“I think, even though weweren’tmaking contact withthe metal when we were near the wall, the sheer amount of them so close to us cut off ourzirilium. Aviva and I were onlyable to shadow wield to the top of the wall because there was less of this material in that area,” Matea added, nodding toward me when speaking my name.
“May I?” Callum asked, his gaze on me and the spike.
With precision, I tossed it to him from across the cave. I watched as he caught it with one bare hand.
Then I watched as his face paled.
“I can’t… I can’t even feel my zirilium,” the prince said, concern and frustration in his voice.
“We know,” I said gently, then held my hands open. He tossed it back, and I caught it in the cloth, folding it back up and sliding it back into my pocket.
“That’s…” Callum shuttered, “terrifying.”
Matea nodded heragreement, butdidn’tspeak. The grave expressions of those around me matched how I felt about it, too.
“That looks like the same stuffEzra’s cell in Gatlyn Castle’s dungeon was lined with, and that his chains had been made of. It made it so Icouldn’twield past it,” Rayven added, staring at the last spothe’dseen the shard—my pocket.
How could we fight against something likethat?
“So… what do we do now?” Chess spoke up, his eyes wide.
Byn, who had been unusuallyquietthese past few moments, looked up at that.“Now we pursue the onlyoptionwe have left. Aviva and I talked about this, and she made a devastating point.”He paused beforeadding, “We need more numbers.”
I watched as a few heads bobbed inagreement, andcouldn’tignore the way Caelia looked towards Callum—like she knew what Byn was about to say.
“Now, we get ready to head to the Isles.”
ChapterTwenty-One
Iswung my feet back and forth in the open air, looking out at the mixture of forest and private royal gardens I could see from the balcony of mine and Byn’s room. I’d hopped up on to the railing that enclosed the balcony and sat with my feet dangling in the open air. I knew if I somehow managed to fall, it’d be as easy as one wingbeat to pause my descent. If anything, sitting there was relaxing. The wind was blowing softly, which brought the sweet scent of the flowers below up to my nose.
For the first time in a while, I smiled—despite being alone.
It was easy to smile around those I cared about. It was when I wasalonethat the thoughtsattemptedto eat me alive.
And that was why I’d come out here. I’d needed to get out of bed, even if it was simply to rest on the balcony.
I didn’t want to fall back into the funk I’d found myself in after Father’s…demise.
Just as I had closed my eyes to enjoy the feeling of the wind sliding between my feathers, I felt a small disturbance in the shadows at the edge of the balcony.
In all our traveling to and from the North,I’dlearned how to stay connected to myziriliumwithout using too much energy.With how much wehad neededto rely on shadow wielding, it felt almost natural to stay connected to it now.
And those skills I had learned were exactly why I was able topick up onthe change in energy nearby.
“You can come out, you know.It’sjust me here right now,” I said without looking over, my feet still gently swinging.
I made an effort to lift my wings and tuck them in, rather than having them splayed out behind me.
I was still only comfortable letting my wings touch the ground around Byn.
Old habits were difficult to shake, I supposed.
After a beat of hesitation, the shadow slinked out of its hiding spot and curled in on itself near me. Then, from out of it, stepped my sister.
“You’re aware that you could always knock, correct?” I asked jokingly.
She stood next to me, her arms resting on the railing I sat on. Her freshlycuthair sata width above her shoulders instead of brushing her skin as it had before. And instead of a cloak and all-black attire, sheactually woresomecolortoday. Her pants were still black, but her top was a dainty, royal purple blouse with half sleeves that touched her elbows. The royal purple was broken up in a pattern of black flowers, and I realized they were velvet.
