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Finally, I straightened. “You can walk.”
“Great. Where?”
“Why are you looking at me? You’re a dragon royal. You’ve got all the answers, don’t you?”
Tal’s lips twisted in a bitter smile. “Not anymore.”
I could feel his pain. He loved Honor but he was afraid he disappointed her by not remembering. He had glimpses of their shared past through her eyes, but in a way that was worse. He could feel, with each memory, how much she wanted every bit of him back.
Then he gasped as if he could feel her, and I could feel her warm, comforting presence through his mind too.
But there were no words. It seemed as if they couldn’t speak through the bond, and I wondered if I could. Our magic seemed muted. Would the ability to sense each other fade completely?
I straightened. “Good luck, Royal.”
He tried to get to his feet, staggered. When I grabbed his shoulder to steady him, our eyes met.
“Good luck, Zehr,” he said.
Hearing my name from him surprised me.
I nodded and stepped back into the shadows. Fell away to pieces. Looked for the dark, spicy energy that marked Kallus’s magic.
I materialized in the shadows outside Kallus’s tent.
Kallus had a grand tent, a virtual palace made of black canvas erected on the main road that led toward Rylow. Golden light glowed from the cracks in the canvas. Kallus was so arrogant; he thought no one could harm him here.
Then, as I slid inside, I understood why.
Kallus had every light burning inside, illuminating every square inch, so there were no shadows to hide in. He thought Honor and I might find him.
In which case… he didn’t know we’d all but lost our magic.
My mind raced, considering the options. There was no one in the antechamber. But I had no way of escaping quickly if I were caught. My usual sense of self preservation warred with the desire to discover Kallus’s next move.
The sound of a newborn’s bleating cry raised the hair on the back of my neck. Fuck, Kallus had found himself a noble newborn.
There was a desperate wail as a woman's voice pleaded with Kallus.
I concealed myself as best I could, feeling deeply uncomfortable in the light. I crept to peer through the canvas.
“Your Lord Joachim offered you to me,” Kallus said. “He's dead now, but that's no reason to break an agreement, is it?”
I studied her, remembering her from Honor’s thoughts. She’d said something vile about Danen only using Honor as a substitute daughter. It was strange to see her here, looking older and desperate when she had been so smug.
Honor would want me to save her, wouldn’t she? The thought annoyed me. Honor was too good for such a nasty world. But there was the baby to consider… and the baby would need a mother.
Kallus winced. “A little shrill, my dear. At any rate, your child will survive. In a way. That's what matters, isn't it?”
Before I could react, he drew his blade across her throat. Her blood sprayed over both of them, freckled the face of her screaming infant.
Kallus’s voice lifted, summoning Ebba.
Well. The others who summoned Ebba had used objects, like the clay baby, but apparently Kallus was old school.
“What do you want?” Ebba's eerie voice seemed to come from everywhere, like the mist that had filled the room.
“To make a deal, of course. You call off the assassination. I give you what you want the most.”
