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28
ANARIA
If day one in Solarys was uneventful, day two was downright boring.
Trees, trees, and more trees.
Even after weeks in Solarys, if I never saw another tree again, I’d be happy. We kept up our leisurely pace, the path narrow enough we were strung into a single file line, stopping only to let the horse’s drink from one of the hundreds of babbling streams we crossed.
I rode with Tavion, who seemed to have abandoned his quest to humiliate me.
I stayed quiet and out of the way, having no desire to interact with any of them, not even Zorander. After his unexpected burst of warmth, he’d gone back to his broody self, starting magical fires and riding ahead of us, scouting for threats.
Tristan barely spoke, but strangely, Raziel was the kindest. Maybe he was trying to make up for the rest of them, but he made sure I had water, bread and meat, spread his blanket out every night in front of the fire, with the unspoken invitation it was for me.
He was the biggest of the four, his head half-shorn, long black hair pulled away from his hardened face—impossibly handsome, despite the scars—yet he was the one who seemed to care what happened to me. Not as a bounty, or as a reward, but as a person.
His spiked collar was a mystery and I wondered what he’d done to deserve such a thing. If the iron in the collar locked down some kind of magic. I’d worn a collar myself, but something told me his was different, that somehow, he’d earned that.
To everyone else, I was just a means to an end. Once they got me to Blackcastle, we’d all go our separate ways, but before we did, I intended to find out everything I could about Blackcastle and the Shadow King.
Ignorance had almost gotten me killed in Tempeste. I wouldn’t make that mistake again. I would learn as much as I could, even if I had to pry the information out of them.
“What happens if the Fae King never gets his magic back?” Tavion jerked in surprise at my question, as if he’d forgotten I was even here. “Will he die?”
“High Fae don’t die. They fade away.”
I was so shocked to get an answer, I almost fell off the horse. “How long would that take?”
Maybe, in a few years, I could…
“A hundred years, perhaps more.” Tavion’s tone turned gloating. “I doubt you’ll live to see that day, little thief. Not with how things are going for you.”
My heart sank. No, the Fae King would outlast me, and Tavion’s brutal honesty tore away the thin veil of hope keeping me afloat. He was right. I was in over my head, and I’d better figure out how to swim, before I drown.
Churlish taunts aside, Tavion must be a treasure trove of information. He’d served the Fae King for seventeen years, worked his way up through the ranks of the High Guard. Julian and Solok had some sort of history, that much was clear, which meant it was logical Tavion did, too.
“Did you know Solok, before you went to Tempeste?”
Tavion tensed up behind me, which gave me my answer, but I wanted more. I wanted to know why Solok called him acreature.
“We knew him.” Tavion said tersely. “Everyone knew him, where I am from.”
“The first time I saw him was ten days ago, but even in Varitus, we’d heard of him.” I studied the dense overgrowth forming an arch over our head. “Mostly stories the Mistress threatened us with. But nothing prepared me for when he showed up at the castle.”
For once, Tavion seemed like he was listening, so I plowed on. “He and his guards killed everyone at the castle and ate them. It was…I couldn’t think straight for the first day after we crossed over…”
“Is this where you make up some pathetic excuse for killing Julian?”
“No.” I shook my head. “It isn’t.” Fuck, this conversation had ended up right where I never wanted it to go, and before I’d gotten any answers. “No. I’m not making excuses.”
I wound my freezing hands deeper into the horse’s coarse mane. “I’m saying I didn’t know anything of the world beyond the castle walls. I knew nothing of the Fae King, or Caladrius, and no one spoke to me while I was at the palace.”
“Because the king kept his people enchanted. They couldn’t speak to you, or warn you. But everyone knew you were in the city so the king could reclaim his magic and remain on the throne.”
“Everyone except me.”
“Everyone except you, little thief.” His chuckle rumbled against my back. “Don’t tell me your fancy tutors taught you nothing. All Descendants are taught a watered-down version of Fae history, the Scholars make sure of it.”
