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“Torin’s Throne Room used to be the Fae King’s Throne room, thousands of years ago, when Tempeste was first built.” She was shaking, so I slipped my arm around her waist, the crowd around us be damned. I wasn’t about to let her spill into the dirt.
“Tempeste is built overtop an ancient city, abandoned for thousands and thousands of years before the Fae ever rose to power.” I took more of her weight as she leaned into me. “I’ve never been down there, but I heard it was a…”
“A city built by the Old Gods.” She managed a slight smile. “I used to sneak into Ravenshade’s library and read all night. Ember always said I was….”
She trailed off, her eyes going dark. “Anyways. I read that. In a book once.”
“I don’t know if this is true, but some claim the throne was made from one of the skulls found in the catacombs. The very first King of the Fae had the skull brought up and put on display, so there would be no doubt about who ruled over Caladrius. And that the Old Gods were gone.”
The high walls of the Keep loomed above us, blocking out the sun.
“So, you think it’s one of the Old Gods?”
“That is what’s said.” I hedged, wondering if I dared enter the city proper, without Zor or the king’s permission.
“That’s not what I asked, Raz.” Her hand gripped my arm, and I took the opportunity to lay my hand over hers, feed more healing magic into her.
“I asked what youthought, not what’s been said.” When we stopped and she looked up at me, all I wanted to do was tell her how much I wished we could do last night over.
Not the act itself, but everything else. The scheming and the lies and the one hundred years of bullshite that led to Anaria having to give something of herself up, in order to keep herself safe.
And for me, taking most valuable thing she had, because she didn’t think she had any other choice. It wasn’t in my nature to have regrets. But I regretted how last night had gone down.
For a moment we held each other’s gaze, too much stretching between us to put into words.
“The Oracleisone of the Old Gods, Raz. And according to what she told me, she’s been waiting a long time to claim the king’s power.” She shook her head, and I resisted the urge to brush her hair out of her face. “Now that we have it, she will use us to get what she wants.”
I shook my head. “They’re all dead.”
“There’s still one of them alive. I know it. And she’s playing us.” Anaria’s pulse pounded in her throat, and someone shouted, but I was too busy looking at the fear clouding her eyes.
“Then what does she want?”
“War.” Was all she managed to say before she was ripped away from me by the king’s guard and I was slammed to the street by two of the biggest, meanest brutes I’d ever seen. I knew better than to fight out here, in public.
The king had used me to retrieve his daughter from his enemy, but he had no use for me now, except as fodder on the front lines in this coming invasion.
Only Julian’s insistence I’d be a valuable addition to the rescue effort had bought me a few weeks of blessed freedom. And that was clearly over.
“If you want to live another miserable day, take your filthy hands off us.”
I’d only heard that tone used a few times in my life and my spine instinctually stiffened, as did the guards that held me. Anaria spoke with such authority, her face a cold, brutal mask as she jerked away from the soldiers who’d touched her.
“Did I tell you I was in trouble?” She asked them coldly, and I took a moment to enjoy their flustered confusion as they looked at one another. “Did I fucking ask for your help at any time?”
“No, my princess.” The guards ducked their heads and backed away, confusion on their faces as they fumbled around.
“And take your hands off him.” The look on her face took my fucking breath away. “Raziel rescued me from Caladrius. I’ve seen him fight. The only reason you are still standing is because he has the good grace to think before he acts.”
I watched them shrink before her, minions in front of their princess and for the first time in a hundred years, I believed our mad plan might work.
Anaria wasmeantto rule.
We might have put all the pieces in place, and she might have been raised a slave, but she was destined for more. So much more, that my heart swelled with pride.
The soldiers released me, shoved me in the direction of the shite village the slaves were relegated to.
“He will accompany me to the Keep.” Anaria took my arm, leaned close enough her body pressed the full length of mine. “We have an audience with my father in an hour.” She lied so smoothly, even I believed her.
