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There is no denying their blood relation.
A cruel grin stretches across Heston Harstall’s face, and his gray eyes gleam. “You are much taller than I remember, my boy.”
Eleven
“Father,”Arluingasps.
A draft blows through the sewers. It carries with it the stench of death and decay.
“I have waited years for this moment,” Heston says. “For our reunion.”
The grimy walls sway. Numbness washes over me. I no longer feel the stone slabs digging into my knees.
Heston has returned. And he brings with him a cult of necromancers.
I know not what they plan. Only that they will doom my city.
Dark magic erupts from Heston’s hands. “Vorikaz.”
Obsidian chains fling at Arluin. They bind him as tightly as they bind me.
“What are you doing?” Arluin exclaims. He writhes against the chains, desperately trying to shake them off, but they constrict. A sharp exhalation shudders through his lips as the chains give his chest a forceful squeeze.
“Taking precautions. Though I have missed you greatly and have thought of you every day, I fear you may not have missed me in return.”
Arluin doesn’t reply. But I know he missed his father. He told me that much yesterday.
I don’t know whether Heston can see through Arluin’s expression. His gray eyes rake over Arluin as he tries to discern his thoughts.
A sudden bout of courage ignites in my heart. Before fear can snuff out the small flame, I force myself to confront Heston.
“What do you want?” I demand, hoping my words sound stronger than they do in my head. “Why have you dared to return to Nolderan when my father exiled you? When he made it clear that if you were ever to return, he would execute you on the spot?”
Heston tears his attention from Arluin and scrutinizes me instead. I try to conceal my fear with an icy mask, but it begins to crack as his cruel eyes bore into mine. “To see my son. All fathers share the same grief over being separated from their children. Your father is no different. And this is the greatest weakness of the Grandmage of Nolderan.” The edge to his voice tells me he intends to exploit this weakness.
I shrink back, but there’s nowhere to run. Not with these heavy chains and the dozen necromancers looming over me.
Blood thrums in my ears, urging me to fight with the only weapon I have left. My words.
“If you so much as lay a finger on me, my father will see to it you die a painful death, Heston.” I spit his name with all the disgust I can.
“You already said he would execute me simply for breathing Nolderan’s air, girl. What difference does it make if he will kill me, regardless?”
I have no retort. Not that one would improve my current situation.
I am bound with chains and cut off from my magic. So far beneath the streets, no one would hear if I scream. No one but Heston and his necromancers. And Arluin, who is as helpless as me.
If Heston decides to kill me right now, there’s nothing I can do to save myself.
I stare up at him, trembling beneath the chains. I wish I could stop. But I can’t.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he chides. “Tonight, you will serve an invaluable purpose?”
“W-what purpose?” I hate how my lower lip quivers. But I’m no longer in control of my body. Fear shackles me more tightly than the obsidian chains.
“You will see,” he simply says. The malice in his eyes fills my heart with dread. I don’t know how it continues to beat. Especially so frantically.
I pull my gaze from Heston and look across to Arluin. He stares at his father as if he’s seeing a ghost. His face is the color of bone.
