Page 154 of Fate of the Sun King

Lor squeezes my hand, her gaze darting down the alleyway, and I smile at her, trying to ease her worries.

A cold dread slithered through my blood when I heard my father was in Aphelion. His presence is an ominous sign, but with any luck, we’ll be in and out of the palace before he knows we’re here. Why is he looking for the ark too?

The stress in my shoulders pulls so tight I’m on the verge of snapping right in half.

After we wait for what seems far too long, the door pops open. A low fae elf stands in the doorway, blinking at us.

“We’re here to see Erevan,” I say, and the elf sniffs as though he’s stepped in horse droppings.

“And who the fuck are you?”

“You can let him know the Aurora Prince is here to see him. I have a proposal for him.”

The elf narrows his eyes and gives me a once-over as if trying to validate my claim. To support my point, I allow the swirl of my magic to filter out, wrapping me in the tendrils of light that prove my heritage. I don’t know if this elf understands what he sees, but it’s enough to make his eyes widen.

“Fine. I’ll go see if he’s willing to talk to you.”

Then without another word, he slams the door in our faces.

“Rude,” Lor says. I can tell she’s trying to make a joke, but she’s so tense that it comes out wrong. She shakes her head, and I pull her towards me, wrapping my arms around her as she buries her face into the crook of my shoulder.

We stand there, and I can’t get over how right this feels. How perfect she feels. How much I want to protect and hold her like this forever and ever. Her entire body relaxes as she melts against me.

“Lor, I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” I say.

“It’s not me I’m worried about,” she replies.

“Or your siblings or anyone else.”

She sighs and clings to me tighter. “I know you believe that,” she says, looking up at me. “I know that’s what you want, but even you won’t be able to watch over everyone once we’re inside. Anything could happen.”

“I know,” I say, running a hand down the back of her head. “I’m just trying to be comforting. Work with me here—I’m not used to this.”

She snorts out a small laugh and cracks a tiny smile in spite of herself. I remember when I vowed to be the one to make her smile every day, and I still hope that’s a promise I’m able to keep.

Finally, the door opens again, and the same elf gestures to us.

“Come on,” he says, stepping aside to let us enter the dim hallway before he closes and locks the door firmly. “This way.”

We head down a set of narrow stairs where we’re forced to walk in a single line before we turn down another hallway.

We enter a tunnel interspersed with cobwebbed torches.

“Where are we going?” I ask, a sense of foreboding creeping down the back of my neck.

“To see Erevan,” the elf replies in an almost bored tone. “I thought that’s why you came.”

I resist the urge to make a pithy remark, because it would serve no purpose. It hardly seems like this elf’s plan is to drag us down here and clobber us to death.

Eventually, we emerge through the tunnel into a large chamber carved into stone that forms a dome over our heads.

The space might be cold and unwelcoming, except that a large fire burns in a hearth carved into the far end while thick woven carpets muffle our steps. In the center is an arrangement of brown leather chairs and sofas, with a low wooden table in front.

Erevan sits on a sofa, reading through a stack of papers. At our entrance, he looks up and then rearranges the pile before he flips the entire thing over, ensuring we won’t be able to read anything on the page. A signal that while he agreed to see us, he doesn’t trust us.

He stands up and holds out a hand.

“Prince Nadir,” he says, his tone polite but neutral. “I admit I was rather surprised to hear you were asking to see me. And that you’re in Aphelion at all.”