Page 153 of Ravenrose

“Not here,” Ayer mutters, his eyes scanning the corridor as if he expects danger to leap out of every shadow.

We reach his chambers, finding Ana, Ayer’s chambermaid, waiting outside, anxiously wringing her hands. Ayer pushes me inside before speaking rapidly to Ana. She nods, scurrying back down the hall.

Ayer mutters out a few select curses, then checks the hall once more before he shuts the door.

Theo moves to lean against the wall near the door, one hand resting on his sword while he and Ayer exchange a long gaze. A silent communication echoes between them, my anger flaring at being kept in the dark about whatever is happening.

“Is someone going to tell me what is going on?” I snap. My words bite harder than intended, but my irritation is barely a mask for the growing anxiety at what could have both Theo and Ayer on edge like this.

Ayer looks at me, finally, and there’s an odd expression on his face I don’t recognize. Calculation? Tension? Something like reluctance? But before he can reply, Ana barges back through the door. She thrusts a small bundle into Ayer’s hands, which he takes from her with a quiet nod. Ana gives a quick bow, her eyes lingering on me for a minute before she once again takes her leave.

The moment she exits, he turns toward me fully.

“The queen is here.”

I frown, confused about their reaction to the news. “Who?” I look over at Theo. “His mother?”

“No.” Ayer’s mouth tightens as he exchanges a look with his friend. “The Queen of Daekhar.”

I freeze, and ice slides through my veins. No. No, that’s impossible… Carefully, I search Ayer’s face for any sign that this is the moment he decided to develop a sense of humor, and this is all just a cruel joke.

But Ayer only watches me with sharp concentration, already likely thinking ten steps ahead.

My throat goes dry.

“The—the Demon Queen? What? Why?” The words stumble out, as I fight through the rising fear seizing hold of my mind, every muscle in my body going rigid.

Theo shifts beside me. “My father married her.”

I can only stare at him.

Married her?

My brain works hard to process what I’m hearing. The King of Kovaria—Theo’s father—has taken the Demon Queen of Daekhar as his wife? Which makes her…

I look up at Theo. “Your—” I take a deep breath. “Your stepmother?”

Chapter 64

ROWAN

Something flickers in Ayer’s dark eyes at my realization, but it’s gone too quickly for me to analyze, and he just nods solemnly in confirmation.

“Technically,” Theo mutters.

The Demon Queen. The woman who married the last King of Daekhar. The same one who poisoned his mind and corrupted his court, before destroying his entire kingdom from the inside out.

My thoughts spiral so deeply that I barely realize Ayer is speaking, until my name on his lips cuts through the haze.

“Please, Rowan.” His words are urgent and low, as if the queen can hear them from wherever she is within the fort. “If there’s ever been a time for you to listen to me, let it be now.” His eyes lock onto mine, intense and searching. “She cannot know who you are.”

Fear. My eyes widen at the realization that the look in his eyes—that emotion I couldn’t quite label—is fear.

“As far as the queen is concerned, you’re just a slave. Taken from some random village along our path.” His eyes sharpen. “If she finds out who you really are…”

He doesn’t need to finish what I already know. Whatever I’ve gone through with Ayer, or whatever they have planned for me, I know it pales in comparison to what the queen might do.

There’s no love lost between the Queen of Daekhar and Sitara.