“Eislyn.” He reached out and took her hand. She gasped but didn’t pull away. “This is just one library. There are more books to read, more references to check. But I don’t want to see you drop from exhaustion because of this.”
Pain flickered in her eyes. “Why should I not push myself as hard as I can? There are people dying, Thane. My sister...word came from my father again. She is still very, very ill.”
He nodded. “I understand. But let me help you.”
Thane ignored the voice of warning in his head. Now was not the time to get engrossed in books. There were assassins to worry about. Princesses running through the woods. His mother.
Still, he knew the Ruin was important, if only because Eislyn was certain it was. He could spare a few moments to take some of the weight off her shoulders.
“Were you up all night?” he asked gently.
She nodded.
“Right. You give me the books where you found these references to the Ruin and go get some sleep. While you rest, I’ll make some notes and see what else I can find.”
Cocking her head, she peered into his eyes. He still had not gotten used to those endless pools of silver. “You think you’ll be able to find some meaning that I haven’t?”
“Actually, no.” He motioned for the first book, and she handed it over. It was a slick, red tome covered in smooth leather. It had been written sixty years before, back when battles still raged daily in their lands.
“Then, what do you plan to do?”
“I’m going to read it, note any important names or places, and then the two of us are going to search another library for these same subjects. We’ll find the answer to the Ruin, Eislyn.”
He meant his promise. He could not say it if he didn’t. But what he didn’t tell the princess was that it might take years for them to comb through every single book in every library in the city. The Air Court had collected so much knowledge over the centuries. The problem, of course, was finding it.
Eislyn stood, her light blue dress rumpled from where she’d sat in that chair for hours on end. Her silver hair curtained her face, drawing attention to the low-cut bodice that accentuated her small breasts. Thane swallowed hard and scolded himself. Regardless of her beauty, he should not look.
And yet, he could do nothing else.
He opened his mouth to say something that would no doubt get him into even more trouble, but the library doors suddenly swung inward. He jumped, startled, turning toward the sound. Lorcan stood with Vreis in the doorway, both scowling.
Slowly, Thane stood.
“Reyna did not return to her chambers,” Lorcan said. “She’s gone.”
29
Reyna
Reyna had waited in the dungeons. Thane, Lorcan, and Lord Bowen had headed to the prince’s chambers after depositing the would-be assassin in her cell. He’d ordered the princess to return to her own chambers while he determined how to handle this. But when had she ever followed orders?
Reyna had to take matters into her own hands.
The dungeons were full of shadows and mist. Even beneath the castle, a harsh wind whipped through the dank tunnels. A heavy chill settled into her bones as she pulled her cloak tightly around her shoulders. After the footsteps died away, she stood from her hiding place and went for the assassin.
She found Ula in a cell in a back corner, far from the other prisoners. They’d placed her here so that they could question her in privacy, no doubt. If the High Queen had made the order to have Reyna killed, Thane would want to control the information as tightly as he could.
And she didn’t trust him to do the right thing with it.
Ula peered up at her with a scowl, her grey hair plastered to her face. Her cloak was soaked through with melted snow, and she shivered from the chill of it. The cell was small and cramped. There was a ragged blanket stretched across the floor and a wooden bucket in the corner. No windows, no light other than the flickering sconces along the corridor walls. The hard stone ground was covered in dirt and grime, and it reeked of filth and body odor. It reminded Reyna of Drunkard’s Pit.
“I expected you would return.” The assassin pushed up from the floor and strode over to the thick iron bars. Fae didn’t like to use iron. It burned them by touch. Sometimes, they would use it in their blades, as long as the hilts were made of another strong metal. But dungeon cells were the perfect place for it.
Reyna crossed her arms. “You have information I need.”
Ula smiled out at Reyna. “The prince ordered you to go. You don’t follow orders. You aren’t like the others.”
“You’re right about that, even if you’re wrong about everything else.” Reyna slid her ice dagger from her belt and twirled it in her hand, stopping it suddenly so that it pointed right at the devious fae. “Who do you work for?”
