Chapter 32
Chapter
Thirty-Two
EVIE
“ T hat’s…disturbing.” I grimaced at Dax’s face in the portal. “Wouldn’t there be guts everywhere?”
His and Dara’s parents had been renowned for the creative safety measures they had on their secret family island. Those unlucky enough to trespass were never found again.
Dax had agreed to give me some “gardening” tips, but I wasn’t expecting this much gore.
“That’s the point. Whoever tries to invade a Protectorate house has it coming.” Dax grinned from ear to ear and took another sip of his drink. Behind him, Allie frowned disapprovingly. “It’s good for fertilizing, too.”
“Noted.” I scribbled down big spikes on my list. I was already wary of giving it to Owyn–then again, he’d only agreed to stay here with Anya as long as I employed him to build my garden. “And the chains?”
“In case they somehow manage to get past the spikes.” Dax winked. “You do everything I told you and no kidnappers will get their hands on you ever again. Though we should keep at least one of them alive for questioning.”
Allie rolled her eyes in the background. “If she really does everything you’ve told her, there won’t be enough of them left to identify, let alone interrogate.”
“I’m thorough, dear cousin,” Dax said with that charisma of his that had charmed a thousand and one hearts all over Malhaven.
“Too thorough at times,” Allie said.
“Hey, that troll was about to decapitate you. I did what I had to do.”
“I had my arrow pointed straight toward his left eye, you brute!”
“He was about to clamp his jaws on your neck, princess.”
“So.” I cleared my throat. “Living together is working out great, I see.”
They both grumbled under their breath. A stab of pain pierced my chest for the briefest moment and, for once, it wasn’t because of him . I envied the easiness of Dax and Allie’s relationship, how they could joke around without taking offense, knowing the other’s limits so naturally. It was the kind of relationship only growing up together could create, and I’d missed it all.
“I’m keeping her company until tall, blond, and brooding comes back from the war.” He sent me a withering, solemn look. Dax was the alluring mask he wore. Daxon was the calculated, intelligent man behind it, and he only came out when the situation was dire. This time, it was to send a message–nobody outside the family could know exactly why he was staying with Allie right now. “Officially, of course.”
“Come off it.” Allie scoffed, playing along in case someone was listening. “You’re hiding in my castle to avoid your own fiancee. But you’re also doing a good job at everything else. Officially.”
“Oh, so it’s my castle now?” Dax asked, avoiding the subject of The Viper, like he always did. “Wonder what your hulking boyfriend would say about that.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
Dax carelessly swirled the amber liquid in his glass. “Boyfriend, man of your dreams, pain in your rib. Take your pick.”
“You two, quit it,” I interjected. The two of them could keep this up forever if left to their own devices.
“What’s gotten into you?” Dax asked.
“Nothing,” I grumbled.
Except for the fact that the man who broke my heart told me he loved me and I didn’t say anything back before he was pulled out of the dream because of a surprise attack from the Serpents. Did I mention he’s fighting for his life?
I couldn’t dwell on that too much or I’d lose my mind, and I had a city to defend.
I narrowed my eyes at the library doors.
Adara should have been here by now.
“Did you think about what I asked you?” I said.
“Grandpa Constantine would be horrified we’re even discussing this,” Allie said. “There aren’t any First Family bastards roaming around. I never heard any rumors, either. Grandpa didn’t even look at another woman after he met grandmama and uncle Maksim never wanted kids.”
“He still took care of me and Dara, though.” Dax sighed wistfully. “Uncle Alaric was honestly too pure for this world, your parents fucked off in the mountains, mine were too broken to even stand themselves, let alone anyone else, and Silas…”
“Honestly, we’re still surprised he got off his lazy ass for long enough to create Clara.” Allie sneered. “None of us gave birth and this one swears he didn’t leave any mini-Daxs around Malhaven.”
He raised his glass. “I’m very cautious in my hedonism.”
“Then who’s creating the veil on the battlefield?” I asked.
Allie sighed. “I’m as concerned as you about this force field. But we need to be looking elsewhere. The truth is nobody in the Protectorate could do what your precious prince–”
“And your lovely Commander,” Dax sing-songed.
“–said is happening with the Serpent soldiers. One Protectorate member could never cast their magic out to protect hundreds of soldiers and massive snakes at one time.”
Dax nodded. “One hundred members couldn’t do it. They’d need a kind of amplifier this world has never seen. Not even Dara could make runes that powerful. It’s just not how our magic works.”
I set my pen down and gulped. “Why?”
I felt so stupid for asking, but even after using my power to char those Serpent soldiers and to protect Owyn and Anya on the night of the fire, I still didn’t know.
Instead of laughing at me, Allie and Dax scooted closer to the palaver portal.
“Our magic is tied to our wants and motivations,” Allie began slowly, in that same calm voice she used in our training. “With Protectorate powers, if we will it strong enough, we can make it a reality.”
“Every Clan’s magic needs an internal and an external source of energy,” Dax continued. “It always– always –demands a price. It saps every caster of energy, which is why it drains us so quickly. Then we have the external energy we can mold, which is different for every Clan. Those bastards from the Blood Brotherhood deal with blood.”
“The Morgana Clan deals with the body, but they also need energy from the objects they use. A branch to change hair color, a rose to make lips plumper,” Allie said. “Rumors say they desiccated an entire flower field on the day of their queen’s crowning ceremony.”
“Wonder what they’d have to do to give her a personality, too. Awful woman.” Dax licked his teeth. “Better than her leech of a father, though.”
“Everything has energy, from the rocks around us, to the stars above. It floats in the air and flows in the river,” Allie said. “Even before Dria Vegheara, our ancestors had to get by with scraps–of magic, of supplies, everything–and our own stubbornness to survive. Our magic evolved past a specific external force, we use that endless energy Malhaven has to give and mold it with our words.”
I frowned. “But wouldn’t that make our magic unlimited?”
“The fates don’t work that way.” Dax gave a mocking smile. “We’re more tied to our internal energy than other Clans, so that we wouldn’t sap everything in our path. We take as much from us as we take from the world. The limit is how much our body can take.”
“Once we exhaust our own energy, we can’t take anymore from outside of us,” Allie said.
“Mainly because we’re dead by then,” Dax said.
“So, you see, nobody from the Protectorate could cast a protective veil over hundreds of soldiers,” she said.
It made a weird sort of sense. I only managed to cast a protective veil over Owyn, Anya, and myself by focusing it on the upper part of our bodies, letting our legs take the brunt of the fire. I could walk without crutches or salve now, but I still couldn’t move either of my little toes and my feet still felt raw.
“But…if someone had the energy from hundreds of other people, they could cast it, right?” I asked.
Allie tilted her head. “Yes, but there is no way to channel so much energy. Even if it were somehow possible, someone would have noticed the Protectorate Clan camped out on the battlefield.”
“You cast a protective spell on me when I arrived in Phoenix Peak,” I said.
“Yes, and I still bear the marks to prove it.” Allie raised her right hand; the veins stuck out against her skin, tinted blue. “We also share blood. It’s more efficient that way. And the stronger your will, the less energy we need. As Ryker likes to remind me, I am the definition of obstinate. But we are limited. Magic always has a price, Evie.”
“It does.” I tapped my chest, feeling that small, swirling pocket of power inside of me. “Good thing we can use some energy from outside of us.”
“It’s that Vegheara blood,” Dax said. “It’s stubborn enough to mold the world itself.”
The conversation ended as rushed steps resounded outside my library door. I barely had enough time to say my goodbyes and turn before Adara barged in, slamming the door behind her. From the other side, I heard Anya’s small sigh.
“Well?” I jumped out of my chair, leaning too much of my weight on the still-tender balls of my feet. Pain instantly spiked through me and I held onto the table for balance.
Adara leaned heavily against the door, as if afraid Anya might tear it down with her little fists. “No decree.”
“Godsdammit.” I punched the wood like it was to blame. “Why?”
“All Cyndra told me was that Zavoya talked about the rations with the advisors and they convinced her they’ll handle things and that she shouldn’t trouble herself with a decree. Cyndra also implied that you asking again might not be the best idea.”
“Great. Now the advisors know I’ve been trying to persuade the queen to help in the war efforts.” Gods forbid she and Eldryan actually did something useful with themselves.
“Don’t blame yourself, you had to try,” Adara said.
“Is that sympathy I hear?”
“You need to clean your ears better.” Adara cleared her throat. “But we do need an idea. The reserves in the granaries are dwindling. It’s not a problem yet…”
“But it will be one soon.” I gnashed my teeth. “We need supplies. A lot of them and fast.”
“Even if you had the gold for it, with the war still going, the only way is by ship. The Port Master will not help you.”
“No, he’d most likely sabotage any delivery.” I sucked in a breath. Delivery . “How friendly are you with The Postman?”
The thought of him still unsettled me as much as the day he’d appeared from that mist, but we were running out of options.
“Not that friendly. I don’t know how his powers work, but I doubt he could carry such a large shipment by himself. His prices are steep and he’s best used for subterfuge and stealth, not saving.”
“So not The Postman.”
“Not for this.”
“If Phoenix Peak won’t help, we’ll just have to do it ourselves.” I exhaled loudly, mind racing. “Have Goose make a list of the bare essentials we’d need to survive for a whole month in this house. We’ll take the rest into the Capital.”
“Very well,” Adara said. “It’s also my duty to inform you this is only a patch, not a solution.”
“I know,” I said forcefully. “I just need more time to think.”
Of a plan Banu and Valuta couldn’t tamper with. By denying rations in Phoenix Peak, they obviously didn’t care what happened to the civilians. Starving, desperate people were easier to control, and it wasn’t like any of the Sages were in a hurry to stop them, least of all the Port Master, who must have been profiting hand over fist with his shipments.
“What did you find out about Petrylla?” I asked.
Adara grimaced. “She claims to be some long-lost daughter of a lord nobody’s heard of, but people swear she looks like a former barmaid from the port. Girderall wanted a pretty wife who could give him an heir, she wanted an easy life. Now they are happily wed and she spends every day walking around main street in a new dress and buying trinkets nobody needs. She does seem to care about the baby, though.”
“Every day?”
“Like clockwork. She’s everything the nasty rumors claim you are. A gold-digging, insipid lost daughter who craves attention.”
Loryk also thought I was a murderer.
Be gone.
I rolled my head, trying to ease some of the tension in my shoulders. “Life would have been easier if I were just that.”
“Careful what you wish for. Rumors are powerful.”
I stilled.
They could be very powerful.
Banu and Valuta weren’t the only ones who could use them.
“You said Petrylla goes out every day?”
Adara raised her brows at me. “You really need to clean your ears better.”
I pushed myself away from the table and marched toward the doors, staggering more than I would have liked. I ignored the pain once more.
“I have an idea,” I said.
“Fantastic. Let’s hurry before that little pest comes back and corners me again.”
“Adara, don’t call Anya a pest.”
“She’s too curious. I never knew there were so many questions in the world.”
“Admit it, you like her,” I teased. The tension between us was slowly thawing, though there still was a trace of mistrust that lingered.
Another thing that shitty wedding had wrecked.
Adara remained silent, but her lips twisted in the smallest smile, which she tried to play off as a sneer.
“Besides,” I said. “I’m pretty sure you can take her.”
“This isn’t a joke. She follows me. Constantly.”
“She likes you. And, unlike someone else, she isn’t afraid to show it.” I walked past her and opened the door, making sure the coast was clear. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
I grinned at her over my shoulder. “To break some more Blood Brotherhood rules.”