Unless he wanted me punished for my deception. Tell the king privately so I’d be surprised by the torture.
Out of fire were you born, out of water were you found. To both must you return.
Holy gods. Were they going to burn me alive and toss my body in the ocean?
And how in the world were my runes anything other than black?
But Rade responded, “Would you fetch the queen something to eat?”
“Rade—”
“Now, Keir.”
The Kald’s jaw locked up, eyes flicking to me, but he gave a single nod before striding to the door.
Velka stepped in front of him, blocking the exit. She forced him to meet her searching gaze. Keir gave a small shake of his head. Though I didn’t know what Velka’s look meant, Keir’s answer was clear.Not now. She stepped aside, and Keir left.
To Velka the king said, “You can return to making preparations.”
I pushed myself upright, feeling nausea build again. “Is the next part of the Merging already—”
“No, no,” Rade said quickly. “It has nothing to do with you, I promise. Rest for as long as you need.”
I settled back against the pillows with a sigh of relief. If I’d had to go through something like that again so soon, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d make it. And Queen Amunet needed me to last a couple of weeks still.
“But if you’re feeling up to it by the new moon,” Velka offered, “we’d be honored to have the Queen of Ashorah at the Lunar Feast.”
“What’s the Lunar Feast?”
“A celebration of Ayeen. Happens every new moon.”
“It’s for the Shifters,” Rade explained. “Their animal forms get a bit restless at the start of the moon cycle. It lets them get it out of their systems.”
“The Lunar Feast is in a few days, and, honestly, it couldn’t have come at a better time. We could all use a bit of fun. You included, Your Majesty,” Velka singsonged as she waved and left, doing her best to appear unconcerned. But I caught her frown just before she closed the door, eyes scanning for Keir.
Sand grains still crunched between my teeth, and my stomach felt one wrong move away from another tailspin. “My reaction…” I ventured softly. “Why was it so bad? And why are my runes green?” Fear barred me from asking about the shadow creature.
Rade’s gaze drifted up to my runes. Hesitantly, he reached out and brushed his finger against my forehead, tracing the symbols. His touch wasn’t searing like Keir’s but careful.
Then he lowered his hand and took mine. He lifted it to the side of his head and rested the tips of my fingers against his runes. I met his gentle brown eyes in surprise. “The older a person is,” he said, voice quiet, “the easier it is to receive the runes. We’re not really sure why, but I think it has to do with the magic settling inside of us. Usually, it’s done around the age of sixteen.” He turned his head, giving me a better view.
I swallowed hard as I traced the symbols, the same way he’d just done. His were sharp and pointy, not softly curling like mine. Like they’d been carved with a blade. They cut from his temple to the nape of his neck.
“I was twelve when I got mine,” he said.
My fingers stilled. “Why so young?”
“My mother… she was desperate to save our people from the Shroud. She thought if she conceived a child inside of it, that child would be able to stop it. So she went in, and when she came out and the healers examined her, she was pregnant.”
I lowered my hand to my lap. “You mean someone inside…”
Rade nodded. “I’ve never known who my father is. And I don’t think she did, either. But she’d been inside for a full twenty-four hours. She shouldn’t have been able to leave, and she wasn’t the same person when she returned.” He bowed his head and gave another shrug, like it meant nothing. But the stiffness in his muscles said otherwise. “She wanted my magic awoken right away. If the previous king hadn’t stopped her, she would’ve taken me to the Seer as soon as I could walk. I was lucky she waited as long as she did.”
Though I didn’t remember much of Mama and Baba, the few memories I had were happy. Pleasant smells, music, feelings of bliss. It was blurry, but I knew it had been a good home. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have memories like Rade’s.
“I vomited, like you. Multiple times. And I could hardly walk. I don’t—I don’t remember much of what happened directly after. I just know that every time someone tried to confront my mother about my being too young, she would only say, ‘It worked, didn’t it?’?” He tried to smile but it was weak. “She was right. It did work. Even when I was twelve, my power was undeniable. The people demanded I be put on the throne. The previous king was forced to abdicate, despite being the heir to a well-established line of Kaldfolk rulers, and pass the crown to… me.”
I processed that with a heavy heart. Softly, I asked, “Is your mother in Frostguard?”
