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Through sheer willpower, I controlled my expression, walking slowly to the door, head held high. By the time I reached my rooms, I was trembling with rage.
“Your Majesty?”
“Not now, Lisveth. Everyone out.”
My ladies filed out of the room, leaving me in blessed peace. I paced, almost desperate for my meeting with Pelysian. When I could wait no longer, I whirled, striding toward the mirror.
Truthfully, few things terrified me like the thought of transporting myself through this mirror to its twin. But impatience rolled up my spine, and I squared my shoulders.
I could do this.
Pelysian stepped into the room, suddenly so close, we were almost touching. His eyes widened, and I took a step back.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty. Were you…”
“No. I was merely waiting.”
He eyed me but said nothing. I turned to pace. “You said your mother couldn’t locate my son because of the wards surrounding him.”
“That is correct.”
“Could she find the hybrid heir? Or her friends?”
Silence. I turned back to him.
“If Sabium’s best locators cannot—”
“Do not lie to me,” I hissed. “Your mother’s power is different.”
“Her power requires great sacrifice, Your Majesty.”
“Speak to her. I will do whatever it takes.”
* * *
The empty wooden boat was practically a dinghy. Fashioned from timeworn wood—without a sail or oars—it drifted eerily across the placid lake toward us. I stood on the wharf and watched it approach.
“It looks like it’s being sailed by ghosts,” Asinia murmured next to me. The boat bumped up against the wharf, and we both eyed it.
“Not ghosts,” Galon said. “Just magic. In you get.”
The wharf groaned beneath us, the wooden boards slick under my boots as we piled into the boat, one by one. Galon held out his hand, steadying us as we stepped inside, following Rythos’s directions for seating to keep the small boat balanced. I ended up wedged between Lorian and Asinia. And then we were moving once more.
The boat rocked gently as we glided across the vast lake, the warm glow of the late-afternoon sun reflected on water. It was so still, if I looked down I could see the gold and crimson of the sky mirrored below us.
A breeze cooled the back of my neck, carrying the scent of wild flowers, and I sighed, closing my eyes.
Lorian leaned down until his mouth was right next to my ear. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”
My eyes popped open, and just like that, I wanted to find a quiet spot somewhere and climb on top of him.
“We need to work on your timing,” I said breathlessly.
“You’ve never complained about my…timing before.”
I laughed.
Marth rolled his eyes. “I think I liked it better when you were actively planning his murder,” he told me.
