Chapter 49
Under the sudden scrutiny, August slumped deeper into the chair. It took only a moment for the group to put the pieces together.
Gideon shot to his feet. “The aesling’s dead. You said so yourself.”
“I said I shot him in the heart,” Felix replied calmly. “Which I did.”
Lottie appeared beside August, and though her proximity sent a cold chill through him, he felt better knowing she was there.
“You put all these people at risk by bringing him here.” Gideon glared at August, the revulsion painted across his features. “He’s dangerous.”
Felix gave a derisive scoff. “Believe me, he’s not dangerous.”
“He destroyed half a city!”
“Unintentionally. He’s a coward. The worst he’ll do is try to run.”
Lottie folded her arms across her chest. “Your hands are free now. Punch him for me.”
“If Ashcroft finds out he’s here,” the thin man, Benjamin, added, “he’ll burn this city looking for him.”
August wrinkled his nose. “For me?”
“Why would Ashcroft give a damn about him?” Felix asked.
The wrinkles on Benjamin’s face deepened as he frowned. “The boy’s magic is unprecedented and clearly powerful.”
Felix groaned and rolled his eyes.
“It toys with the boundary between life and death,” the man continued. “Ashcroft will be dying to get his hands on that.”
“Plus,” Gideon added, “if the crown finds out the aesling’s alive—”
“My name is August.”
“Stay out of this,” Felix and Gideon both barked at once.
August felt like he was back in the castle, his mother and tutors laying out their criticisms of his shortcomings as if he weren’t standing right in front of them.
Frustration boiled over, and he tossed back his hood, glaring at Gideon. “No! I didn’t have to help them find you, and yet I did. If I’d known you’d be such a taesan, I might have kept my damned mouth shut.”
“Helped you find us?” Gideon asked, looking to Felix and Marlow. “How’s that now?”
Neither offered a reply at first, then Felix softly said, “Theo showed him.”
Gideon dropped back into his chair as if the words had knocked the wind out of him. “Oh.”
“How’d it happen?” Felix asked.
Gideon shared a look with the slender, scary girl, then breathed a heavy sigh.
“There were more of us then. Got too sure of ourselves. We went for the ministry building here, but it went sideways fast. They slaughtered eight of ours and hauled off ten more to make a show of their deaths. Theo was one of those.”
August regarded the anchored boy. Theo was young, with knobby limbs and boyish features. He was a child. And they executed him.
“The ministry is trained to deal with groups like theirs,” Lottie said softly. These people hated them, wanted their family erased—yet her voice held only compassion. Sympathy. “They never stood a chance.”
“Especially not with the elixir,” August added. He remembered the ministry that night in the market square using stolen magic.
Gideon’s attention shifted to him. “Speak up, Aesling.”
“There’s no way to take down Ashcroft,” Theo said. His eyes slid over the group. “Please. Tell them to leave. Go back to Bedwyck.”
This was the reason he didn’t respond to the anchored. Delivering messages, passing along their words . . . he didn’t want to deal with any of it. If he started accepting their requests, it would never stop. And they were already relentless.
But ignoring Theo felt wrong.
“Theo says you can’t beat Ashcroft.”
Gideon’s face blanched. “Theo’s here?”
“He wants you to go back to Bedwyck. He’s worried about you.”
“Tell him no need to worry. We’re done fighting.”
Felix’s brow knitted. “You’re giving up? Just like that?”
“Just like that?” Gideon echoed bitterly. “Most of us are dead!”
“We’ve lost too much, Felix,” the girl added. “Our people, a quarter of the ones left aren’t even wielders.”
August had assumed they all were. He hadn’t considered that there were nonwielders fighting by their side.
“What about the tear?” asked Felix. “It won’t stop. Fallowmoor will fall. Then it’ll come for Haverglen.”
“If it does spread this far, we’ll go,” Gideon offered. “Start over again somewhere else.”
“I don’t remember you being a coward,” Felix said.
The rest of the group fell eerily silent, and the tension made the air feel as tangible as the veil.
Gideon’s expression hardened as he leaned forward, hands pressed flat on the table.
“I was forced to fight for this country, saw my closest friends die in a war they never wanted for leaders who never wanted them. I’ve done my part.
You might think me a coward, but fear’s not the thing, Felix. I’m just tired.”
Felix shook his head but said nothing.
“You can stay here tonight,” said Gideon. “But come morning, you need to be gone. Let Fallowmoor go to ruin and run the other way. There’s nothing there worth the fight.”
Felix’s mouth twitched, something dark sparking in his eyes. He leaned back in his chair and lifted his chin just a fraction. “See, now that’s just not true.”
Gideon gave him a narrowed look. “You’re not still chasing that, are you?”
August watched them curiously.
What were they talking about? He was clearly missing something. Was there another reason they were going back?
“Closing the tear’s only the beginning,” said Felix.
But Gideon shot back without missing a beat. “The ministry’s got the elixir. We’ve no chance of getting near the aesran. Mad we were to ever think we could.”
“I told you once,” Felix said with a shrug. “I won’t stop until the crown’s mine.”
Lottie stared at him, horrified. “Unbelievable,” she muttered.
August tilted his head, studying Felix. Was it, though?
Felix wanting to rule wasn’t shocking. The thought fit neatly into place, like a missing puzzle piece. Of course he wanted the crown. Why settle for mending the tear and destroying the elixir when he could reshape the whole country?
He was still fighting for his people, still willing to risk everything. And August had no doubt he’d tear down anyone or anything that stood in his way.
An unwelcome flicker of admiration stirred.
He shook it off, scowling. What is wrong with you?
“You need to stop him,” Lottie said. She stepped into August’s view and waited to have his full attention. “I know you have no love for Mother, but Felix is dangerous. You know this. He’ll hurt people. He cannot have the crown.”
His eyes slid past her to Felix.
Gideon leaned forward, face taut, murmuring something to Felix too low to hear. Likely still trying to talk him out of it. But Felix’s confidence didn’t waver. He rolled his eyes and uttered a reply. Then his gaze drifted past Gideon, clearly done listening, and landed on August.
They regarded each other for a long moment as the conversations continued around them.
How did no one else notice the sudden, intense humming in the air?
A crease touched Felix’s brow, subtle and fleeting. August tried to decipher the expression but didn’t have the chance before Gideon pushed back his chair. The wooden legs scraped against the stone floor and yanked their attention back.
“Let’s get you fed and rested,” Gideon said, sounding tired. “You need to be out of here before the sun rises.”