“If I can sneak away,” I laughed, dropping off the branch and using my shadows to cushion the fall. Antenor slid down too and landed beside me. “Thank you for telling me about her. I…I can’t tell you what it means.”
“No, thankyou,” he said quietly. “It’s been too long since I was able to remember her this way. And you, more than anyone, deserve to hear her stories. Be good, little cousin.”
“No promises,” I told him as I knelt and put my hands in thegrass again.
Back at the hot springs, I found Sir Toby laying on my blanket, surrounded by the wreckage of my picnic basket.
“Oh, you absolute monster!” I cried. “Is this my punishment for leaving you alone so long?”
The incorrigible hound just pulled himself up and stretched, then each of his heads yawned in turn. He began trotting back toward the Bower as I sighed in defeat and began collecting shredded pieces of wicker. Luckily, Ceres was not upset, having lost quite a few good baskets to Sir Toby over the years already, but she did seem a bit suspicious at how long I’d been ‘at the hot springs’. My excuse was that I’d been practicing with my magyk, which was not a lie. However, in order to make up for my dishonesty, and secure myself an ally, I knew I’d need to surprise her with a trip to the Hollow sooner rather than later.
Chapter thirty-three
Vile & Despicable Things
My next five dayswere well occupied, between showing my face to Simeon in the library, exploring the Arden, and meeting Antenor every day near the Iron Fist’s new camp. I did not see nor hear anything from Oberon, Titania, or Devil. As much as it stung that they all seemed to have abandoned me, I managed the feelings by practicing my magyk and spying on the Iron Fist. Their small camp grew steadily larger each day, and some of the men began to train in a new type of formation, but none of them ever went past the treeline. Even so, when Antenor and I met at our usual apple tree one morning, he informed me that he was meeting with Simeon to report the camp’s activities.
“What do you think Oberon will do?” I asked quietly.
“I cannot say,” Antenor sighed, then he smiled at me. “Perhaps he will let you use your shadows to frighten them away.”
I just shook my head, unable to muster even an ounce of amusement.
“I think I found something else too,” he continued, “but I want Simeon to look at it first before we go to Oberon.”
“Can’t you tell me?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Oberon said the less you know, the better, and I won’t disobey him. I’m sorry, Marina.”
I folded my arms. “If I really am his heir, why does he shut me out this way? I’m not a child!”
“I know you aren’t, little cousin,” Antenor said, looking chagrined, “but we’re only trying to keep you safe.”
“I’ve had quite enough of being kept in the dark for my own safety,” I snapped, “and so you can use those precious wings of yours to fly to the Bower on your own,cousin.” Shadows poured from my hands and sank into the ground, pulling me into the Arden’s current of power.
When I appeared back in my room, still seething, I realized for the first time how much of a toll traveling by magyk was taking on me. Even after blacking out the window and archway, then lying down for a nap, I awoke hours later with a crushing headache and a strange heaviness in every single limb.
“A day of rest it is, then,” I sighed to Sir Toby, who was posted at the foot of my bed.
When Ceres brought a lunch tray, I ate out on my balcony, hoping Prim might finally bring some news from the Hollow, which I had been mostly avoiding for fear of running into Devil unexpectedly. The Arden’s breeze carried a distinct chill now, even at midday, so after eating, I cast a semi-transparent shadow barrier over the entrance to my balcony and settled into an armchair beside the stove, a heavy quilt over my legs and a new history book in my lap.
I had just begun drifting into another heady sleep when a shadow passed over my vision and Sir Toby raised his heads off the bed, letting out a low growl. I opened my eyes just in time to see a winged figure land on the balcony, but did not immediately wave away the barrier. At first, I imagined it might be Antenor, coming to demand an apology, but the feathers were a dead giveaway. My heart began to pound as Devil approached the archway. He looked the same as ever, but had neglected to wear his usual, arrogant smirk, and stopped just short of inviting himself into my room. I waved the barrier away and remained silently in my chair, not wanting to appear over eager to explain myself, and reluctant to apologize anyway.
He knocked on the root-bound lintel and softly said, “I’m afraid I need a moment of your time.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Not terribly. I only hoped you would forgive my absence these past few days.”
“Well,” I said, giving him a smirk of my own, “as you said before: Archer’s Cup is not the only cause of lovesickness.”
He stared at me with his mouth open rather stupidly. “You think I have been indisposed becauseof—”
“Our kiss? Well, yes, of course.” It was all I could do to maintain the cocky facade I’d manufactured and hope he bought it. “Also, perhaps, your wounded pride. But I think it was likely theveryhigh quality of my kiss that did you in.”
Devil’s face twisted with a knowing smile and he stepped through the archway, tucking his wings in. “Andyousuffered no such infirmity?”
“My pride is well under control, and your kisses are hardly worth swooning over, as I have told you before.”
