Chapter 11 #2
A pulse of dark magic followed, rolling out from the castle like an aftershock. Its prickling claws against my skin were fierce, chaotic, and wild. And strangely familiar…
Nisien’s expression dimmed, but his tone remained steady. “Prince Emrys,” he said simply.
Emrys.
I’d already guessed that the other prince was the volatile one, but this was confirmation. I followed half a step behind Nisien in silence. He was so calm—too calm—after the disordered violent energy I’d just felt.
“I hope you’ll find things comfortable, if a bit rustic compared to the fortress at Caervorn,” Nisien said, pushing open a towering door that groaned on ancient hinges. “We’re good hosts. Or, I should say, I’m an excellent host.”
He chuckled as my heart hammered in my chest harder than I would’ve liked. I followed him inside on stiff legs. Nisien had guaranteed my safety, yet the magic I’d felt was hostile—not something I was used to remaining close to.
The grand entry was surprisingly bright, thanks to the light-colored stone. An iron candelabra hung from the ceiling, and small torches illuminated the side walls. Between them hung tapestries showcasing military victories and other displays of the kingdom’s agricultural success.
The hall beyond the spiral stairway was dim, lit only by a single guttering torch on the far wall. The magic I’d felt had come from that direction.
And leaning against a stone pillar, half-swallowed by shadow like some ancient sculpture come to life, was him.
Every ounce of blood drained from my face as recognition struck with the force of lightning.
The dark, haunting stranger whose eyes had burned into mine, who’d been there after three men had attempted to attack my mother, whose overwhelming grief had almost brought me to my knees in the market, wasn’t the common aristocrat I’d thought him.
He was Emrys ap Euros, the volatile twin I’d been warned about, and the crown prince of Darreth.
Breathe, Isca. Breathe.
But I couldn’t. His rage was choking me.
The shattered remnants of what had once been a door lay scattered at his feet in the wake of his fury. The same powerful energy radiated from him just as intensely as it had during our first encounter.
Nisien immediately positioned himself between us. Not a second later, an unfamiliar magic surged from him too. A faint distortion in the air shimmered like heat rising off hot stone, yet it formed a perfect oval in the air.
I’d heard of such magic but never seen it. Nisien had created an aegis, a defensive shield of magic, in front of himself, in front of me, to protect us from his brother’s wrath.
The instant my eyes met Emrys’s through the shield, the world tilted on its axis, and all I could hear was my racing heart. I was watching him so intently that I saw an unguarded, fierce emotion blaze briefly across his face before being masked again.
Emrys immediately formed impenetrable walls around his emotions. I knew then that he recognized me.
Closed off, Emrys was still breathing hard, his nostrils flaring with barely contained rage.
A quick, appraising flicker of his blue eyes took me in, like a lion assessing its prey.
Then he straightened slowly, awkwardly, as if he’d been expecting a stranger but had gotten a knife to the gut instead.
I lifted my chin, refusing to be the first to flinch, or the first to look away. Gods, Nisien’s blue eyes had reminded me of Emrys’s.
As his brother stood, Nisien dropped his defensive magic. He made a grand gesture between us, seemingly oblivious to the sudden tension between Emrys and me. “My brother,” he said warmly. “Don’t mind his scowl. He was born frowning.”
I smiled politely, still reeling from the emotions that had battered my senses. “I remember,” I said, trying to keep my voice light and casual, though my heart still pounded. “We met in Caervorn. He was…memorable.”
Nisien laughed, clapping his frozen brother on the shoulder. “That’s the first time anyone’s called him that without spitting afterward.”
Emrys said nothing. His jaw was set, his arms crossed so tightly that it looked like he was just barely holding himself back from destroying another door. Through all this, his unblinking gaze remained locked on mine, trying to solve the riddle of my existence.
I gave Emrys a small, measured curtsy. It was the kind of gesture I hoped communicated, I might be afraid of you, but my spirit isn’t yours to break, not yours to crush like that door had been.
Through all this, my magic reached out to him without my will pushing it forward.
It had never done that before meeting him.
But now it was trying to break through the impenetrable wall he’d erected around his heart and mind.
I couldn’t understand it. After what I’d witnessed, why did my magic, why did I find myself so drawn to his darkness?
But it was clearer than ever that this was going to be far more dangerous than I’d imagined, and not for the simple reasons the Assembly had warned me about.
Gods help me, these were the princes I was supposed to save. I would need a miracle to get anything accomplished.