“Felaf can take care of our princess as well as you can.”
“I know she can. But?—”
“They’ll be back soon, so don’t bother going after them. Felaf only told me just in case.”
In case something happened.“Fucking stars.”
“Maybe fighting without your ring wasn’t such a good idea after all, hm?”
I ran my tongue along my teeth. I hadn’t bothered to retrieve my talisman from Gregorios following my fight with Barto. I was on my way to see the seer—following a meal from Nio—when I ran into Letti, who delivered the disturbing news.
Barto had gotten me good, and without my topaz ring to quicken my recovery, my body hurt in a way I wasn’t accustomed to. I detested feeling so powerless, but the desire to feel pain was stronger. Going into that fight, I knew exactly what the outcome would be.
The bruises weren’t nearly as painful as Felaf’s lashes, but they would linger more deeply. Pain was the only thing capable of quelling my thoughts—of Rahzlyn, of my childhood.
“Who else knows of their departure?” I asked Letti.
“Maryn might, but I’m not sure. Barto’s been too busy boasting to the other guards about hisfalse victory. I haven’t seen Chessah, but if they’re not back soon, suspicions will grow from Felaf’s missing Pegasus.”
“They didn’t even bother to use the arch?” I exclaimed. “Un-fucking-believable.”
Letti looked me up and down. “I suggest you meditate before finding the seer.”
She left me to fume on my own. Chessah’s absence bothered me, considering she and her brother were always joined at the hip. If Maryn knew Rahzlyn and Felaf had gone, she likely would have sent Chessah to follow.
Felaf knew the protocol, and while I didn’t always adhere to it myself, I was surprised she would stray from it. The Baron's District was particularly deceiving. Anything could happen to them.
To Rahzlyn.
I raced up to the observatory.
My dread was greater than that of a guardian worried for his princess’s safety; it was instinctual. Primal, even.
I knew why Rahzlyn hadn’t told me of this ridiculous plan. After how I’d treated her, how I’d shut her out… Princess or not, I didn’t blame her. My gut clenched with guilt.
I’d become no better than the other deceitful men in her life. I couldn’t go on this way—avoiding her, hurting her like a coward. I didn’t deserve much, but Rahzlyn deserved more than callous ignorance triggered by my scars. My past wasn’t Rahzlyn’s fault, and I had no right to poison her with it. She deserved to know the secrets I’d been harboring—the ones that affected her directly.
Gregorios didn’t so much as look up from his desk as I revealed the situation to him. He deferred to his tarot deck for guidance. “Six of swords. They are moving away from danger into calmer waters. This means they will return soon.”
Either he recognized the card’s grooves, or it spoke to him.
“Quit pacing,” he added. “Hector used to do that all the time, and I found it bothersome. You must settle yourself. They’ll be back soon enough, and we will remind Felaf how inappropriate this endeavor was. Until then, tell me what else you have gleaned from the apostate prisoner.”
I collapsed into the seat opposite the other one beside the fire. I twirled my ring in my fingers methodically, not yet ready to put the ring on. I wanted to savor the aching bruises and stinging cuts for as long as possible.
“Nothing apart from what I told you last,” I said finally. “He only talked to me after I convinced him we captured his sister and that Rahzlyn was dead. It worked, until I fucked up and revealed Rahzlyn was alive.”
Gregorios sat in the chair across from me. “Why did you say she was dead? Clever, by the way, to use his sister. Another reason why family poses a danger to a Chosen’s true loyalty.”
I ran my hand along my thigh. “I don’t know. He was pissing me off, so I decided to piss him off in return.” I never lostfocus during a questioning. “I still don’t understand how if this magical brand has always existed with the apostai, why are they able to speak about their rebellious cause to onlymewhen I don’t bear the brand myself?”
“I know not of any plausible reason that would enable such a thing, unless you were once marked with the brand somewhere within you that you have not been able to locate. It is also possible that no one else we captured bore the brand. Though that seems unlikely given how long the apostai have been using the branding tool.” Gregorios turned his head as if to look into the fire. “But if it is as impossible to see to the naked eye as you claim, then it makes sense how it’s never been noticed before. Guardians have not historically been part of interrogations involving the apostai.”
I rubbed my tightening chest, wondering where Rahzlyn was. I’d never worried for the previous princesses like this.
“Do you believe what Kole claims is true?” I asked Gregorios. “That there’s a prophecy?”
“I believe thattheybelieve there is one. After all, they have rebelled against the Astrals for thousands of years. There must have been something guiding their cause.”
