped face. “Rosie?”
“Please, we don’t have a lot of time,” Rosie says. And her eyes blaze like blue flames. “Take a deep breath.”
I do as she says, mind clearing.Rosie’s eyes aren’t blue.
There’s a hand on my face, a rough one.
“There you are,” she says. Not Rosalina, but Wrenley. A cloak of blue covers her white and gold acolyte robes.
“W-what?”
She places a finger to her lips. Slowly, I take in my surroundings. In a cage of steel, looking out at the Hall of Vernalion, the throne room of Keep Hammergarden. It’s eerily silent besides the deep breaths of Prince Thalionor, who is slumped in a chair next to the throne. The steward is looking rough, body shaking.
Kel stands in a cage beside us, completely still, eyes vacant.
Stars, had I just been like that?
“It’s the red flowers,” Wrenley speaks lowly. “They help others see the High Prince’s reasoning.”
“Turns them into mindless husks, you mean,” I snarl under my breath. “How did you escape it?”
She touches her pointed ear where a white flower sits, and I mimic the movement, realizing she’s placed one behind my ear.
“Kairyn told us all to wear these when we left the monastery,” she says. “We thought it was a symbol, but I realized the pollen of the red flowers does not affect us. And if you chew a petal, it will restore your magic.”
I do as she says, though no magic returns to me. I’m still on empty until I get home to Castletree. She shakily pulls a key ring off her belt. “Got these off a sleeping guard.”
The lock clicks open and she grabs my hand, leading me behind one of the stone pillars. “Some of the acolytes are fleeing the monastery, fleeing Florendel. But I couldn’t leave without you.”
A hollowness tightens in my chest. “You’re trembling.”
Her hands squeeze into my shirt, and tears pool over her blue eyes. “It’s just … I was at the monastery and … andhecame.”
She falls against me, and I instinctually wrap my arms around her. “Who came? Kairyn?”
“No.” Her voice is soft, near empty. “Ezryn.”
