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While I finish my mouthful, I give his dull, flat attire a scornful look. Why he demands to wear such dreary colors is beyond me. I wipe my mouth with a napkin. “And what, pray tell, is it this time?”
“My son has not returned from Burn After Reading. You have been warned about the repercussions of allowing this perverted establishment to continue operating.”
“You mean your queen, yourqueenhas been warned. I merely serve as her proxy during her sacrificial slumber. As to your claims over the nature of the establishment, she allows it because it affords her most loyal Radiants the freedom of coloring outside the lines of the Old Code while the rest of Avorlorna is beholden to it. You cannot deny you have benefited from this arrangement.” He opens his mouth to retort, but I hold up a polite finger to shush him and continue. “As one of her original subjects in this new commonwealth of hers, you were consulted upon waking from your ancient slumber. Do youwish for me to tell your sovereign that you are reneging on your word?”
His eyes stir with the unmistakable otherness of the Baleful Hunt. Fury bubbles in my blood so swiftly that I can barely contain it. The fool is not worthy of the dragon-bonded blessing. He has been a thorn in my side, in Titania’s side, since the Awakening. I’ve been waiting for an excuse to cut him down a notch, and here it is.
“Return your dragon to his post immediately.” I force a pleasant smile.
“I will return him once my son has been found, no sooner.”
“You are courting treason, Sylvanar,” I warn. “How many times must I warn you that due caution must be taken to secure the Cabinet of Curiosities.”
He scoffs and prowls to the tall, open windows overlooking the crystalline landscape beyond. Artful statues, dream webs, water features, and architecture are bedecked in prismatic ivory, sparkling like a rainbow.
“Two years ago,” Sylvanar sneers, “you were among the exhibitors, mortal scum beneath our boots.”
“But I’m not mortal now.” My forced smile stretches. “Am I?”
I’d wished to be Titania’s most trusted Radiant, and here I am, chained to her will. But I am not disappointed. She is the sugar in the lemon juice of my existence. I only regret that I failed to include my recently burned eyebrows in the wish’s wording. How was I supposed to know my appearance would freeze from that day onward?
“What will you have me do?” I give an exaggerated sigh.
He turns to me, baleful gaze still that of his dragon. He could petrify me where I sit if he wanted. The fact he has not taken Avorlorna for himself is a mystery that plagues me. It is an unwanted threat in our lives—a lemon souring the sugar.
He barks an order. “Send the Knight Inquisitor to visit the witch who runs the establishment.”
“No,” I reply. “He was seen entering it last night.”
Indignation flashes in his stony eyes. “Then the entire House of Shadow must be investigated. A commotion outside Shadowfall Keep was reported by the ravens last night. What if it had something to do with my son?”
He steps perilously close to the Crown’s single most valuable secret. I lift a goblet of bubbling elixir to my lips to hide my tension. But I can use this to our advantage.
Reclining in the chair, I intone, “Accusing the house in charge of the commonwealth’s safety is a dangerous play. If you are wrong, there will be grave consequences against your house.”
“The queenmusttake action.” He slams his fist on the dining table. Stone cracks into existence, spidering from his fist to petrify the tabletop.
I wince and remove my hands before the stone reaches me. “Because you are a father in dire straits, I will allow your discourse to slide. However, if you continue to make demands of your sovereign while she sacrifices herself for the good of a realm, you will be punished.”
“Do not play me for a fool, boy.” His upper lip curls. “We all know you commune with her in this state. If I do not receive an answer by midnight, I will take matters into my own hands.”
The audacious prick walks away from me.
“Lord Sylvanar,” I call, knowing he hears despite continuing his trajectory. “It will be considered treason if you do not return your Hunt to its post.”
The Cabinet must be protected at all costs.
Finally, the Earl has the sense to say, “I will uphold my end of the bargain so long as she upholds hers. Keep me apprised, Lord Goodfellow.”
“If you return your Hunt to his post, you have permission to question anyone suspected of attending Burn After Reading last night.”
“Questioning is useless if they cannot remember what happened inside.”
He cannot possibly be this dimwitted, can he?
“Tell me, Lord Sylvanar, how is it exactly Radiants can conduct business here from within an establishment where no one remembers proceedings?”
His dull-witted confusion is why his son was nominated as the House of Stone representative for such political endeavors.
