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“Here we are.” A wave of his hand had a handful of aged faelights glowing, illuminating scratched, dusty counters that hadn’t been used in years. I pushed the iron band back into place, the magic settling, though not entirely going back to sleep.
“Dane brought a few supplies to get me through the next month.” He nodded to a bundle wrapped up in paper. “I can make you a sandwich.” The male flexed his clumsy, taloned fingers. “Not much good at anything else, as you can see.”
“Here. Let me.” I unwrapped the package, which was a loaf of bread, a hunk of dried beef, and some pungent cheese. I picked up the knife and pulled the loaf of bread across the counter toward me. “What’s your name?”
“I suppose I left that out in the surprise of seeing my son with his new…wife.” He hesitated on the word as if he meant to say something else.
“Lucius Montgomery. You already met my brother, Dane.” He settled himself heavily on a stool, the wood groaning beneath his weight. “He’s the only one who comes by to check on me these days.”
Those words made him sound so lost. So broken.
“Dane was in the High Barrens?” I asked casually, slicing the bread into even pieces. “That’s north of here, right?” According to Zorander, my mother Adele came from the Barrens, which meant I could have family there.
I’d never thought about having family before now, but some ideas, once they took root, seemed to get big, fast. And this one…I blew out a breath. Best not to get ahead of myself.
“The High Barrens and the Wilds, yes. Have you been there?”
“No. I haven’t seen that part of the world yet.”
“Good thing.” Lucius leaned onto the counter, carefully tracking my every move. “Nothing much up there anymore except hunters and outcasts since the king burned out the whole territory. Only a few families survived the purge.”
I paused, processed what he’d said, then wrapped the bread back up, grabbed a hunk of cheese, and carved off a thin slice with a little more zeal than was necessary.
“What sort of purge?”
“Almost twenty years ago, the king sent his troops into the Barrens and burned out every village and town. Spiked the aristocrats in front of their palaces. Eradicated any common folk who didn’t escape into the mountains fast enough. Not many know about the attack, but Dane has…hadmany friends there.”
Lucius’s eyes found mine. “And we are far enough north that word reaches us before the king can snuff out the messengers. And the message.”
I blinked my burning eyes and piled on more cheese, followed by some dried sausage, then set the sandwiches on chipped plates, fighting my anger.
That was that, then.
I should have known better than to get my hopes up.
No hunting down my family once this was all over. The fucking Shadow King had beaten me once again. Whether he’d killed them to hide Adele’s existence or to cover his involvement in the conspiracy, it didn’t much matter.
I had no one left in this entire world.
True, I’dneverhad anyone, but for a few brief moments therecouldhave been. And that faint, gleaming hope was worse than having no hope at all.
I pushed the plate over to him. “Here, I hope it’s enough.”
“You’re not what I expected.” Lucius never took his eyes off me. “I thought you’d be some fragile little thing, barely able to survive this world. My guess is, life hasn’t exactly been a bed of roses for you, has it?”
“More like a bed of nails.” I took a bite, the strong cheese balancing out the smoky meat. “What happened?” I asked gently, nodding to his face, his body. I’d thought Lucius was a monster, but I was so, so wrong. Monsters—like the two kings, like Solok—hid behind pristine, handsome visages.
Beautiful on the outside, evil on the inside.
Lucius was just a sad, lonely man who’d lost everything. Grieving for his son. Trapped inside this castle, surrounded by memories.
Because everywhere Lucius looked, I imagined Lucius saw Julian. Saw him in every scratch, every dent, every worn-down step. This castle was filled with reminders of everything he’d lost.
I did this, I thought before I could stop myself.
Guilt came bubbling past all the layers of ice and iron I’d used to tamp down my emotions these past days. Nothing, it seemed, could protect me from Julian, no matter how hard I tried.
“How did you get…stuck in between?”
