The magic in the crystal was only repeating the doubts I’d had before I realized that what I felt for Meredy had nothing to do with Evander. Before we danced on a rooftop and fit together just right. The crystal reflected my worries almost word for word, like it was just reading my thoughts in Evander’s voice.
“Oh, and another thing. Evander never would’ve said, ‘I suppose,’ in that snooty tone,” I add, trying to make Meredy smile with my impression.
She still hasn’t said anything, although her eyes are now dry.
“It isn’t him,” I insist.
“Evander didn’t use that phrase, not that I can remember,” she says at last, nodding in agreement with me. “Still...” She swallows. “It was nice to hear his voice again, wasn’t it?”
“Of course it was.” I squeeze her hands. “But we have to get rid of that thing. Evander wouldn’t want us holding on to something that only hurts us.” I nod to the crystal as Nipper swats it with her tail. It sails dangerously close to the lantern on the bedside table and strikes the wall. Good riddance. “Nipper will bury it somewhere for us, won’t you, girl? And not destroy anything in the process?”
The dragon chirps dutifully and grabs the stone between her teeth.
I smile at her but only briefly. Something Meredy said is bothering me: Even knowing I was only talking to a clever enchantment, it was still intoxicating to hear him. To feel the rush of memories his voice conjures. With the crystal, I could do that every day. Just like when I was taking the potions that let me see his face, even when I knew it was only an illusion, I could cling to the magic’s deceptive voice. Live for that voice.
But I’d only be living for a memory. And in the process, I’d be hurting myself and everyone around me. I can’t do that again. I can’t get consumed by memories of Evander, losing everything and everyone else that I love.
Never again.
Leaping off the bed, I open the door for Nipper. “Get that awful thing out of my sight,” I tell her firmly. “Bury it in an empty grave. Or throw it off the cliffs if you have to.”
She scampers off, her friend Lysander close behind.
When I turn back to Meredy, who still looks shaken, she carefully wipes the tears from my soaking face. I can’t explain why I’m crying, exactly. I feel better than I have in as long as I can remember—sure of who loves me, sure that the crystal lied, and sure of my future. It’s here, with the youngest beast master in a century, who finally cracks a smile when I get her to join me in a chorus of “King for a Day” as we unpack her bags in the room we now share, and who eagerly follows me down to the throne room to see if we can eavesdrop at last.
Of course, by the time we get there, the talk is over. It was, Valoria insists, just that—a few tense hours of talking. But by the focus in her eyes and the way she sends her ladies-in-waiting to summon the council, I sense that it was more than that.
Not just a talk, but a beginning.
XIV
For taking care of the crystal, I give Nipper extra treats—sweet rolls and bacon—over the next several days. I definitely don’t miss its presence and the false hope it provides. The burns on my hand begin to heal, helped along by a salve Meredy mixed herself.
Lately, she’s been gone for hours at a time—to see Lyda again, I’m sure—but I don’t press her for details. She’s lost enough without losing her mother completely, too. Besides, it’s not like she expects me to report to her whenever I leave for or return from patrolling for Shade-baiters—although I do, just so she won’t worry.
Only about thirty new volunteers arrive to join Valoria’s army, not even enough to double our ranks, despite Valoria having sent ravens with requests for help to every wealthy noble in Karthia. People who still owe favors to her Eldest Grandfather.
We all gather in the dining hall before our usual morning training session—Valoria and her ladies-in-waiting, Danial and the ragtag volunteers, Kasmira and her crew, and me. There’s no sign of Jax, which I hope means he’s at the school with Simeon. Nor of Meredy, who saidshe had to help her sister with something bright and early and wasn’t sure when she’d be back.
I miss her, but I’m glad she’s spending more time with Elibeth instead of Lyda.
Just as we’re about to tuck into breakfast, a girl I vaguely recognize as one of the students from the mage school scurries to Valoria’s side with a message.
Whatever the girl whispers, it makes Valoria drop her fork. “Odessa, grab your breakfast and follow me. We need to get to the temple right away.” I don’t have to ask which temple she means—the school. She’s breathless with excitement. “Danial can handle the training just fine on his own today. It’s not like we have a big crowd yet.”
“I’m ready to go,” Freckles announces, rising from her seat.
Valoria smiles, then shakes her head. “Thank you, Bryn, but I want you and Sarika to stay here. I’ll be fine with this one.” She nods to me with a small smile. “Even Shades should have the sense to run when they see her coming.”
With that, the two of us set off for the Temple of Change, less than a mile’s walk from the palace.
“Simeon said one of the students—Noranna, our inventor—has something to show us,” Valoria explains as we make our way down the deserted hill, where the ground still bears the scorch marks of a restless, unhappy kingdom. At least someone removed the blackened remains of Change’s straw figure. “Something she says would shock even the most hardened warrior. Some sort of weapon, I expect.”
We take a longer route to the temple, avoiding the main path in favor of dirt tracks through gardens and, sometimes, no path at all through groves of unkempt trees. But with the fire still fresh in our minds, I’m uneasy about Valoria venturing out of the palace no matter how well she insists her talk with the rebel leader, Devran,went. They haven’t been able to agree on anything yet, not with Valoria so set on the idea of building her Dream City and most of her council as unwilling to bring back the Dead as she is. And while she and Devran have scheduled a second meeting to discuss a temporary halt on all building projects, I can’t stop thinking about something Devran said earlier: The Shade-baiters seem to have acted alone against Valoria, which means she has other enemies to worry about besides his people. Especially if, as they said, they only plan to destroy Valoria’s inventions and palace property when their demands aren’t met. Destroying lives is different.
Hopefully Kasmira and her crew will be able to figure out who Valoria’s most sinister enemies are as they make their usual rounds at the city’s taverns and other meeting places, keeping their ears open just as their queen ordered them to—whenever they aren’t training with the volunteers, that is.
Ten of the mage students—all but one of them, if memory serves—greet us in the library that only holds a few books. While they keep a respectful distance from Valoria, they welcome us enthusiastically, all talking at once.
