“Check yourself, Vaddon. Perhaps I only involved myself at Forest’s Edge because Father was sick of your failures. Maybe he no longer trusts you with such a critical task.”
Vaddon’s spine straightened, and his eyes narrowed. Like his words to Elias, these, too, seemed to strike at something deep in the advisor.
“Let’s not waste more time,” Elias continued, gesturing the guard forward. “We’ll find him.”
I should be more worried that they searched for me. The only people who had seen me in the tavern tonight should have been the Feared. Nicholas might not have his people as much in hand as he’d like to think.
We didn’t have time to determine how they knew we were here. I needed only to get Ember out before they found us. Alysa could send a note to Reid as soon as we were in the Oldwood.
As Elias headed toward the wall, Vaddon stalked off in the opposite direction, toward Cross Street. When both were far enough down the path, we made our move. Harrow guided us to the trapdoor without further incident. For Elias’s assurances that I had an escape route here, it seemed he was unaware of Mother’s tunnel. The patrols in this particular section of the grounds seemed even lighter than they had been near the top of the hill.
Tucked into the hedge, I kneeled and lifted the latch. My palms sweated as I sent Alysa and Ember down the ladder.
A throat cleared behind me, and I let the trapdoor close over Ember’s protests.
“Sebastien, you really do continue to make a mockery of our guard staff.”
I emerged from the hedge to find Elias alone. His tone was light, almost teasing, as if he had orchestrated this precise meeting point. I couldn’t believe he knew of Mother’s altar and left it unchecked. It just didn’t make sense.
“Yet I see you haven’t brought any of them with you.”
Elias shook his head. “No, this is a family matter.”
I didn’t want to be intrigued by the comment, but I was. Rodric no longer considered me family. I’d known that to be truebefore he tried to have me killed in the throne room. Until our meeting a few days ago, I was sure that Elias had chosen his side. Even then, he’d said there were certain things he couldn’t share. Hope remained because he had let me leave far too easily while also allowing me to glean the information I needed from the book.
“What is this, Elias?”
He rubbed his temples, and suddenly, he looked much younger than he was. He appeared to be the twenty-year-old I had left behind when Themis summoned me. “Someone reported seeing you in Forest’s Edge. The guards knew you disappeared on the castle grounds last time, so this is where they now patrol.”
That begged the question of where they were. Did he want to speak to me again as he had at the raid of Forest’s Edge? He’d asked his questions, and I’d asked mine. We seemed to be on opposite sides of this divide.
“Why are none with you?”
He sighed. “Is it so hard to believe I wanted to speak with you?”
I didn’t want to press him, but I didn’t believe it was that simple. The animosity between him and Vaddon appeared high, but did that mean anything? They could both vie for Father’s favor. Was this some twisted game to capture me himself? To prove his usefulness to Father over the advisor’s?
It wasn’t possible for Elias to overpower me. His persuasion wouldn’t work either, not that I felt him trying. Still, the longer I stood here, the more chance someone else would take notice. “Elias, I have to go. If you’re not here to stop me, tell me what you need.”
He appeared at war with himself. The pinched brow, the words muttered under his breath. I had no idea what I was dealing with here. My only reassurance was that no footstepssounded. Harrow still circled overhead, and his warning cry was noticeably absent.
I had a moment to see what Elias wanted to say.
When I’d asked him about the path Father pursued—a path to finally become Themis’s Champion—Elias hadn’t shared any details. He said he couldn’t. Had that changed?
“Do you want to tell me something?” I asked.
He ground his teeth. “The two hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of your summons is in two days, brother. I don’t think it’s an event you should miss.”
With little more than a nod, he turned on his heel and walked away. I didn’t know if he knew or cared about the trapdoor. His warning was clear enough. Whatever Father would attempt, it would happen in two days. That meant there was no room for error in our plans. Our timelines had to move up, but if Elias spoke true, we had little choice.
If Rodric made himself Themis’s Champion, he would take the throne uncontested.
37
There is a balance to the sisters’ magic, but the Three Kingdoms threaten to teeter in one’s favor.
— ALARIC SARE’S PAPERS FOR EMBERLINE ARKOVA
