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MAREINA
Miroslav appeared the moment I warded the tunnel entrance to the door again. Malekai gave him a brief nod of acknowledgement. “Miroslav.”
“General.”
Vesper studied him warily as his gaze briefly met hers. Neither spoke, but I sensed something was exchanged silently between them. He gave me a tight smile that had a tendril of anxiety snaking through me. Miroslav didn’t give tight smiles. His expressions ranged from stoic tostoic. So, to see something like a flicker of unease wasdeeplyalarming.
“How’s Zurie?” I asked, eager to skip pleasantries.
“Not dead yet,” Miroslav replied flatly, “But if you mean suspicious, then no. She’s had her attention consumed by an unexpected visitor.”
“Unexpected? You didn’t foresee said visitor?”
It was a genuine question. Nothing ever seemed to beunexpectedfor Miroslav.
He piqued a brow at me. “I’m not omniscient, Mareina… There are always outside factors that evade me no matter how thoroughly I search.”
“And who exactly is this visitor?” Malekai asked before I could.
“The heir to Ishra’s throne, Thalia. Her father’s health is waning. She’ll soon be Queen and came seeking to ally with Zurie.”
My brows leapt.Well, that certainly wouldn’t be happening.
I knew next to nothing about Ishra other than it was shrouded in a dense fog that caused madness if anyone attempted to enter with ill intent. Though it was known for its remarkable architecture from what I’d seen depicted in history books that were far out of date. I only knew of its King, Nour Attía, who was said to be the descendent of a demiurge and was a rather benevolent male on top of it. As far as I knew, their Kingdom hadn’t seen war in thousands of years.
We could only hope that his daughter would be willing to continue that.
“Will she be a problem?”
Miroslav looked thoughtful. “I’m not entirely sure. When I try to get past her mind’s barrier, I’m met with the mental equivalent of that fog surrounding their continent. This also occurs when I try to peer into her past and potential future. She’s… powerful.”
Malekai and I exchanged a look.
“Well, let’s try to deal with Zurie discreetly as planned and… See if we can ally with her.”
Without further delay, Vesper shifted into Nakoa’s form in seconds. I almost stumbled backwards as I took him -her -in. At my slack-jawed reaction, she gave me a wink.
Miroslav cleared his throat. “You’ll need to display his wings and tail since his magic wouldn’t keep them glamoured after death.”
“Right…”
An enormous pair of dark umber wings sprouted from her back, along with Nakoa’s long, thick tail. Vesper, bearing Nakoa’s face, gave me a sultry grin as if sheknewas she caught me staring at the appendage and wagged it.
“How’s this?” She asked, turning to model his wings and tail.
“Accurate,” I said flatly.
I turned willing a ward into place for our horses that would remain here until we finished. Vesper mounted Chihiro and then groaned as she folded over, laying over his side.
“I’m going to cover you, alright?”
Vesper sighed, resigning herself to what was about to happen. “Yep.”
With a small amount of guilt, I willed the same canvas I used on every occasion that required a corpse to remain undiscovered over her body, tying off each end with rope.
My heartbeat kicked up a notch at whatever fate we would soon discover lying ahead of us.
Malekai sidled up at me, curling his arm around my waist and kissing the top of my head. “I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
