Elyria shrugged.
And Sid let go.
The cultist’s scream rang in Cedric’s ears for a long time. Even after he turned away. Even after the unfortunate and inevitablewhumpcame.
Gasps rose throughout the room when Sid came soaring back through the window, rolling through the opening with her wings tucked in tight, then flaring them wide.
The way Elyria described volacarnii had made Cedric think they were brutal, terrifying things. But Sid was simply...
“Magnificent.”
Sid preened as if she, too, could hear Cedric speak the words down the bond. And the pride in Elyria’s eyes as she watched her creation only made the beast seem more magnificent still.
And yet, Cedric couldn’t help himself when he added,“I thought you said they were as big as a horse.”
“I definitely said a smallish horse,” Elyria replied aloud. “And anyway, who am I to say if she’s fully grown? She went from the length of my forearm to the size of a lion in a couple of weeks. Solaris help us all if she keeps growing at this rate.”
“V-volacarnii,” whispered one of the council members, still cowering over by the king, who was watching the scene unfolding in his throne room with wide eyes.
Cedric crossed the room, giving Sid a pat on the head as he passed. She made a satisfied sort of purring sound, then padded over to the window and pressed her head against Elyria’s hip, her wings dissipating back into mist.
Like mother, like daughter,Cedric thought, grinning internally, and for a single, fleeting moment, the horror and insanity and loss of this night abated.
But then the guards parted for Cedric. He took a knee in front of the ashen-faced king. And it all came crashing back.
“Given what just happened, you will forgive me for not taking you at your word when you said the palace was cleared,” Sephone said snidely from somewhere behind Cedric. “I think I’ll go take a gander formyself. Make sure there aren’t any more blood mages lurking about.”
“I will go with you,” said Nox.
“Me too.” Tristan got to his feet with a wince. “Not sure I’ll be much help if the fighting starts again, but I need to go check on Tenny and the others.”
Cedric returned his attention to King Callum, slumped over on the bench, wedged between Barcroff and one of the council members. A puckered pink scar stretched across the king’s royal neck, and his doublet was soaked with red.
“Your Majesty,” said Cedric, head bowed.
“He didn’t have to do that,” rasped the king. His hand shook as he gestured for Cedric to stand, his eyes pinned to Dentarius’ resting body.
“No, he didn’t,” Cedric replied solemnly.
“Why did he? Why would he? He died for a kingdom that wasn’t even his.”
“We areallhere to fight for Arcanis. If the atrocities committed here have taught us anything, it is that we have a common enemy. Havensreach and Nyrundelle are two sides of the same coin, battling a monster that seeks only to pit us against one another.”
King Callum shook his head slowly. “Perhaps I placed too much hope in your victory over the Crucible. In this precocious peace. I should have listened, should have known. What a fool I have been.”
Cedric looked back at Elyria, who watched the king’s rambling with a tilt of her head, Sid laying regally at her feet. “It is not foolish to hope.”
“It is if doing so means being ignorant of this insidious infiltration of my city—my own palace. Blessed Aurelia, how could I have been so blind? Members of my court, my own guard...” The king’s trembling fingers went to his throat. “I have been so naive. Leviathan was right.”
Barcroff jumped to his feet. “No, Your Majesty. You are?—”
Whatever sycophantic sniveling the imperial steward was about to levy at the king was interrupted by a very loud, very intentional scoff.
Cedric turned to see Kit approaching, rage flashing in her mismatched eyes. The royal guards stiffened, but Cedric waved his hands in a pacifying gesture.
“Leviathan Church is anything butright,” Kit spat. “The Lord Paramount is the very reason for the lives lost tonight.”
A chill ran through Cedric, as though ice was suddenly spreading under his skin.
