Page 93

Rymedur didn’t miss the way Areanel leaned back to smack the back of Vasilio’s head, earning herself a hiss. Her playfulness was a shock to Rymedur; rarely had he seen her act like this with anyone other than her brothers or him.

‘Just because you cannot see them and vice versa, doesn’t mean they cannot hear you. Idiot.’ Areanel spoke through clenched teeth, and it was almost like watching her rebuke Percival.

Rubbing the back of his head, Vasilio muttered, ‘Prick’.

‘What did you say?’ Areanel whirled, knocking Rymedur’s arm in the process.

The condescending smile Vasilio sent her had Rymedur flinching. Wrong move. ‘I said…’ He proceeded to bow deeply. Did this male have no self-preservation? ‘Of course, my oh so gracious prick—’ raising his hand to his mouth in mock shock, Vasilio gasped sarcastically ‘—oops. I meant princess.’

Rymedur wouldn’t be surprised if blood followed.

Narrowing her eyes, Areanel sent the elf a withering glare—one Rymedur wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of. ‘Get that shit-eating grin off your face,’ she all but growled. ‘And for once in your life, Vas, please be quiet… at least until we’re out of earshot.’

Vasilio’s brows shot up, getting lost in his mess of fiery curls. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ Pointing over Rymedur’s shoulder, he added, ‘We’re here. Look.’

Turning his head, Rymedur’s gaze swept the edge of the treeline. Something blue flickered in the distance, then flashed. Once. Twice. A third time. Then stopped completely.

Waiting, a few minutes passed; then—there! It started again. The same pattern but backwards. Three flashes of blue. Then two. One. Stop.

Areanel moved around him, back pressed to his chest. ‘Reduce your shadows,’ she whispered.

Rymedur blinked at her. Then, he sent a thought down that dark bond to his shadows, and they slowly started to peel back, increasing their visibility.

Once the shadows reduced, Rymedur watched in rapt fascination as Areanel held out her palm and ignited her own flame—brilliant blue, the same colour as her eyes. She repeated the sequence of flashes. A code! But who was on the other end? Ryyen?

When the light finally extinguished, Rymedur placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘Who is that?’ It could be a trap.

‘Percy,’ she replied. The reassuring smile she sent his way eased his worry, but it still ate at him that this wasn’t right. Something was wrong—he just couldn’t pinpoint what. ‘Come on, love.’ Her hand slipped into his.

Brutus followed with large strides, Vasilio, quick on his heels, swiftly jogged to keep up. As he did, he turned toward Rymedur, jogging backwards at the same pace. ‘Yeah. Come on, love,’ Vasilio purred the endearment. ‘Wouldn’t want to miss them, would we?’

With that grin, he turned in the same motion and ran ahead to catch up with Brutus, who had already reached a small clearing.

Percival sat against a tree, one leg resting over the other. Ryyen twirled a knife between their fingers as they stood by four horses tied to a low branch of another tree. Both waited in what seemed to be a comfortable silence, yet Rymedur could see they each glanced towards the other when they thought they weren’t looking.

Did Percy—

‘Finally!’ Percival exclaimed, shaking Rymedur from his thoughts. Standing to his feet and dusting himself off, Percival complained, ‘What took you so long?’ Rymedur instantly saw the similarities between him and Vasilio. Is this what Edmund had meant by Percival and Vasilio being partners in crime? That is what he had said at dinner not too long ago—that Resmundur and Aurora would have been like these two.

The sudden thought of his son was an arrow through his heart. Rymedur had no doubt Resmundur would have loved spending time with his uncles as he got older… spending time with him.

‘Brutus. He was too busy braiding his hair.’ Vasilio spoke in a mocking tone, pretending to twirl a strand of his hair as he strutted toward the youngest prince. The action made a strangled chuckle rumble through Rymedur. Oh, he was definitely like Resmundur! Or, his humour was, at least. ‘You know how he loves to pamper himself,’ Vasilio continued.

Thank the gods, no one had seemed to hear the sound that came out of Rymedur’s mouth. The last thing he wanted was looks of pity or worry.

Vasilio knocked his shoulder into Percival’s as he passed him, moving to stand by Ryyen. Amusement bubbled in the atmosphere when Percival’s brows raised in mock shock. ‘Brutus!’ Percival chided. ‘Come now—’ he patted the warrior’s shoulder ‘—who could blame you?’ Pointing a thumb over his shoulder at Vasilio, he added, ‘Even I would need to take multiple baths if I had to live with that one.’

Red hair whipped towards Percival, and Vasilio threw a vulgar gesture over his shoulder as he tied a pack to one of the horses. Brutus remained unfazed. Shaking his head, he joined Ryyen in unbinding the horses from the trees, choosing to ignore whatever was transpiring. ‘Four?’ he asked Ryyen.

‘They will not miss these four. Any more and they would have noticed, sending up an alarm.’ A shiver ran down Rymedur’s spine—ice-cold and biting—at Ryyen’s multilayered voice. He had been around them a few times over the past years, but the sound still made him tremble.

‘I have sent spies to whisper into the ears of others. A story will be spun of your absences. And word from the palace is that the princes will leave for Cal Cathlar soon. We must prepare.’ Ryyen jerked their chin towards the main path, just off their right. A large shadow loomed, prowling along the edge of the path, hidden in the darkness. ‘Ilymathar is patrolling for now. They will travel by the road; the guards wait.’

Their gaze slithered along the darkened forest like they could see through it. A predator in its natural habitat. Speaking once more, Ryyen’s eerie voice had spiders skittering along Rymedur’s spine. ‘We will go the long way round to—’ Ryyen suddenly paused, their gaze locking on Rymedur and then around him.

Rymedur looked down to where his shadows had peeled away from his skin without him realising. So much for keeping his emotions in check! Some had even unconsciously wrapped around Areanel, hiding her from view—others splayed out, poised and ready to strike.

Rymedur didn’t know what to do. That wasn’t supposed to happen. He had been on edge for the last few weeks, ever since he had found Areanel… He couldn’t even finish the thought without his shadows lashing out.