I swallowed hard and placed a finger to my lips, looking at Eden to be sure she knew to keep quiet. She nodded, and I hesitantly picked up the shell and held it to my ear.
“We should do a two-on-one fight next. Winning team gets to go topside. I’d like to see the pretty boy try to survive that,” a raspy male voice said, and confusion swirled around me.
“We can’t do that. We have to follow the rules, Maze. You’ve been working the Rebirth Tribunal long enough to know that,” another softer voice spoke, and chills ran the length of my arms.
This couldn’t be. I pulled the shell away from my ear and studied it to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. It glowed with a faint blue hue inside as if it were possessed by magic.
Were they talking about what I think they were talking about?
I put it back to my ear.
“If the prince lives through this and gets to become a Nightling, I’m going to be pissed,” the deeper voice growled. “Others would kill for that spot. Literally. And he’s not even technically dead!”
My heart hammered in my chest. They were talking about Ariyon. Somehow, this crystal was linked to somewhere in the Realm of Rebirth, and I was privy to a conversation about Ariyon.
“Well, he carries the magic of the House of Ash and Shadow, so we gotta put him through the tribunal, same as the others,” the man spoke.
“He’s a Madden. He’s not worthy. He won’t survive,” the growly one said. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Dread sank in my gut as I realized what we were truly up against.
“Just follow the Accords. We don’t need the Grim pulling the rule book on us and sending us all into the Bottomless Pit.”
The other man grumbled, and then I heard footsteps and a door slam. After a few more moments of silence, I pulled the shell from my ear with a shaky hand. Bile crept up my throat as I thought of Ariyon.
“What’s wrong?” Eden looked at me with wide eyes, and I tried to think of the words to formulate an explanation of what had just happened.
I placed the crystal back into the case and latched it before dragging Eden into the stairwell with Yanric. Once the basement door was closed, I looked her in the eyes.
“I think that crystal was linked to another in the Realm of Rebirth where Ariyon is. They were talking about him.”
“What!” she shrieked.
I gave her and Yanric a quick rundown of what I had heard, and Eden began to pace the hallway, climbing up four steps and down another four.
“We need to get Ariyon out of there, E,” I begged her. “The queen thinks I portaled Ariyon to the Realm of Eternity. Maybe we can research how to make portals. I mean, that’s your specialty, right?”
That’s all Eden was learning to do with her fire magic. It would take years, but eventually she would be able to create a ring of fire that led to anywhere in the realm…and beyond.
She finally stopped pacing and sighed. “Here’s the thing. You may have portaled him into the Realm of Eternity, but I don’t think you can just take him out that way. A mortal body in the land of the dead is a grievous offense. Besides, it would take months for me to catch you up on all the knowledge I have of portal magic.”
I growled, fisting my hands and feeling like the edges of my sanity were unraveling.
“You said this Emmeric guy might know how to help Ariyon, right?” Eden said.
I nodded. “But Ayden said the Ealdors are hard to get an audience with.”
Eden nodded curtly, tipping her chin high. “You leave that to me. I’ll see you at the ceremony.”
I frowned. “What are you going to do?”
She looked determined and pursed her lips. “If the queen really wants her nephew back, she’s going to get us an audience with the Ealdor Fae. Butfirst,you have to get through this ceremony. Gaining Queen Solana’s trust is your number-one priority.”
It wasn’t, though. Saving Ariyon was.
I rubbed my face. “There’s too much going on.”
Eden reached out and grasped my shoulders. “It’s okay. You’ve got this.”
