Page 155 of Spring Guardians & Songbirds

“You’ll never understand.”

“No, I’ll never understand. We were both groomed to be his pets, dearest. You wear your leash with pride and I wore mine with shame.”

The second I arrived at my chambers, I rushed to the closest mirror, peeling back my sleeve and resting a hand on the reflective surface. “Glaoigh kail.” Show my husband.

The surface twisted almost immediately and three figures took shape before me.

“Fuck,” Kilian said, coming close to the mirror. “Fuck, Snow.”

Blood rushed and warmed at his sight. He’d left stubble growing on his face. His hair, too, was slightly longer and I decided I liked it. “Good to see you too, husband.”

He tensed, angling his head in warning. “Don’t be all sweet with me. Not when you left like that.”

Nia jumped from behind his shoulder trying to take a peek. “You look pale.”

A hand went to my cheek. “It’s the damned weather. My pores are the size of a hell's crater. I’m desperate for one of those green, herby masks you make.”

“Love,” Kilian said, rubbing a hand over his eyes in frustration. “Your pores are fine. It has been more than a week since we got any news from you. Sebastian and Albius had only seen you in passing once days ago, Elias is gods know where and you only just now contacted us. I thought…I thought something had happened.”

“Father has isolated the castle, the servants, the guards and every other staff is completely new. He also hasn’t called a meeting last week at all. He went up north himself a couple days ago. I presume to check on the war camps.”

Visha peeked from Kilian’s side. “There is something wrong, isn't it?”

I nodded and Kilian looked like a lion ready to prance. “Father is completely odd. Kegan, the Seraphim king, was he a believer?”

“He wasn’t. Why do you ask?” Kilian said, folding his arms across his chest, wincing a bit as he did, and all thought flew out of my head.

It took me a moment to concentrate on his words. “He…uh, father, he has mandated prayer, reopened temples and even built new ones.” Pulling the flyer from my corset, I pressed it to the surface of the mirror. “This can’t be normal. It has to do something with the sceptre, I am sure of it.”

“None of the Lords have mentioned anything of this sort,” Nia added.

“I don’t think they have paid mind. Not unless they’ve actually read these or sat through one of the preaching sessions. Call Bash or Celdric for a meeting and question how long this has been going on. Isjordians think my father is trying to bring faith back because the land has turned to complete frost. You can barely go outside these days without getting swept in a snowstorm.” Turning to Visha, I asked, “Does this have to do with the sceptre?”

She took a moment. “I believe so.”

“Aryan said that Kegan lost control of Aurora and the guardian ended up destroying Seraphim. Could he have lost control because of his belief? We all know gods and guardians fuel on our prayers, wishes, and need to believe. Could it be why father is trying to convert his people, so history doesn't repeat itself?”

“Possibly,” Visha said quietly. “It was said that those impure and distanced from belief could not touch the sceptre, yet alone command it to their will. This was Kegan’s mistake—he underestimated the laws of gods all while wanting to use their divinity for his benefit.”

I shook my head. If father’s wicked hands lost control of the sceptre it would be worse than him using it. “This would be a disaster. If father forms that damned sceptre—”

“He won’t be able to,” Kilian said confidently, and my own confidence suddenly mirrored his. “Not with all of us and him alone. Remember what took Aurora down in the first place. Just as the realm did back then we will take your father down.”

“What of Eldmoor, Nia?” I asked.

My friend worried her lip between her teeth. “Urinthia is in this in some way for that I am certain. Visha sent me to a brothel near Red Coven, the one the Crafter guards frequent. The women there say an Isjordian soldier or two had rested there this last week alone. But Red Coven is up on high alert, their veils stronger than ever. Looks more like Urinthia is hiding from your father, not aiding him. But she knows more than anyone of us does. This is what makes me doubt her intentions more than anything.”

“Witch,” I said. “Why did my father hang Melanthe? What was she and your mother doing?”

The witch paled a little. “It is not for me to say.”

“Visha, I’ll pluck that tongue and make it speak myself if I have to.” I smacked a hand on the mirror, making it shake. “What was so grave that my father hung the daughter of a Grand Maiden?”

The red witch took a long glance over my friend and Kilian. “She was consorting with a Lord at the time. She came to my mother to seek his protection.”

“Protection from what?”

“From your father.”