Even the hardest things can break with enough pressure. I’m in no hurry to push her toward that edge.
“Okay,” she says slowly, and I can tell she’s trying to parse what that means.“I was just worried for a second that you were doing something reckless like killing people out there.”
Well, shit. So much for sparing her.
I’m not sure what to say, so I just shake my head and go in the same directionas Noemi. As I get into my room, Meryn pipes in again, accurately reading into my silence.
“Stark, you’renotkilling people, right? Like, the people we’re trying very desperately to convince that my claim to the throne is legitimate?”
“I told you not to worry,” I say, throwing my few unpacked things into my bag.
“Stark!”
“Meryn.”
I pause, annoyed. She might not want any blood on her hands, but intimidating the nobles to attend by any means necessary is why I’m here. You can’t agree to use a weapon and then get mad when it cuts. She’s being fucking obtuse.
“Do you want the nobles to attend or not? I didn’t kill anyoneimportant. Just an insignificant cousin. The Eisenfall nobles will be at the coronation, and we’re leaving for Nachtfall now.”
“So what’s the plan, then?”She’s growing agitated.“A whirlwind murder tour? Dead nobles in every fiefdom, but at least we’ll scare them all into showing face?”
For someone with a vicious streak, she’s really naive sometimes.“Yeah, possibly. Is that a problem?”
“That’s not what I want, Stark. They should come because they believe my claim, not because my brutal enforcer has them worried for their lives.”
I’ve heard people call me worse things. I’ve believed worse, in fact. The words shouldn’t smart.
But they do, worming their way under my skin, peeling away at the tenuous alliance the two of us have started to build.
“All these nobles have heard about you is a horror story,” I seethe.“No one is coming unless it’s for self-preservation. You don’t want to rule through fear? Great. Prove that to them when they get there for your coronation. In the meantime, leave me alone to do my fucking job of getting them there in the first place.”
There’s a knock on my doorframe. Noemi’s in the hallway, her bag over her shoulder. “Ready?”
“Let’s get out of this shithole,” I respond.
I slam my mental connection with Meryn shut—rebuilding the dam, looking away from the light, and hoping that it keeps her out for good.
13
MERYN
I stand at the palace gates, staring at a patch of shadow on the ground and willing it to move.
Stretch. Do something. High-five me.
Anassa stirs from where she’s curled up on my left side.“Is it possible that you are getting worse at this? It appears that you have made backward progress.”
Sighing, I lean against her, my legs aching. I squint at the road ahead, which leads downhill to the Northern Quarter and the city I so recently called home. We’re due to greet the Mother Priestess as she arrives at the castle, but apparently the Faceless Goddess doesn’t keep time, because she’s extremely late.
The crown on my head is starting to make my temples throb. Although, everything makes my temples throb these days. I’ve been continually reinforcing the communication wall against Killian and havealmostgrown used to the near-constant headache.
“No sage advice on wielding this power, then?”
It’s been two weeks of constant practice, and the pack powers have come surprisingly easy—perhaps because of Anassa’s own sheer strength.
It takes little effort to call a shield or throw an impelling blast. I’ve moved past regular rifting and can now pull a mask around a large surface area. We’re still expanding our ability to use foresight, and I can now see snatches of a day ahead, sometimes two—but as Siegrid cautioned, the glimpses aren’t always clear.
But shadebending? That’s another thing entirely. The shadows still won’t come at my beck and call. I can’t wield them in any cohesive way. And Siegrid gets more frustrated about it by the day.
