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CHAPTERFORTY-SIX
THE MEMORY THIEF
We were runningout of time.
“Get in there,” I snapped.
“Hurry now, Princey.”
Hodag returned shortly after dawn. Kase and the others had met their first mark. We were progressing. I uttered a silent prayer that we’d make it through this alive.
Even four heads shorter than the fae prince, the troll was sturdy and helped ease Bracken into the burrow. Blood pacts had been made with the troll, ensuring she would not entrap them in her burrow. In return, she would be rewarded with the moonvane blossoms Elise had promised in Jagged Grove, but also a crown of fury-iron from the North.
Bracken winced as he eased into the hole. I reeled through the steps. Dryck, the aleman would house the prince, Sofia, and the prince’s two guards in his aleroom for a time. Bevan and a few fellow Elixists would be there, waiting to offer herbs and aid to heal them before they returned to fulfill, what I hoped, would be Bracken’s claim to the Southern Kingdom.
Ari would remain here. I hated the thought, but his illusions were still needed a little longer. The toll his mesmer—his fury—was taking was clear.
Ari helped toss dirt and rocks over the hole once Hodag disappeared into her burrow. He slouched. His eyes were sunken, and his face was tight and strained.
“Ari,” I whispered. “Take a rest. No one is here but us.”
The ambassador sighed. A shimmer of blue light flashed over his eyes, and he slid to the ground, wiping sweat off his brow.
He lifted his gaze to the small window and laughed deliriously. “Ah, look, Mal. My raven has returned.” I saw nothing until he lifted a black feather balanced on the window ledge. “You know what’s odd? All through the night, I was able to keep my illusions. I’ve never held my fury so long without rest. Perhaps my birdish companion does not wish me ill, after all.”
“It likely cannot stop looking at your handsomeness.”
Ari’s face brightened. “I was about to say the same thing.”
For the next while we sat quietly, speaking about nothing really. Ari told me the tale of the night he believed he was the true king of the North. I told him of the Masque av Aska where I lost Kase.
When footsteps came on the steps, I froze. “Ari. Get in your cell.”
He looked more rested, and quickly locked himself behind bars. Sofia’s soft singing returned, and two illusions of guards were once more standing in place by the time a living skydguard entered the dungeon.
The two men swept their eyes over the dank cells. Mildew and freshly tilled earth were piled over Hodag’s burrow. Ari was fatigued, but with a little more power, a little more energy he’d be able to keep the guards’ attention diverted from the evidence of the burrow. Finding nothing amiss, they came to my cell and unlocked the door.
“You’re to meet with the king.”
“The Northern King? For that is the only king I know of. Good. We’re friends.”
One skyd gripped my hair so briskly, it felt as if my scalp were splitting down the middle. “Get walking.”
I looked once at Ari’s cell. The ambassador dangled his wrists out of the gaps in the bars, gaze locked on me. He gave me a small, reassuring smile before he was shut behind the thick, wooden door.
The skyds took me to the upper rooms to meet with Niall. He looked half bear the way he had thick pelts wrapped around his shoulders. I fought the urge to roll my eyes at the bronze crown atop his head and the gold rings he’d fashioned for his thick fingers.
But I breathed easier when I noted the absence of one ring in particular.
“I’ve not put it on.” Niall said. His tone was light, almost friendly. With a lazy gesture, he signaled to an opened wooden box.
The queen’s ring was atop a pillow of satin. The runes shone vibrantly.
Niall dismissed his guards to stand outside the door. I supposed he thought I was no threat with my hands bound and the ring at his disposal. He’d be proved wrong soon enough.
“I take it you’re surprised I’ve not claimed the ring as my own.”
I raised one shoulder and let it fall with a huff, appearing utterly bored. “I don’t worry myself with trying to understand what goes on in your head.”
