27
MAX
The palace is silent when I return, the sun high above. The birds chirp and frogs croak in the woods. Dropping from the saddle, I pace between two oaks, trying to still my heart. And my nerves.
Returning to the castle is foolish. But what is logic when faced with the reality of losing the only person you’ve ever loved?
A branch breaks behind me and a pounding heart echoes in my ears. The Hadeon appears, three heads looking at me with guarded expressions.
“Now you come,” I mutter, going back to pacing. “You know, for a protector, you’re not exactly the most diligent. How often have you stalked away or left me to fight off trouble? Aren’t you supposed to have my back or lay down your life for mine?”
One set of eyes blinks at me while another head lets out a yawn.Clearly, he doesn’t care.
“Where were you when Kaden was bonded to Aoife, hm?” It’s stupid to ask. The Hadeon’s loyalty is to me. But it feels good to shout. “What about when I was put in the dungeon? Either time?”
He sits, quietly judging me. I hate it.
“I could’ve used you. What task do you have here if not to protect me?”
As I say it, I know there is something else. He watched the tunnel for Wulf’s grandfather, stopping trouble from getting to the village. I doubt he left his post to settle disagreements or duels.
“Why are you here?” I collapse into the grass, the mud soaking my knees. “What purpose do you bring? Is it to mock me?” A head bumps my shoulder and I exhale loudly.
“You’re here because I’m going to do something stupid, aren’t you?” One head licks me, the tongue like sandpaper and gravel. “But you won’t stop me. I assume because the Gods would love to see me exhibit that free will they imbued us with.”
He huffs. He knows it’s a joke. Free will compared to Gods’ Will doesn’t stand a chance.
Whatever I’m to do, was decreed long before I was a speckle of dust of Neevea. The Hadeon knows this. That’s why he’s here, patient, waiting for me to do what I must.
“I can’t kill him.” Forget that it would end my life—it would kill Kaden.
He stares at me. No judgement in any of his eyes, just quiet reserve.
“No, I don’t have a plan.” I don’t. I thought one would come to me on the ride back. Instead, my mind is blank and my heart aches something fierce. “If I did, I wouldn’t be out here, hiding in the shadows, speaking to you.”
The spell book gave us the only clue. Only someone pure can end it. I saw how it ends in the ritual. I don’t have any other choice.
No. I refuse to believe that. I can rely on the one thing that helped break the curse the first time—true love. I have a strong feeling that everything else was not needed.
Love will have to be enough again.
Standing, I brush my hands over my pants and feel for the daggers on my hips. It’s too bright to walk across the field, but the trees wrap around the Veridian Palace like it was made from the natural boundary. I glance around.
I can easily enter from the side.
With the Hadeon at my side, I slink through a servant’s entrance at the far back corner. Weaving through halls and spare rooms, I make my way to the center hall. I know I’ll be recognized, so I wait behind a tapestry until night falls.
It’s a tight fit with the Hadeon on my feet, but I force myself to be patient. I count the tiles overhead, listen to the gossip of maid passing by. I ignore the grumbling of my stomach, too sick to actually think about eating.
When the moon rises, I slip out and walk to the upper floors. I listen for steps and dart into rooms to avoid detection when some come too close. The beast at my side is quiet, keeping in line with my movements. Once we’re higher up, I try to figure out the layout of the palace.
If Kaden is here, where would Aoife put him?
Revulsion sweeps through me even as I know it’s true.Her bedroom.
It takes three wrong turns and an entirely different floor before I’m on the right level for Aoife’s room. I’ve never been here, but all royals keep the ruler in the same spot—high above, away from the trouble down below with an eye over all the kingdom.
It doesn’t take long to find it. It lacks guards, but the doors are bigger than the rest, with red and purple gems melted into the frame. The gold doors are carved with the faintest lines of clouds, blue stones set into their surface to resemble the sky.
