Chapter 26
I spent the day waiting for Rasimir to change his mind and order my torture to commence.
Nerves in tatters, I sat in my chamber, my fingers throbbing and my ears pricked for the thump of approaching boots. Any time footsteps sounded outside my door, I expected knights to appear and drag me to the great hall, where Rasimir would make good on his threat.
But as the day faded into evening, my only visitor was a quiet woman named Yuliette. She brought me dinner, then curtsied and said the king was “occupied.” She returned later to clear the meal and help me get ready for bed.
And she was back again this morning, her face blank and her movements efficient as she pulled a brush through my hair. I kept my hands in my lap and tried to ignore my aching fingers. The phantom pain had kept me up most of the night, leaving dark smudges under my eyes.
Delphine would have fixed them. Yuliette had delivered breakfast and presented me with a choice of gowns.
A knock on the door startled us both. Out of habit, I met Yuliette’s eyes in the mirror, part of me wondering why she hadn’t announced the arrival in advance.
But of course, Yuliette didn’t do such things. Delphine did, and she was a statue in the courtyard.
“Princess?” Lorcan said through the door. “It’s time to go.”
He didn’t speak as we made our way through the Drakhold. By the time we reached the forest, I was ready to explode. A dozen steps into the trees, I looked at him.
Quiet , he said in my mind.
Anger rushed up so swiftly I almost tripped over it. “You could have spoken in my head this whole time?” I asked through gritted teeth.
A muscle jumped in his jaw. You’re truly terrible at following instructions. When I opened my mouth again, he let his fingers brush mine, and his voice softened in my head. Ten more minutes, Corinthe. It’s too dangerous to speak in the open.
I bit my tongue, and I tried not to think too hard about how that simplest of touches made tingles rise all the way to my shoulder.
A few minutes later, Vander stepped from the trees. And seconds after that, we stood in the Everless.
Lorcan rounded on me immediately, his fangs flashing as he grimaced. “What were you thinking, letting Rasimir know you possess a vor ?”
For a second, I was too shocked to speak. “Are you serious? He was going to kill me!”
“He baited you, and you let him.”
“How can you think that?” I looked at Vander, expecting his outrage to match mine. Instead, he nodded.
“Lorcan has the right of it. Rasimir played you for a fool.”
It couldn’t be true. And yet, the mix of disappointment and disapproval on their faces was real. They were Rasimir’s closest advisers. Had known him for hundreds of years.
“I…” I began, only for words to desert me. As I struggled for a way to defend my actions, fresh pain bolted from my fingers to my elbow, the agony so intense I cried out.
Lorcan and Vander rushed forward at once, concern on their faces.
“What is it?” Vander asked, grabbing at my hand.
I snatched it from his reach. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
Lorcan had my hand in his before I finished the sentence. “You are, without question, the worst liar I’ve ever met,” he murmured, peering at my fingers. “I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
My breath hitched as more pain radiated up my arm, the throbbing concentrating in my elbow as if I’d knocked it against a piece of furniture. “I lied well enough yesterday to convince Rasimir.”
Lorcan’s expression sobered as he lifted his dark eyes to mine. “And now he thinks you have a vor , with many others to follow. That’s not the victory you think it is, Corinthe. The gifts in the vials aren’t permanent. What happens if Rasimir discovers you’ve been training to challenge him?”
Frustration and pain made my voice sharp. “What should I have done?”
“For starters, you should have stayed out of the fucking maze!”
I jerked my hand from his. “Don’t swear at me!”
Lorcan opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. He shoved a hand through his hair, dislodging his careful queue. Vander stared at him as if he’d seen a ghost. Lorcan noticed and cut him a disgruntled look.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Lorcan’s expression soured. “You’re both terrible liars.”
Another bolt of pain made me hiss and tuck my hand against my waist.
“What did you do to it?” Lorcan asked. “The truth this time, please.”
Lying was pointless—and probably stupid. Based on what I’d seen in the maze, Marrigan was just as dangerous as Rasimir, if not more. She’d obviously done something to me with the tiara. I couldn’t ignore it.
Drawing an even breath, I spoke in a rush. “I met the Devout Mother of the Crau Setra in the maze yesterday.”
The men’s eyes went almost comically huge. If our situation hadn’t been so dire, I might have laughed.
“Marrigan?” Vander asked in a strangled voice. He lifted a hand. “Wait. You met her in the maze?”
Nodding, I recounted the story, explaining how the ghost wolf had chased me into the temple, where Marrigan had insulted me and then made the tiara appear in my hand.
“This is the same injury you received at Cyprio’s cart?” Vander asked, lifting my hand again.
I bit my lip against another surge of pain. “Yes.”
Vander and Lorcan shared a look.
“What?” I asked, worry rising.
Vander sighed. “Marrigan pulled it from your mind and cursed you to carry the memory of it.”
Worry turned to horror. “Forever?”
“Without treatment, yes.”
“Can you treat it?”
Vander closed his eyes on a long blink. “No, but Ruvien can,” he sighed, sounding like just saying the name cost him. “But I don’t know if he’ll come.”
“We have to try,” Lorcan said.
Vander scowled at him. “I never suggested otherwise.” Releasing my hand, he closed his eyes completely. “Just give me a minute,” he murmured. His eyelids twitched, his eyes moving rapidly under the thin layer of skin. It was creepy.
A breeze stirred in the Everless, and goose bumps rose on my arms as I looked around. But everything appeared the same, the ruined arches, crumbling steps, and giant statue unchanged.
Vander opened his eyes, his brow furrowing. “We might have to wait a while.” He scowled again. “In fact, we should count on it. The elves don’t like being called.”
“You wound me, Vander,” Ruvien said, stepping from the temple. He was beautiful as always, his lanky body clad in a green, close-fitting jacket and brown leather trousers. Dozens of tiny braids held his waist-length hair away from his face, and he carried a spray of pink roses in one beringed hand.
He tapped the blooms against his lips as he stopped in front of me, his amethyst eyes dipping to my fingers. “Cursed with the memory of silver.” He lifted his gaze, one golden eyebrow climbing up his smooth forehead. “Marrigan is quite the bitch, is she not?”
“Can you fix it?” Lorcan asked, tension in his voice.
Ruvien tsk ed. “Your Grace, please. First Vander, now you?” He turned back to me. “I can remove the curse, Princess, but I’m afraid you’ll owe me a favor.” He lifted a slender shoulder. “Alas, I don’t make the rules.”
“No,” Vander said. “I won’t allow it.”
Everything within me bristled. “I can speak for myself.” I looked at Ruvien. “I might not survive long enough to pay you back.”
His smile softened. “Life is full of risk. It would be dreadfully boring otherwise.”
For him, maybe. I’d experienced enough risk to be content for a lifetime. But I couldn’t take on Rasimir with injured fingers.
“Fine,” I said. “Fix it, and I’ll owe you a favor.”
Ruvien started to take my hand in both of his, then paused. “May I?”
I offered my hand. As he slid one palm under mine and placed his other on top, I realized his roses were gone.
He closed his eyes and moved his lips, although no words emerged.
Heat suffused my palm and spread up my forearm.
Just as I began to question the wisdom of agreeing to his help without asking about the pain involved in the treatment, he opened his eyes.
“All done.”
He was right. The pain in my fingers was gone.
“Fate is a peculiar thing,” Ruvien said, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
“For years, I was embarrassed that I’d allowed a human to pierce me with an arrow.
But if I hadn’t fallen to his bow, I wouldn’t have been capable of extracting the memory of that silver just now.
We all dance in a much smaller circle than we think, and fate plays the tune. ” He released me.
“Thank you,” I said, examining my fingers. My encounter with Cyprio had landed me in yet another undesirable spot. Unfortunately, I had no way to tell when Ruvien would demand his favor. It could be months…or centuries.
“It was a pleasure, Princess,” he said, bowing.
When he straightened, he handed me the pink roses.
“However, you should never thank an elf. It’s acceptable this time because we’ve already struck a bargain.
But if you thank one of my countrymen in the future, they’re likely to interpret it as an acknowledgment of a debt or service, even if you didn’t mean it that way. ”
“Tha—” I clamped my mouth shut before I could thank him again.
Ruvien turned to Vander and Lorcan. “Truth is pain—”
I stiffened at the echo of Marrigan’s words.
“—but pain is a useful thing. It reminds us we’re alive. It alerts us to danger. Your princess faces incredible danger. She deserves all the truth you can give her.”
With a nod to me, Ruvien walked the path to the temple and slipped through its doorway.
For a moment, I could only stare at the empty space where he’d disappeared.
Was it just coincidence that he repeated Marrigan almost exactly?
Or, like her, did he have ways of knowing everything?
One day, if I was very fortunate, I would surround myself with beings who didn’t possess terrifying amounts of power. But today wasn’t that day.
Suppressing a sigh, I turned to Vander and Lorcan. “What was he talking about? Have you two lied to me?”
Lorcan cleared his throat. “We haven’t lied to you.”