Shit.I force my breath to stay steady by tensing every muscle in my core and chest. My whole body is rigid, even though I’m trying to exude ease. No sudden movements, not one crack in my composure.
Scanning over the five golden cards, I cross and make it a point to examine them further. Kaelis watches me with an expression as cold as ice. Is he searching for some evidence ofmydeception?
Does he know?He can’t know. Not now. Not when I finally reached a place where I’m ready to try to build something real with him.Give me a chance to make it right,I beg fate.
“What exactly are you talking about?” I keep my question measured.
Kaelis doesn’t move. He continues to steep in that air of arrogance and indifference that he wears so well. Finally, he straightens, pushing off the cushions and tapping the table.
“One of these cards,” he says quietly, not indicating which, though I get the sense he already knows, “is a lie.”
“What?” I gasp the word and sit on the sofa opposite, as if to get a better look.
“Can’t you tell?”
I furrow my brow. “May I touch them?”
“By all means.” He gestures toward them, leaning back. I scoop them up one by one, already knowing which one is the fake. I made it, after all.
I’ve more to gain than to lose by pointing out the right one. Either he doesn’t actually know which it is, and I help him. Or he does, and I prove I can figure it out as well. He knows my skills; it’d be more suspicious if I couldn’t when he could. And, hopefully, it will remove some doubt from my own person. After all, someone who had dared to lie to him wouldn’t be so bold as to point out their deception, would they?
No…more than any of that, Iwantto be honest with him.
“It’s this one, isn’t it?” I point to Death.
He nods.
“How…” I let the question hang. There’s several that word could be the start of.
“I took them to the font of the World.” He grips the back of the sofa, knuckles white, only the tiniest crack in his otherwise calm façade.
“You took them there? Even though you are still missing a card to summon the World?” There’s no way he got Arina to ink her card yet. Not in her state. He doesn’t even know where she is. “Why?”
“I wanted to be sure, and now I’m glad I did. They all shone when laid in their spot on the font…save for one.” His eyes narrow.
The room is suddenly much, much smaller. It’s just him and me. Everything else falls away. I’m still straining against the tightness in my chest for each thin breath.
“I’m surprised you didn’t notice the forgery when you stole them,” he says, tone completely unreadable.
“It was a bit of a chaotic night.”
“True.” His jaw clenches, and then he relaxes with a sigh, shaking his head and pushing away from the sofa opposite me. “Whoevermade this forgery knew what they were doing. I admit, I was fooled. But I suppose it’s obvious to your eye.”
“It’s very good,” I agree cautiously.
Kaelis removes all doubt as he comes to sit next to me, the sofa sagging between us. “I suspect it was the Magician.”
I nearly turn into a puddle as every muscle in my body relaxes at once. The fact that he didn’t even consider me makes my lies all the more unbearable. “Do you think there’s someone else trying to get the cards?”
“No…I think my father is paranoid, and my brother is in his ear.”
“Ravin?”
“Who else? Certainly not my younger brother.” Kaelis lets out a brief and humorless laugh. But I think about seeing Naethor and the youngest prince in the castle. The king spoke to that young man more like an heir than the second spare…“Ravin’s been helping my father with the oversight of the Majors for years—at least beyond the academy. He would tell my father to keep a forgery among the real ones. To divide them up for safety. It makes so much sense; I’m a fool for not seeing it sooner.”
“And seeing that the card is Death…it would make sense for Ravin to be involved in a forgery.” The words are bitter. I can’t believe I’m consoling Kaelis through my treachery.
Tell him.That same voice I heard weeks ago as I concealed the reversed card in my pocket returns. But what will telling him do beyond dredging up a reminder of how little I trusted him? What good is emphasizing my deceit when it no longer matters and I might be able to find a way to fix it without him knowing?
