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He shrugged casually. “You know you’re the most beautiful girl in the realm, Arya. And I told you before, I’ll try anything once.”
I cringed at the thought of sleeping with my brother. “Ugh, just stop. That’s gross.”
“I’m going to forget you said that.”
One of the staff brought my leathers, the first human face I’d seen besides Loren’s. Azriel’s room was empty, and I pretended not to care he’d left without saying anything. It’s not like he owed me anything. He definitely wasn’t required to tell me his business or warn me of his plans.
Nevertheless, I was forced to fake interest in Loren’s tour as he hobbled to his favorite spots. He showed me a library so grand it must have held tens of thousands of books, the history of the world untouched and unfiltered on oak shelves and marble tables. There were several courtyards filled with statues of people I tried to feign interest in.
He pointed out a small village built beneath the castle’s edge, and I noticed families, real families, walking together in the streets and conducting their business. Women paired together, trailing children behind them with firm grips around their little arms. Loren explained these humans had lived here for centuries, even during the Era of the Sun, and the watchers protected them when the last sunset dawned over a hundred years ago. Their power flourished here, making plants grow and lives thrive, but there was only so much of it to go around. The watchers couldn’t save all of humanity, but they could help a few.
“Can we trust them?” I asked, my voice low between us as we passed a pair of watchers roaming the corridor. Their eyes seemed to be asking the same question as they locked with mine. I suppressed a shiver.
“From what I’ve gathered the past few weeks, yes. For now, anyway.”
“For now?”
Loren sighed, pausing our tour and pulling me to the side of the hall to speak more privately. “Look, they saved the both of us. And it seems they’ve been doing so for the rest of the dishonored runners who left the mountain. But"—he took a breath as another watcher roamed nearby. Were the creatures stalking us? —“I think they’re hiding something.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“They’ve been around forever, Arya. These creatures are as old as the dead gods themselves, and yet they have let us remain in an eternal night for the past century. I can’t help but think they have something to do with it,” he whispered in a rough hush. “Maybe they’re the ones who created the curse.”
I shook my head. “That’s ridiculous. Why would they save us if they are accomplices to the dark?”
He shrugged and lifted his hands in defense. “I’m just saying. They’ve treated me well, and I owe them my life. But it doesn’t mean I’m letting my guard down, and you shouldn’t either.”
I nodded, a bit reluctantly. Perhaps it was the foolish part of me being stubborn, but I didn’t want to be skeptical of this world. I wanted to embrace it and all its beauty, all its potential. I wanted—no—needed it be my safe haven. I didn’t think my heart could survive another deception.
“Can I ask you something else?” I spoke. He nodded slowly, hesitating. “Why didn’t you try to come back to the mountain once they healed you? Have they kept you against your will, or did you just not want to return?”
His throat bobbed in a hard swallow, followed by his eyes darting to the side to avoid my gaze. Telltale signs of his guilt. “They told me I could leave, but I had already been off my mission too long. The queen would never take me back if she knew I’d received help from her enemies. She’s a bit…”
“Possessive?” I offered.
“Something along those lines,” he replied. “I wanted to send you a message, I wanted to find you and steal you away from the mountain after I learned of the opportunities we had as dishonored runners. But it seems you beat me to it.” His smile faltered. “Whyareyou here, exactly?”
I swallowed against a parched throat. It was my turn to feel guilty now. “Azriel knew my name before he told me you were here, and he told me to meet him after my meeting in Grimsbane, promising me answers in exchange for my information.”
“He blackmailed you?” Loren’s brows burrowed together in fresh anger; the creases of his forehead grew in number.
“Technically, I blackmailed him. I agreed to his terms by meeting him on the edge of the Grimm Wood, fully prepared to simply exchange information. But what I learned in Grimsbane changed everything.” I whispered the last part even lower, as small as my voice could become while still making a sound.
“What did you learn?”
I kept the information brief, my empty stomach demanding to rearrange my priorities. “The queen is trapped in the mountain. She needs some kind of stone to be set free, but for some reason, that is a bad thing.”
“For who?” he challenged. “For humanity? Or for the watchers?”
I took a small step away from him, dumbfounded at his statement but unable to give a clear answer. His hand found the inside of my elbow and pulled me back, ignoring the uncertainty hanging off my parted lips.
“Trust me, Arya. They may seem kind and caring on the outside, but they’re just as rotten as all the other divines we learned about in history. Just as self-serving and volatile as the demigods and their saints,” he growled. Something flickered in his jade eyes, a flash of obvious resentment. “If they are truly responsible for the eternal night, it’s possible they want to keep the queen locked up so she can’t lift the curse. Because honestly, if they really wanted to help humanity, they would have done it by now.”
I nodded, swallowing any retort my desperation could conjure. His final words were like the last nail in my coffin, sealing any optimism with the carcass of my hope.
Our tour ended with a late breakfast, in the place I wish it would have started. The food was better than imagined, even better than the queen’s court, and certainly worth the long wait. Every last scrap was licked clean off my plate. They even let me get seconds, which I gratefully took advantage of, instantly understanding how Loren filled out in such a short amount of time. I would stay here forever if they kept feeding me like this.
“There you are.” A deep voice resonated behind me as I finished my second plate. I turned my head as I dragged the fork between my teeth, finding Azriel approaching the spot Loren and I were sitting.
