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If she survived this disaster, she would have to have a proper conversation with Devon about his inappropriate use of magic. Shooting at the wings of a fae who was flying away with her in his arms was hardly going to help her.
“The king commanded that no one should speak with you, milady, until further notice.” Eris looked away—but she didn’t miss the pained expression flashing through his features. He held her tighter to his body, as if that alone would prevent him from dropping her.
“Except you, apparently.” She pressed her lips together, trying to spot Devon in the small city below.
“I’m your royal guard, madam,” Eris said. Then he focused on the castle that loomed in the distance. “After what happened with Fael, your last guard, the king didn’t think he would be the correct guard to protect you—or the prince.”
“I’m aware of who Fael is, Eris. He betrayed Arkimedes’s trust. He hurt him back on Grey Island. Kidnapped him and lied—” Which apparently the fae couldn’t do but kept doing repeatedly.
While Nava had never been someone to opt for aggression first, she would do anything to protect Arkimedes from those who had betrayed him. She didn’t understand the fae or their politics, but what Fael had done was wrong. He had hidden behind the mask of a friend when he had been a foe all along.
At least Devon never lied. When he wasn’t a friend, he made sure Nava knew it. Even the king had the decency to be truthful about his intentions.
“Are the guards going to hurt Devon?”
“The king commanded us not to harm the prince’s fake brother.”
Ha. What a funny—and untruthful—way to refer to an adopted sibling. Clearly, they had no clue how strong their bond was. Admittedly, she hadn’t really grasped it either a few months ago.
“Are you going to hurt me?”
“I would never harm the future queen of the Copper Kingdom. And if I did so before, it was because I didn’t know who you were.”
“How about the king?”
Eris was quiet when his eyes, blue and vibrant with light, met hers. “Be careful with the king, madam.”
So much, so vague.
They’d been stuck near the port for a couple of hours at most, but it felt like an eternity. Nava glanced at the ships sailing in the orange-speckled seas, one of them carrying her precious sun stone. Hopefully, whatever the artifact was that had seeped into her soulmate’s skin, it wouldn’t hurt him.
Even if right now it had gotten them captured.
33
NAVA
The staff in the castle welcomed Nava as if she hadn’t left as a fugitive. Even the maids who awaited them outside in the gardens, wearing their long orange dresses, beamed at both Eris and her. None of them said a word, though. They simply bowed as they walked by.
Their welcome wasn’t the oddest thing to greet her, however. What truly shocked her was the strange burst of energy that instantly filled her depleted reserves and the gentle probing sensation at the back of her mind. Not entirely unpleasant, just odd.
Not even the creepy white flowers in the garden felt like they were spying on her. They had once frightened her, but not today. Right now, they were only offering to help.
From all around her, long tendrils of yellow energy reached out, moving like wispy fingers over the stone path. Being near the castle felt almost like being inside Ari’s cave. The power running through each marble brick and every blade of grass knew who she was.
It didn’t take long for the bees to find Nava once they’d stepped inside the actual building. They flew and crawled over the castle walls, demanding an explanation for her prolonged silence in their small voices. But through her exhaustion, Nava could only think of Arkimedes’s well-being.
“Where is Orion?” she asked, turning toward Eris, who walked a couple of steps behind her. He hadn’t said a word about the strange behavior of the staff, nor about what was going to happen to her now. The king hadn’t specified where she would go once she was here.
“He might be in the infirmary or his chambers.”
Was that where he was taking her? Their surroundings looked familiar. She’d been through these halls before.
Nava’s shoulders tensed when the green room she’d stayed in before came into view. She’d never wanted to see its huge double doors again.
Eris had brought her here through a different route, expertly avoiding crossing in front of Arkimedes’s room, which lay beside it. Nava understood why he had done it. Could he sense that the castle was returning some of her magic to her? She had enough now to transfer away a few times, and damn the consequences. But perhaps it was best to allow him to think she was still under the king’s mercy. She could transfer to Arkimedes’s room later.
The king’s plans for her weren’t her biggest worry at the moment.
