8 PRISCA
“You.” I’d only made it one step into the doorway before freezing like a rabbit.
The woman squared her shoulders, holding my stare. She wasn’t wearing her blue gown. Long, dark hair fell over her shoulders. No diadem held back her hair. But I would have recognized her anywhere.
I stared. And stared some more.
The last time I’d seen her, I was trembling, pressed up against Lorian in the hidden cavern beneath Regner’s bedroom. I’d lost my grip on my power, and we’d been forced to hide. Terror had flooded my body when she’d nonchalantly walked into the cavern, stolen one of the empty oceartus stones, and strolled out.
Every hair on my body stood up. Lorian responded to my terror instantly, shoving me behind him.
“I mean you no harm.”
“You’re Regner’s High Priestess. Forgive us if we choose not to trust you,” I said. Since she’d made no threatening moves toward us, and I felt faintly ridiculous, I elbowed my way past Lorian. Daharak leaned against the nearest wall, watching the scene with clear interest, while Rythos and Galon spread out near the windows.
“You have Jamic,” the priestess said.
“Yes. And he’s safe.”
She gave me a faint smile. “Surely he’s mentioned me.”
He had mentioned a priestess who was kind to him. Madinia had told me of their conversation. And the last time I’d seen this woman, she’d been stealing from Regner.
“That oceartus stone was for him,” she murmured.
“You knew we were there?”
She nodded. “I knew most of what happened in that castle.”
“You’re lucky we didn’t kill you,” Lorian said.
She gave him a look that told him he was a silly little boy. It was a good look. Perhaps I’d try it out myself someday.
Lorian flashed his teeth at her. “Why did you need the oceartus stone?”
“Surely you saw the condition Jamic was in when you took him. Regner allowed me to see him regularly. To check if the amulet was still leaking power into him. When the guards weren’t paying attention, I would use oceartus stones to siphon some of that power away. Otherwise, he would have slowly lost his mind.”
“And what did you do with the power?” Rythos asked from near the window, his eyes narrowed.
She met his gaze coolly. “I walked through the slums and deposited it where it would do the most good. Healers, usually.”
I wanted to think that at least one of Regner’s priestesses was truly good. But from the sneer on Rythos’s face, he was in no danger of believing her.
“As Regner’s pet priestess, you would know just how to use those stones,” he said. “Since you and every witch like you have gladly served him for so long.”
The room went silent. It wasn’t like Rythos to use his words to cut. But Lorian had once told me Rythos hated two creatures more than any other—priestesses and stone hags.
To her credit, the priestess didn’t flush. She merely returned her gaze to me as if he didn’t exist.
I wasn’t surprised by her ability to suppress any emotions she might feel. Working for Regner would have quickly taught her such a skill.
“What is your name?”
“Mona.”
“And how did you end up here? In Gromalia?”
Mona gestured to the table, and I sat with Lorian and Galon. Lorian was guarded but quiet, and I knew he was willing to hear her out. Rythos roamed the room, while Daharak continued leaning against the wall. “Now that is a long story,” Mona said. “And I have a far more important story to tell. But I was born in Eprotha. My mother was a priestess, and her mother before her. My mother was almost shockingly intelligent. She struggled with people— with understanding their emotions and the nuances in their tones. When she couldn’t see the logic in their actions, she was baffled by them.
“And while my mother had been raised to be an incredibly devout woman, she saw…flaws in what we were told.” Mona’s eyes shuttered, and for the first time, she lost some of her cool confidence. “Her mind was so sharp, she could find a way to solve almost any problem. And yet, even with her devotion to the gods, and her commitment to the king she knew as Sabium, she couldn’t make her mind stop unraveling his lies. Slowly, she lost her ability to push the truth aside for the sake of Sabium’s religion. And it began to make her crazed.”
I couldn’t imagine what that must have been like. The confusion turning to realization as she understood what was happening. “I’m sorry,” I said.
Mona met my gaze. “Thank you. As you can imagine, her fury was endless. The thought that she had been used to cause so much harm to others was intolerable. And she turned that sharp mind to revenge. Slowly, she began to help other priestesses question our teachings. She had to be careful. So, so careful. But she learned of those who were fighting back, and she joined them. They gave her a task. Assassinate Regner.”
I sucked in a breath so quickly I choked. “She attempted such a thing?”
She nodded. “Her power was one of sickness. An attack power that would rot an enemy from the inside out. Unfortunately, my mother did not know of Regner’s ward. She did not know of the mirror or the grimoire. Her attempt failed. And she was slaughtered. I was arrested.”
I flinched. “The truth-seekers…”
She gave me a faint smile. “My power allows me to evade the truth-seekers. I lie. I manipulate. I can hide my power from the assessors. I am everything my mother should have been. With her mind, she might have saved our continent.”
“Then how do we know you are not lying to us?” Rythos demanded. I gave him a look, but…he had a point.
Mona sighed. “You don’t. But if you believe one thing, believe this—I would never betray my mother. Before she attempted to kill Regner, she told me everything. And she asked of me only one thing. That I undo the evil Regner had forced his priestesses to commit in his name. I promised her I would succeed where she had not.”
“How did you end up in Regner’s castle?” Galon asked. He was studying her intently, but unlike Rythos, he didn’t radiate suspicion.
“Regner found it amusing to put me in my mother’s place. As far as he knew, I was the most pious. The most loyal. A woman ashamed of her mother’s actions. And so he used me as an example to others. An example…and a warning.”
It sounded like Regner.
“And yet you escaped the castle.”
She nodded. “I escaped the day you attacked. But not before I caught a glimpse of what you did to that sanctuary.” She smiled, and it was as if the sun had appeared from behind a dark cloud. “I knew I couldn’t complete my task from within the castle. By then, I had learned of Regner’s ward. While my mother had never been trusted to know the truth of what happened to the oceartus stones, Regner decided he needed my help. And he likely found it amusing to prove my mother right, all while making it clear that I could never avenge her. But I watched him. And I studied everything. I slipped around the castle and read the books he kept hidden. I overheard secret conversations, and when I realized you were finally going to wage war, I came to King Rekja.”
Rythos pulled out a chair and sat, folding his arms as he watched her. “And what is it you have to tell us?”
To her credit, Mona answered his question as if it hadn’t been dripping with sarcasm.
“You need to kill Regner, this is true. But when you kill him, you will have a task that is just as important.”
Rythos opened his mouth, and she held up a hand. “By now, Jamic has told you of the dark god—and his siblings who planned to strip him of power. You know of the three grimoires he poured his knowledge and power into.”
I nodded.
“You’ve likely been wondering how Regner has transferred his stolen power from the oceartus stones to the people he chooses.”
“Yes,” I said. “At first, we assumed he had some kind of magical device hidden somewhere. Until Jamic told us he used the grimoire to take the human’s power with the oceartus stones.”
“What we need to know is how to return the power to those he stole it from,” Galon said.
“Through the grimoires. But it must be carefully done. So carefully. When the grimoires are used, whoever wields them becomes stronger. But with each use, Calpharos’s memory and power return–-the grimoires acting like a beacon in the night. Soon, the dark god will come for those books. And when he comes…there will be no hope for anyone on this continent.”
The room seemed to tilt around me. I shuddered, and Lorian shifted closer, pulling me into him.
“What is it you want us to do?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
“The grimoire cannot be destroyed. To attempt to do so would only draw the dark god’s attention.” Some of the color drained from Mona’s face.
“Clearly, drawing his attention isn’t a good thing,” Marth muttered.
“And the stolen power?” Daharak asked.
Mona blew out a breath. “No one knows. But when you kill Regner, someone must take the grimoire. Someone you trust not to be seduced by its power. They must take it and hide it where it will never be found. Or this world and every other world is doomed.”
“We’ll see you soon,” Prisca murmured to Daharak as we stood at the city gates. The pirate queen was leaving to return to her ship. Now that she knew for sure Rekja wasn’t about to declare war on us, she would sail south once more. Some part of me still wondered whether allowing the pirate queen to learn so much about the true history of this world— and the hidden power available—would one day prove to be a mistake.
For now, at least, she was bound to work with us.
A man stood at the gates waiting for Daharak. I recognized him as one of her captains—a burly, somber man named Jasick, whom Daharak seemed to trust like no other. When a pigeon landed on his shoulder, he took the message automatically, still watching Daharak.
But when his gaze dropped to the message itself, he jolted as if I’d struck him with my power.
Daharak glanced over and instantly strode his way. He handed her the note, and when she looked up, her eyes were dead.
“What is it?” Prisca demanded.
“Regner must have used the grimoire to hide several flotillas. We’ve been wondering where all his ships are. And they were waiting for us. They attacked without warning. My people didn’t have a chance.”
The blood slowly drained from Prisca’s face.
“How many?”
“They sank eight hundred of my ships.”
Almost half of her fleet. Fuck.
“My people are saving anyone who hasn’t yet drowned. Northin gave the order to deploy the ships still anchored near the fae lands, but…”
“This is a huge loss.” Prisca nodded. “I’m sorry, Daharak.”
I wrapped my arm around Prisca and pulled her close. Her eyes glistened, and I knew she was thinking of the lives lost. The families who would never see their loved ones again.
I was thinking about the war. About the eight hundred ships we desperately needed that were now gone.
“I told my people we needed to fight this war so the barrier could come down,” Daharak said bitterly. “So we could be free. And half of them died for it.”
Prisca looked as if she’d been punched in the gut. With my arm around her, I could feel her hunch forward slightly, protecting herself from an invisible blow. She opened her mouth, but Daharak had already turned and was striding away, Jasick by her side.
“I made that deal with Daharak,” Prisca murmured. “I didn’t tell her we had Jamic, so she made the blood vow under false pretenses.”
“She wanted that barrier down more than anyone, wildcat.” Turning her, I steered her back toward the castle. “If Regner used so much power to hide his own fleet, this was something he had planned for a long, long time. Even without Daharak choosing to ally with you, Regner was likely waiting for his moment. He simply couldn’t afford to have Daharak and her ships as a threat to his own fleet.”
The castle was quiet as I led Prisca back toward our rooms. One of Rekja’s messengers had told us that the king would meet with us again in the morning to discuss the war. Impatience clawed at me. When I recognized one of the maids, I stopped her.
“Do you have parchment?”
She nodded, reaching into the pocket of her long gown. Leaning on the castle wall, I scribbled a quick note to Rekja, letting him know what had happened to Daharak’s pirates. We didn’t have time to waste here.
“Take this to your king. Tell him it’s from me. Thank you,” I said, and she bowed her head, walking off in the direction of what was likely the royal chambers.
I stifled the urge to stalk after her and interrupt Rekja and Thora’s reunion.
But Prisca was silent next to me, staring out of one of the wide windows in the hall, which looked down at the castle gates.
I took her hand. “Come with me, wildcat.”
“I asked Rythos to meet me in our rooms.”
“Is this about the priestess?”
She glanced away, but her chin stuck out in the way I’d once found infuriating and now found adorable. “You don’t think he’ll talk to me?”
My instinct was to nod, but I thought about it. “His experience with the priestess was during a time when we were separated. There’s a chance… I think some part of him may hold me responsible for the circumstances that led to it. I should have been there. But I wasn’t. So he may be able to open up to you in a way he can’t with me.”
I hadn’t thought about that period of our lives for a long time.
So much had gone wrong while we were separated— thanks to Conreth’s punishment. While Marth’s brush with death was some of the worst of it, Rythos had suffered too.
Prisca was studying me. “Do you need to talk?”
“No, wildcat. Talk to Rythos. I need to speak to Galon anyway.” Opening the door to our rooms, I gestured for her to walk inside.
She was still looking at me, and I knew what she was going to ask next. So I followed her inside.
Prisca had been casting glances my way for days and then glowering around the general vicinity, as if warning the gods themselves to stay away.
“Do you still feel like you’re being watched?” she asked.
I hesitated, and Prisca narrowed her eyes. I was the most powerful fae on this continent. I’d spent decades being known as the Bloodthirsty Prince. And yet, when my wildcat gave me that warning look, I had to fight the urge to glance away.
For a moment—just a moment—I could see her as a mother, giving our own children that exact expression. The look that told them they had better tell the truth. The thought of it warmed my chest.
“Yes,” I admitted. “But I don’t want you to worry, wildcat. I’m handling it.”
She ignored that. “Do you think Mona would be able to tell us? If it was one of the gods taking an interest in you?”
I shrugged. “I’ve never been one to trust priestesses. And seeing what they’ve allowed Regner to do to this continent… We may need to take her advice, but I don’t feel the need to tell her of my personal…issues.”
Prisca smirked at my last words, and I pinched her nose.
She laughed, and I caught the sound with my mouth, pressing her against the door.
She opened her mouth, but the door vibrated beneath my arm as someone knocked.
“Do not enter,” I growled, ignoring Rythos’s low laugh. Prisca was already grabbing my hand in an attempt to pull me away.
I sighed, allowing it. Rythos strolled inside, giving me a nod.
“I’ll leave you alone,” I said. I could feel those eyes on me once more, and this time, they felt different. Malevolent.
I wanted them away from Prisca.
She studied my face. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Soon, wildcat,” I promised.
Rythos heaved a sigh. “You’ll be parted for an hour or two at most. This is getting ridiculous.”
Ignoring him, I pulled Prisca to me for another kiss. Perhaps I could throw him out.
She poked a finger into my chest, and I raised my head with a sigh. “Fine.”
Her laugh seemed to caress my skin as I closed the door behind me. Stalking down the empty corridor, I made my way toward Galon’s rooms.
I was instantly surrounded. Jolting away, I drew my sword, sweeping my gaze over my attackers. The men wore maroon and gold, weapons in their hands. They’d clearly already come from a battle, all of them covered in blood.
If they’d taken the castle, they would be aiming for Prisca.
I slashed out with my sword…
And my blade sliced into one of Rekja’s walls.
The air froze in my lungs.
My blade had also cut into the throat of one of the Eprothan soldiers. But where there should have been a man lying dying on the ground, choking on his own blood…
There was nothing.
I was completely, utterly alone.