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Oh, God. But I was going to do this. I was going to Gales again.
Splinters of ice seeped into my heart, making it painful and heavy in my chest, and with each beat, it was telling me to back away. To run. That nothing good would come of me stepping onto that tile.
But the rest of my guards—Bronio, Wilken, and Nex—were already there. Their feet touched the tile, I knew there was no turning back now. I was moving too slow to stop it.
They disappeared.
Too late. It was too late.
Taslin came back. “It’s safe. Ziriel has been alerted of our arrival. Time to come, princess.”
And then it was as if the slow, hard, icy grip of fear pounding into my heart was suddenly gone and I couldn’t feel anything. I was floating somewhere above my body and all I could hear was my breath in my ears. The only thing keeping me grounded was the feeling of Van’s hand gripping mine.
I glanced at him. We’d been through a lot together. Good and bad. Things that made me feel invincible and things that made me feel like I’d never be able to pick myself up off the floor. But he was the one thing that had been constant in my life since I was twelve.
He gave me a we-can-do-this nod.
I gripped Van’s hand hard and prayed he was right.
We stepped onto the tile as one.
I closed my eyes and tried to block out the dropping sensation—as if I was falling—and then it was over. Traveling through the gateway wasn’t nearly as disorienting as when I traveled with Van, but still unsettling. I took a moment to catch my breath before opening my eyes.
Everything sped back up. The dread was still there, but I had to let it go. I couldn’t let it control me. The fact that the facade had slipped at all was bad, but the second I saw Ziriel standing in front of me, it slammed into place firm and fast. His smile was there, but the hint of the red ring around his pupils was enough to tell me he wasn’t happy. Not at all.
At least that made two of us.
The walls of the room looked like they were made from swirling sand, pushed back by an invisible dome around us. The only thing that broke the illusion were the torches hovering an inch from the wall spaced evenly around the circular room. The flames weren’t flickering or sputtering out like they should’ve been if the wind were that violent. Only the smallest breeze floated through the middle of th
e room, smelling of sage and lavender—a signature of Gales, meant to soothe and cleanse anyone who entered their realm. I wished it worked on me, but I’d seen too much here to be soothed by something so simple, and I wasn’t sure there was enough sage to cleanse me after all my years of spying and bargaining, not to mention the killing.
A great boulder of a door blocked the exit, and I knew it wasn’t going to move until Ziriel decided I could be trusted.
“I didn’t expect to ever see you again,” he said after a long moment.
I laughed as if I didn’t hate being here. “I didn’t expect your son to bid for my hand in marriage.”
“The boy always has had an eye on you. Especially after he saw you take down three of our court in under ten seconds.”
“I learned from the best.” I gave Van a smile. He stood there, calmly watching us talk. He wasn’t one to really speak up, and he wasn’t flashy with his power. Usually that worked out well, but today I needed to lean on his strength. “He was a god, you know.” It was always good to remind people what they were up against, and I knew it wouldn’t bother Van at all.
“Yes, well…” Ziriel trailed off.
There wasn’t much he could say to top that, which was fun. Point to me.
“I hope you know the rule stands. I didn’t want to let you or Van come back. Not after last time.” He stepped toward me. “But my son begged me, and I am nothing if not a doting father.”
The image of Ziriel as doting? Now that was funny. I gave him a haughty grin. “Didn’t you almost kill him the last time I was here?”
He scoffed and waved his hand through the air. “Water under the bridge.”
I raised my chin slightly, a small challenge to him. “And is our water also under that bridge?”
“No.” His voice grew deep and dark. If he was anyone else, I would’ve pushed him farther, but Ziriel was dangerous and not a man to threaten. Especially in his own court.
Bronio moved to get between us, but I shook my head, telling him to back down.
