“No. I’m serious. I need you to get some sleep–you stayed up all night. I don’t want to waltz into the Obsidian Palace without you at full strength.”
Laurentwasexhausted. Purple bags rimmed his eyes, and his chest was heavy with the lack of deep rest. He had been pushing his magic past its normal, familiar, threshold for days, and the effects were running him ragged.
Holding open the portal for Merrick and Lenna, and then staying up watching for any potential trouble last night depleted his energy. The adrenaline was constant lately, but he knew his mind needed to rest for a few hours. The urge to do something, anything, to stay busy, hounded his heels. But Merrick was right. He needed to replenish his body and magic, owing it to his commander to be at his best physically and magically before venturing off into danger.
“Okay.” Merrick clapped his hands together once, after Laurent dipped his head in a nod of forlorn agreement. “We will leave tomorrow afternoon and Laurent will start working on the portal,” the gargoyle glared pointedly at the fae, “afterhe gets some rest. I will go get the supplies we need for the trip.”
Lenna narrowed her eyes. The Oracle obviously figured out some silent conversation went on between them. They couldn’t lose her allegiance now, not when the only thing going for them was that Lenna agreed to help clear Keerian’s name. Getting in front of the potential trouble, Laurent extended a hand to Lenna. “See this ring?” Lenna peered at it with a healthy dose of apprehension. “It gives us the ability to speak directly into each other’s minds.”
“Woah.” She gently grasped Laurent’s hand, inspecting the plain, slim gold band on the fae’s pointer finger. “So that’s why you guys both get that weirdly vacant look sometimes. What do you talk about?”
Laurent shrugged. “Well, we were just talking about how I need to rest before working on the portal.”
The Oracle made a small noise of surprise at the fae’s admittance, and Laurent had no choice but to concede as she fussed at him once finding out he was tired. Lenna even demanded he sleep in the bed she slept in last night, as it was the only one in the house. She wouldn’t take “no” for an answer, and Laurent found himself smiling slightly as she fretted overhim, setting a glass of cold water on the small bedside table and fluffing the lumpy pillows.
After Lenna changed back into the clothes she wore yesterday, and Merrick departed the little home, Laurent yielded to the Oracle’s pleading. Lenna stayed in the living room, leafing through a small collection of books Merrick pointed out before he departed. For the first time in a year, stretched out on the narrow bed, Laurent allowed himself to sleep soundly.
Chapter fifteen
Laurent
Theportalwasalmostfinished. Laurent swayed slightly, steadying himself on instinct alone. Beads of sweat rolled down his face, silver rivulets from his forehead to his throat. The few hours of sleep had helped replenish some of his magic, but the strain of creating a portal still weighed down his muscles, pulled at his breath. Night had fallen over Spinella, but the tiny living room was bathed with light. Merrick had scrounged up some half-melted candles from the kitchen cabinets, and the glowing tendrils of the portal near the burning fireplace had been growing, bigger and brighter, over the course of the afternoon as Laurent fed the portal bits of his magic.
He did feel better after resting, more energized than he’d been in weeks. Of course, building and holding portals open for Merrick all over the Slate Kingdom had put a toll on him, but Laurent could feel the power under his skin building to a new threshold. Every portal he made pushed his magic to a new limit, tested him and grew with him. As a warrior, he was used to getting short sleeps and had long since trained his power to adjust.
Lenna was still curled up on the couch, skimming through a new book, a few other titles scattered at her feet, conquered. The titles rangedfrom children’s stories of heroes and magical journeys toAdvanced Anatomy of Gargoyle Wings–a book healers studied as they learned to navigate the intricacies of muscle and bone contained in the complex wing structures.
Her brow knotted as she sipped from a cracked pink and white mug Merrick filled with peppermint tea, the wares from shopping in town scattered around the room.
“Tell me again, Merrick, what the shopkeep said.” Laurent struggled to keep the wheeze from his voice, not wanting Merrick to see how winded he was from filling the portal.
Merrick’s face was set in a grim line. “Esmeray was spotted outside of Florra two nights ago. Queen Adara’s warriors tried to capture her, and Esmeray killed them all. Every last one. Queen Adara is enraged, she’s setting curfews for the towns in the Obsidian Kingdom to protect the citizens against Esmeray’s wrath.”
Lenna worriedly looked from gargoyle to fae. Laurent rubbed his face with his hands. “The city of Florra is not far from the Obsidian Palace. Esmeray could easily wane that distance and head us off.”
“It’s a risk we need to calculate,” Merrick admitted carefully, glancing at the thrumming portal.
It was Lenna who spoke up, softly, as if she didn’t want to interrupt. “Can Princess Esmeray tell if we are in the Obsidian Palace?”
Merrick shook his head. “Esmeray doesn’t have any sort of tracking magic from what we know. If we can get in, get the Prism, and get out, we can hopefully avoid piquing her interest.”
Laurent knew their chances of obtaining the Prism easily were slim, but to clear Keerian’s name, if they could confirm Esmeray killed her parents and acted alone, Queen Adara would grant them protection…right? The Regent, Lord Magnamus, was loyal to Queen Adara. Would Lord Magnamus help them if they begged for sanctuary against Esmeray?
They fell into an uneasy silence–broken only by the quietscheckof a dagger Merrick sharpened against a piece of whetstone. The hulking gargoyle glanced over to Laurent’s portal every so often, as if he could gauge how far they’d travel just by peering through the swirling smoke.
“It should be ready by mid morning if I calculated correctly,” Laurent murmured to them both. He closed his eyes, giving another morsel of magic over to the milky depths. The portal glowed in response. Laurent felt the magic being tugged out of him, and a few breaths later, replenishing through his bones, warming his soul.
Lenna clapped her hands together, briskly hopping off the couch. “I’ll finish packing then.” Abandoning her book, she started rifling through the shopping bags. Pulling out a new black pack, she filled it with the other items Merrick purchased.
Before Merrick left the house earlier, Lenna insisted she would figure out how to pay him back, but both Laurent and Merrick shushed her, agreeing that her helping them clear Keerian’s name was payment enough.
Merrick finished with the dagger he had gotten wickedly sharp, tapping the blade against one of his horns before sliding it into the leather sheath at his waist.
The gargoyle’s packing had only taken a few moments, as Merrick never truly unpacked after arriving yesterday. Laurent was packed as well, the deep brown leather bag sitting neatly next to Merrick’s tan, worn, canvas one.
“We need to get you a new bag.”Laurent sent down the ring.
Merrick, feeling the warmth on his finger, touched his back.“Nah, it’s fine–it stillholds everything I need.”
