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“Keir?” Amory called.
I headed for where she stood, farther up the beach, leaving the land shifter.
She gestured to the skies with a hand. “Esta left to make sure the cell is delivered and then will have to go face her parents.”
“Her parents?”
Amory let out a sigh. “You were right. Killing him today was the wrong move. But her father will likely see that as a weak move. He will be angered she didn’t kill him anyway. Regardless of what the people thought. And she knew that when she chose to send him to Obsidian.”
My magic flared with how angry that explanation made me. “Convenient for him as he is in his human form and not subject to these whispers about the shifters turning savage.”
She let out a sigh. “He likely never would have cared if the people feared him. He just wasn’t the sort.”
I gave my head a shake. “Does he want the throne back? Is that what all of this is about?”
“No,” she said without hesitation. “He always wanted Esta to wear the crown. He just likes to think he still has a say in things.”
I put up a sound barrier so that it was around us, Dex included. “I spoke with someone I met at the tavern our first few nights here. I hadn’t realized until I spoke with her how damaging these whispers about the shifters are. She likened it to a civil war.”
Amory’s eyes were on mine, swimming with worry. “I don’t think she’s entirely wrong. We have never been as divided as we have been these past few months. I may have intentionally downplayed it until I knew we could trust you, but the tension isthick.”
I clenched my jaw and looked to Dex. “We have to get those lakes clear.”
Dex cocked his head. “It is only a matter ofwhen, notif, we do. And when we do, we need to be ready for whoever is doing all this, the mastermind, to not like it. They’ll show their ugly face eventually.”
The three of us took that in, none of us sure what to do with it.
“Malachi will return us to the castle, but he is going to need a bit,” Amory explained.
I dropped my sound barrier. “Are you hungry? I know a place.” We had skipped lunch in our rush to get here. And skipping meals was one of my least favorite things to do.
Amory let out a laugh. “I’m famished. But isn’t this my country, not yours?”
Laughing after all that had just transpired seemed odd, but that was what we did as we headed in the direction of the tavern.
CHAPTER18
Iwas working with the water vials late that night before turning in. I should have already gone to bed; Miles and Dex were both sleeping for once, leaving just my guard outside my door. Jorah was due to arrive the next afternoon. I needed the rest. Tomorrow was going to pack a punch. Yet here I was, trying the water vials one last time with the door slightly ajar to my balcony. I left the ring on the railing just in case the queen came by on her patrol again.
I sent one last powerful burst of magic into the water vials, all of them at once, frustrated I couldn’t get any more to change. This was important. I’d known it was important before I ever left Wylan, but with tensions brewing in Dra Skor, a civil war on the brink of getting out of hand, I needed to be able to do this.
It wasn’t about me. I was simply the magic wielder here. This was about Dra Skor herself. A healthy and thriving Dra Skor to match a healthy and thriving Wylan. Sure, we’d likely always compete against one another, but to truly sharpen one another, we both had to be healthy.
I let my magic fall and thought back to that book my mother had always read to us, which I had loved. I’d kept the damn thing in my room and had read it so many times that I had some parts of it memorized.
I quoted from heart, “Mortal enemies were not inherited, they were decided upon for each person within a mixture of deeds and intent.”
Talking to yourself?
I heard the beating of wings and headed out to the balcony, opening the door further. “Quoting an old book I loved,” I offered as I leaned against the doorframe.
The queen hovered near my balcony but didn’t land.I came to apologize for earlier.
My forehead creased. “For what?”
I understand if you do not wish me to come near your queen. With what happened earlier in the day.
My head went back. “What?”
