Chapter 43 #3
‘Right, right. Weak,’ Kyor says. ‘But see, the thing is, when you’ve got really powerful magic on your side, it’s not necessarily a good thing.
’ Shadows fall over us and a dark cloud sweeps in, all of it tinged with that peridot tint I now know is all his.
Thunder rumbles once and then again. ‘Because it’s ever so easy to lose control. ’
There’s a crack like a whip as a lightning bolt strikes the wall. Sparks fly upward, the scent of singed stone filling the air.
Oke and Mattieu move closer to Zara, as if the three of them huddling together will offer any protection at all.
‘Fuck you,’ Zara snarls, teeth gritted. ‘I don’t care that you’re the prince. Right now, you’re just another Rettling in my way.’
‘Is that right?’ he says mildly.
Lightning strikes again. This time, the bolt lands just a couple of feet in front of them.
The flash is blinding and my vision is temporarily stolen. It’s like I’ve been hit by Jonas’s power.
The moment it clears, I’m staring at Kyor again. His jaw is locked tight, so I’d bet Zara has opened up every old wound she could find on him, and yet he’s still walking towards her.
‘Zelle had more powers than your small mind will ever conceive of,’ he grinds out.
Mattieu sends a fireball in his direction only for Kyor to snuff it out with a gust of wind before it even reaches his feet.
‘Let me make one thing clear,’ he says as rain begins to pour over the three of them. ‘You mention Zelle again, you even think about mentioning him … and my lightning bolts won’t miss.’
He sends another down and it strikes just an inch from where Oke grips her sword. Any closer and the metal would have conducted the electricity. She would be dead. How the fuck does he have that much control when he’s drunk? I can’t even imagine what he’d be like sober.
‘You’re all done here,’ he says, looking from them back to me. ‘The ground’s mine today. Tell the other Rettlings – they set foot here, and I’ll kill them.’
The three Rowell Rettlings exchange a look, though only when Zara nods do the other two bolt for the gate. To give Zara her due, she walks slowly. But maybe that’s stupidity rather than bravery.
Llinos grabs my hand. ‘Rose, we should go.’ I hear her, but I don’t respond.
Instead, I pull my hand from her grip and walk towards the prince. ‘Kyor?’
I’m sure he must be able to hear me, but when I place my hand on his shoulder, he startles as if I’ve drawn a sword on him.
‘You shouldn’t be here,’ I tell him. ‘It won’t help.’
‘I told everyone. I told you. The battle yard’s mine today. Unless you want to start something with me, Thorn—’
I ignore him easily. Only a couple of hours ago his hands were tangled in my hair and he was calling me beautiful.
‘The drinking won’t help,’ I say, nodding to the bottle. ‘From someone whose father tried that method and lost to it, believe me, it’s not a road you want to go down. Go back to Leilah, eat some Godsdamn food, and drink some water. Zelle wouldn’t want you to do this.’
With that, I spin on my heel and leave him to his grief.
With the battle yard evidently out of commission for the day, it’s probably my laziest afternoon since arriving back in the High Hold.
For several hours, I flick through books on daggers, trying to find anything useful. I’m about to give up when my eyes fall on a small image at the bottom of a page. My heart stutters.
The three blades of Vindrun.
I pick the book up and move over to the light, trying not to get my hopes up – after all, the image is small – but the more I study it, the more certain I become. These blades aren’t similar to mine. They’re identical.
With my pulse quickening, I turn the page, ready to read more, only to find a different image – a large crystal with endless text about Sanrott beneath.
I flick back again, hoping to find two pages stuck together, but there’s nothing.
Where the hell is it! My hands tremble as I open the book wide and run my finger along the inside of the page, only for my stomach to sink.
A thin, jagged strip of paper tells me what I already feared. The page has been ripped out. But who would have taken it?
Mila. The answer comes to me immediately. The High Priestess has the same dagger so she would seem the obvious choice, but I’m not sure how I’d go about asking her about the missing page. And why rip it out, unless she wanted to keep something hidden?
Still, I now know that my dagger is one of the three blades of Vindrun. It’s a start. A good one. Now that I have a name, Caroline should have a much better chance of finding out more.
I dress in my old slum clothes. There’s no point wasting my fighting leathers and furs when Caroline doesn’t give a damn about things like that, and the only other items I have are ballgowns, which I’m not going to wear to the library.
Besides, slum clothing might be unfashionable and unflattering, but it’s comfortable. And right now, that’s what matters.
Llinos marches into the room as I’m gathering my things.
‘I thought people worked long hours on the island.’ She flops onto the bed.
‘But I haven’t even seen Caz today. These damn nobles expect her to be at their beck and call the moment they have something they think worthy of being recorded by an official scribe.
And, spoiler, most of it’s not.’ She lets out a sigh before rolling onto her stomach and looking at me.
‘What have you been doing while I’ve been gone? ’
A hint of frustration sparks within me. So much for hoping to get Caroline on the case tonight. Then again, I’ve waited long enough already. Another day likely won’t hurt.
‘I think I’ve got a name for the dagger, but I still don’t know anything about it.’ I hesitate. ‘Is it wrong that I wish I could test it out on someone, just to see what it does? I feel like there must be a reason Dinah gave it to me.’
‘I volunteer Zara,’ Llin replies without missing a beat. ‘Actually, I volunteer the three remaining Rettlings from Rowell.’
‘I don’t think you can volunteer someone without their permission.’
‘Well, that’s shit.’
I laugh only to be interrupted by a knock at the door.
‘You expecting company?’ she asks me, tension rising.
‘Yeah, because I’m the one who has frequent visitors,’ I hiss back, although there is actually a possibility that Kestria fancied a sparring session. I briefly spoke to her about it at dinner, but I meant later in the week rather than tonight.
A grin spreads across Llin’s face. ‘I guess Caz finished early.’
She scrambles up from the bed and runs to the door, only to freeze when it’s half open.
‘Oh. I think you must be lost.’ She isn’t rude so much as confused, but the way she speaks makes my skin bristle and I rise to my feet, unsure who would warrant such a welcome.
I recognise our guest instantly when he speaks. ‘I need Thorn,’ he says gruffly. ‘And I need her now.’