Chapter 17
GARRICK
Two decades, and this cursed castle had not changed one bit. Whether it was the ice or the fae resistance to change rooted in their immortality, Balar Shan was just as fetid and politically twisted as ever. I’d barely woken up before it hit me with the reminder.
My mother was in the same room she’d always occupied.
She was fine. I could not convince her to leave.
So, not really fine. Edmund was the commander of the guard now.
Bold, given that he was a fraction of the age of those he oversaw.
But he was the Prince of Balar Shan, so if he wanted something, the courtiers would cut each other down for the opportunity to give it to him.
Alize still thought she was smarter than everyone in the room.
Margeaux still walked right by me and pretended I was not there, an affect she’d adopted when I graduated from her daily tutoring sessions.
But one thing had changed everything. One person. Koryn.
I’d forced myself to stay away all morning, to give her privacy to come to terms with our new situation.
We’d faced the Seven Gates together, and we’d face the Court of Lies together as well.
Even if she wanted to shove one of her ice daggers into my side, I’d remain at hers.
Balar Shan was not the real danger. It was a danger—an unnecessary one.
But no one walked away from the Seven Gates, not forever.
Whatever blood spells the head witch had wrought, it would not last forever.
The gods were not merciful. Especially not the one who’d claimed my Lifebind.
It did not even occur to me to knock at the door that had belonged to me for half of my life. It should have. Wasn’t the reason I’d left to give Koryn privacy? But I wanted to exist in a world where there were no doors between us, real or imagined.
So I opened the damned door without knocking and got what I deserved waiting on the other side.
Koryn was so beautiful she stole the air from my chest, leaving only my ensnared heart struggling to beat at the sight of her.
Her hair was a mess of unbrushed, dark waves around her shoulders, the same way it looked after a night spent wrapped in my arms. She’d found the clothes I left for her.
There was no leather in sight; I hadn’t been able to recover her own clothing yet.
But the deep violet crushed velvet gown suited her.
It brought out the color in her cheeks and enhanced the lighter brown highlights in her hair.
It hugged every curve of her body, from her wide hips to the rolls of soft skin above them, shown off by her cross-legged position on the bed.
On my bed.
With her eyes closed and an expression of soft vulnerability lacing her features.
They snapped open at my entrance. For one second, I was privy to the emotions in her rich brown eyes. Relief, maybe even affection. Then she blinked, and they were gone. Hidden away, because I was not worthy. Because I’d hurt her.
Never again.
That started with protecting her from the god of death and darkness who had his hands wrapped around her wrists.
“You,” I growled, like the animal I was at my core. I might shift into a raven, but the creature had a taste for blood stronger than any predator.
“Good morning, halfling,” the Dark God said in that dark velvet voice, as soft as the fabric of Koryn’s gown, which he swiped a thumb over as he held my gaze.
My entire body was rigid. Whether it was Koryn’s presence, the fact that they were still touching, or this damned room in this damned palace, I could not get my body or my voice to comply with my will.
“Why are you here?” The words were too thick with emotion.
“I came to teach our bonded to control her power.” He swept his tongue over his lower lip in time with his thumb across Koryn’s wrist. “You will not always be at her side to offer a calming hand.”
Koryn jerked her hands free of his grip, telltale whorls of sparkling frost visible on the backs of her hands. She slid off the bed, crossing her arms over her chest and dividing her glare between the two of us.
Satisfaction bloomed in my chest. “Seems like it is going well.”
“Fuck you both,” Koryn said vehemently.
The Dark God slid to his feet as well, the unnatural grace and smoothness of his movements betraying his otherworldly origin. Not that I was in any danger of forgetting.
“An engaging proposal,” he said, flicking his blue-black eyes between Koryn and me. “But I have other places to be—and so do you.”
My hand itched for the blade strapped to my belt, though I doubted it would have any lasting effect on him. How did one even kill a god? “Have you ever said something directly in your life?”
His eyes slid to my waist, to the blade sheathed there.
He could not read my mind, I told myself.
Among the rare mind gifts the fae possessed, that was not among them.
And the other gods we’d encountered had not been able to see our thoughts, either.
If they had, the Seven Gates would have gone very differently.
“You cannot conceptualize the life of a god, immortal though you might be.”
“Another non-answer.” I was tired of talking to him.
Every word out of his mouth was a manipulation.
And while the Seven Gates were the ultimate danger, Balar Shan would try to kill Koryn, too.
The king could not help but be interested in her, the witch that had caused so much trouble, who came to his court with a creature of legend at her side.
A dragon who was conspicuously missing. “Where is Isanara?”
Koryn’s eyes darted to the window. “Finding food. She doesn’t trust this place.”
“Good. Neither should you.” I realized how condescending it sounded, but I did not care. “Nor him—why does he do that?”
In the single second that I’d looked away, the same moment that Koryn had glanced at the window, the Dark God had gone. Disappeared. Leaving behind only the chaos that his presence always created.
“Probably because he knows you hate it,” Koryn sighed. She dropped her arms from across her body, but her hands were curled into fists by the time they reached her sides. Her eyes went slightly unfocused, the way they often were when she conversed with Isanara in her mind.
Isanara must not have gone far. That was a bit of a surprise; I’d have wagered that the fae would have stripped all the surrounding lands of their precious ores.
“We have to go,” Koryn said suddenly.
Her eyes were not unfocused now. They were sharp, bright with moisture, not quite tears. I had no idea what had caused the sudden shift, but if she wanted to leave, then it was decided.
Energy flooded my body, sharpening my already honed senses.
I carried everything of necessity on my person at all times.
Koryn had very little. We’d have to leave her clothing and the cloak I’d given her in the forest, but they weren’t worth the time it would take to search for them. I would need every precious minute.
“Give me an hour to convince my mother.” It was a request. If Koryn denied it—I couldn’t let my thoughts go there, even for a fraction of a second.
Koryn shook her head violently, dark hair flying. “Not that—” She stilled, then reached out for the nearest bedpost as a wave of something swept through her. “We have to go,” she croaked.
I almost reached for her. But before I could, she’d regained herself and maneuvered around me. She dashed out of the room, and I had no choice but to follow. I’d follow Koryn anywhere.
“Where are we going?”
Not out of Balar Shan, that much was clear.
I’d misunderstood her. I hated the relief that spread through my shoulders.
I did not know how I would have convinced my mother, not after the argument we had this morning.
My bargain with the king was fulfilled after the Memory Gate.
She was free to leave for the first time in twenty years. But she refused.
Koryn half-jogged through the twisting corridors of Balar Shan. Despite her speed, her breathing was still steady. All those months of driving her mercilessly through the mountains had done their job. She was more independent than ever.
“How the hell should I know? You tell me. You’re the one who grew up in this place?
” She stopped again, reaching out for a wall as another wave of intensity hit her.
“I… it’s a feeling. Power. You remember the faerie ring and how you recognized the magic?
It is like that. I can feel power being used. A lot of it.”
It was a lot of information, and she gave it to me freely.
I hadn’t pried it out of her. Maybe she only told me because I was the one who’d grown up here, or because of the indelible connection of the Lifebind.
But it was a connection, and I would not squander a single thing she gave me, not this time.
We weren’t following the spiral directly. We’d walk along the curve for a few yards, then Koryn would turn abruptly along one of the inner spokes. We were going down. The possibilities narrowed with every step.
I sifted through my memories of the Balar Shan.
I’d never spent much time in these parts, but I’d mapped them as a matter of survival.
“Lower-ranked nobility have the inner rooms, the ones without windows. A few more floors down are the servants, and then the dungeons. There are older suites of rooms at the very center of the castle, below the presence chamber.”
Koryn gave no sign that she heard me. She just kept going deeper into Balar Shan. Down.
“Is it the talisman? Did he tell you more about what you’re supposed to look for?”
I did not have to specify who I meant.
Loathing stole over Koryn’s features. There was that satisfaction in my chest again. I did not know if it was because she hated him as much as I did, or because I was glad to see that hatred directed at someone other than me.
But maybe I should have been worried. She’d hated me in the beginning, too.