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She pulled on a thick rope and the sail dropped to the floor of the ship. “Now!”
With every last bit of energy I had I called a final gust through my body and threw it against the large green sail. It was barely more than a breeze, but it pushed us forward just as a canon boomed. Splintered wood flew from the stern of the ship. Nikolai ran to assess the damage.
“It’s high along the hull!” He turned with a smile so wide I thought his cheeks would tear. “We can repair it before it poses a problem.”
Safe. He was saying we were safe.
The Shades.
My family.
That was the last thing I thought before I collapsed into nothingness and plummeted to the deck.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
THE SCENT OF WINEfilled my nostrils before I opened my eyes. My throat burned instantly, diminishing only slightly when I realized I was in a room I’d never been in before. The floor was a perfectly polished white stone with thin threads of gold, violet, and silver fanning out in all directions. A pool of burgundy liquid coated the floor and opened door. It looked like someone had thrown their goblet and stormed down the stairs.
I glanced up the wall in front of me. It was painted with a beautiful depiction of an Elder birch. Along the topmost leaves were three frames painted amongst the red. I recognized the first immediately. Aemon’s proud face stared down at me with his large crown settled along his thick brow. Beside him was a scorch mark slightly smaller than his own portrait.
My stomach hardened.
Killian had told me his father had burned his mother’s face off the wall. My gaze dropped to the portraits below. A young Killian sat sullen and almost fearful in his portrait. His large jade eyes looked up at the painter under curls so blond they were almost white. Next to him was Damien, his grin just as crooked as the gold circlet around his head.
My heart hammered against my chest as I pushed myself from the floor. I was in the king’s chambers. The same chambers Killian had described to me. The same ones his brother slept in now.
I turned around, grabbing my dagger from my belt even though I knew this was a dream. A grand bed lay on a golden dais in the middle of the circular room. But apart from the small patch of wall near the door, the rest of the walls were made of glass.
Not just any glass—Elven glass.
It magnified everything in its view a hundredfold. I walked toward the right side of the room and a frigid wave slowly crawled down my spine. The Order was visible from the window, though it was shrouded by the smoke from the burning port.
Damien could watch anything that happened on those grounds from his window. I swallowed my fear and reminded myself that Riven’s shadows had cloaked our movements. And even magnified, Vrail and I would have appeared as nothing more than little ants along the grounds.
Damien wouldn’t have known what we were doing even if he had been watching us.
My heart stilled. This was Damien’s room, which meant it was Damien’s mind. I spun around to see Damien’s cold, predatory stare across the room. I instantly tugged at my sleeve that had bunched around my elbow but Damien’s good eye didn’t notice Brenna’s name down my arm.
I glanced at Feron’s ring on my finger and relief bloomed in my chest. I had underestimated Damien’s skills of observation before, but I would not make that mistake again. I stood tall knowing he would not be able to see any of the names written on my skin or the magic flaring in my silver eyes.
Damien’s eye patch shifted as his good eye narrowed. “Are you here to relish in yoursmallvictory?”
Damien stalked toward me. He lifted his hand and for a moment I thought he was going to grab my throat, but instead he placed it on the back of the golden chair beside the window. His neck flexed as he observed the sight below.
“I wouldn’t call that a small victory.”
Damien lifted his chin. His tunic was loose and unbuttoned in the same disheveled way he’d kept it when he was prince.
Damien hadn’t planned this dream.
My muscles tensed as I spotted the thin line around Damien’s neck. It was faint like a scar, barely noticeable in the oil lamps that lit the room, but I recognized it for what it was. Gwyn had a similar line around her ankle. The physical proof of a magical bond.
Is that how Damien was always able to find me in my dreams? Had he created some kind of connection that drew him in every time I went to sleep?
Damien drummed his fingers along the back of his chair. His words were cold, unfeeling, but I could see the rage burning in the amber ring of his eye. “You did me the service of killing whichever guard let it slip that the Shades were still alive.”
I turned toward the window so Damien wouldn’t see the victory in my face. If he believed we had come for the Shades, then he didn’t know about the seals. Our plan was still safe.
“That was an impressive display of water magic.” Damien stepped in front of the chair with his hands behind his back but did not sit. “Very impressive considering the Fae gifts faded some time ago.”
