Carefully, Hadrian crouched on the floor and swiped his index finger over the tea that was swiftly staining the wood and seeping between the floorboards.
The captain’s gaze lifted to Kyrie’s frightened face. “Were you the only person to handle the tea?”
~
Hadrian’s room was right beside Avalon’s, the wall that separated them so thin they could talk to each other if they spoke loudly enough. Sometimes this kept them up well into the night, and on one occasion a guard on duty had even told them to go to sleep. They’d laughed hard enough to wake the entire House.
They never did find out who’d tried to poison Kyrie, though Hadrian was even more alert than usual for their last night in the Elven House. Avalon only drank the water Hadrian brought her, and as for her appetite, it had vanished entirely. It frightened her to consider that someone Kyrie trusted was responsible for her attempted poisoning. But then Avalon thought of what her own father had done to her, and decided it was best not to think about it at all.
Avalon wasn’t sure what time it was when she jolted out of a deep sleep. She sat up, yawning as she rubbed at her eyes. It was still dark outside, though hundreds of fireflies dotted the towering trees, and crickets sang proudly. What had disturbed her?
Avalon pulled the mask down.Are you awake?she asked Sable.
I sleep when you sleep, Princess,the warrior said.
Avalon was about to say something when she heard a bang outside her door. Thecrashof glass breaking echoed against the walls.
Avalon was on her feet in an instant and at the door in the next. She snatched a candelabra off the dresser next to the door, gripping it tightly in her clammy hands. The sound of a commotion drifted through, sending her heart into a sprint. If Hadrian was in trouble, she had to help him. With a deep breath that only managed to make her heartrate soar faster, she pulled open the door and rushed into the hallway.
A blade was instantly at her throat, the steel cold against her skin. In her surprise, the candelabra clattered to the floor, but as soon as Hadrian recognized her in the dark, he lowered his dagger. Once Avalon was certain that Hadrian was all right, she squinted, wishing fervently for an oil lamp as she struggled to take in her surroundings. What in the Nine Hells had happened?
But then she saw it.
There was a body just behind him. The body of Jaron, Kyrie’s cousin. Avalon hadn’t seen much of him since arriving at the House. He was a pleasant boy about her age physically, with a head of dark hair, copper skin, and a boyish smile.
Now he was dead, his neck twisted at a horribly grotesque angle. There were stab wounds on his torso. Avalon suddenly felt very sick.
“Hadrian,” she breathed, swaying on her feet. “What happened?”
Down the corridor, a guard shouted. Lord Aldan, Kyrie’s father, arrived a moment later, flanked by guards armed to the teeth. He barked an order, and the three of them held Hadrian in place as a fourth guard bound his wrists behind his back.
“Wait!” Avalon shouted. She was still weak from the poisonous arrowhead, and nearly toppled into the wall. Her head felt light on her shoulders, and she was vaguely aware of a guard securing her wrists behind her back. Whether it was an accident or not, she wasn’t sure, but the guard twisted her wrist too far, and she gasped in pain.
“Don’t you touch her,”Hadrian growled. But it was no use. They were outnumbered, and sleep had made them both clumsy. Even though Avalon wore the mask, it did no good when Sable tried to take the reins. Regardless of who held them, her limbs simply wouldn’t cooperate.
No no no no.Avalon wasn’t sure which of them was thinking it.
A voice like wind chimes carried through the hall. “Wait,” it said.
A girl stepped from behind the thick curtain lining the wall.
Kyrie.
One of the guards held a torch that illuminated her features with an unearthly sort of glow.
“I saw everything, Father,” she said. Her dark eyes scanned the guards’ faces, saving Avalon and Hadrian for last. When she fixed her gaze upon her father, her eyes were filled with sheer honesty. “Hadrian was not the one to swing first. Have you already forgotten how he saved me from consuming poison?”
Her father struggled for words, but she cut him off before he could speak.
“Regardless that he is the Dark Lord’s Captain of the Guard, I am indebted to him,” Kyrie said. “And I will not stand by while you put him in chains and haul him away.”
“Jaron—”
“Jaron was a liar.” Kyrie’s almond-shaped eyes flashed with intensity.“Hewas the one who tried to poison me. Wasn’t it only days ago that we finally decided to trust Jaron with the truth?” Her voice dropped low as she clarified, “The truth about whose side we’re on.” The truth about the rebel movement they were involved in.
Avalon and Hadrian shared a knowing glance. Hadrian had filled Avalon in on the suspicions regarding this family and what went on within the walls of this House. Aldan had spoken to Hadrian only yesterday about the brutal role their people had played in the war, and how they’d been hunted to near extinction. This House was home to the only Elves left on this side of the Black Sea.
For a long time, Aldan said nothing, though his eyes flicked uncertainly between Hadrian and Avalon. The guards waited for his command, and all Avalon could think was how quickly this had happened—and now everything could be wrecked. The lord had trusted Hadrian, and now, as Hadrian stood a potential traitor painted in blood, he deliberated.
