Chapter 33 #2
“We can’t,” I counter quickly. “I paid him to protect me.” I swallow hard, staring down at my teacup. “If it helps figure out who they are, one of them had a blade with the letters TSG on it.”
Algar’s chair creaks as he turns to me. “TSG?” He’s frowning. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Because if that’s what you saw, it means that crew is from The Shadow Guild.”
Confused, I ask, “The what?”
Algar releases an exhausted sigh. “People have made claims about there being an underground society recruiting the strongest sorcerers in all the kingdoms and teaching them black magic. From what I hear, most of the people who join are from the Grim. Either way, they are not good people.”
“Yeah, I gathered that when Maliek almost turned your organs to mush.”
“I’ve heard of this society,” Queen Xiaodera says.
“Many believe they’re trying to become the next Nightcarvers, though there has never been any proof.
Regardless, it is odd if this secret group is revealing themselves so openly just to get your friend.
That leads me to believe your sorcerer friend is somehow associated with them and he’s done something to wrong them. ”
“That doesn’t make any sense, though.” Algar folds his arms and shakes his head with tightened features. “He was a soldier with The Divine in Meriva. I saw him marching with them and wearing their uniform.”
“The Grim is known to recruit all kinds of people,” the queen informs him. “One can only assume they are manipulating as many people as possible and twisting their souls into complete corruption to join their devious society.”
“That doesn’t sound like Thane.” Algar’s frown deepens. “No, he wouldn’t have joined people like them unless he had no choice.”
Queen Xiaodera sips her tea. “Perhaps he didn’t.”
Her words instantly make me think of Thane’s brother.
He claims Koa’s death was his fault. Did he willingly join The Shadow Guild in hopes of saving him somehow?
But Algar said he saw him with The Divine.
If he were with them, why would he leave?
Surely, if anything had happened, The Divine would’ve protected him.
They always protect their own. Gods, I have even more questions than before.
“Regardless, it will take quite a bit of time for your friends to heal.” The queen’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts.
“How long, do you think?” I inquire.
“Give them at least three, possibly four hours. Our healers are wonderfully skilled, but they work diligently and never rush their processes.”
Okay. Four hours. Not four days. I can work with that. It won’t take much longer to reach Gadonia. If we’re only behind by a few hours, we could still make it to the shores before nightfall.
As if she’s read my mind, Queen Xiaodera asks, “Where are you traveling to?”
“The Shallows,” I reply in earnest. I’m tired of beating around the bush everywhere we stop.
Queen Xiaodera narrows her eyes at me while King Jehon’s broaden. Then the king bellows a laugh that makes me flinch. He howls as he throws his bald, tatted head back. The queen rolls her eyes before placing a patient hand on his arm.
“Sorry, my love,” he chortles. “But you are joking, right? The Shallows?” He shifts his gaze to me.
“She isn’t joking,” Algar responds.
Jehon’s smile slips. He studies me more intently with misty hazel eyes. “You will surely die.”
I wrap my hands tighter around my cup. “I’ll take my chances.”
“There is something there that you need?” Queen Xiaodera probes.
“One of the prosperity stones.”
She blinks at me several times, sitting up taller in her chair. “Are you dealing with a curse?”
I nod.
“Placed upon you or someone else?”
“My sister.”
“And there’s no one in your kingdom who can help you break that curse?”
I shake my head. “No. The sorcerer who cursed her is powerful. The people I asked before Thane were too afraid to go against him. This was my last resort.”
“I see.” She taps her fingers on the table, studying me as I take my last sip of tea. “You don’t strike me as foolish. I assume you have a plan to make it through that island.”
I shrug. “Sort of.”
Queen Xiaodera eyes me for so long, I fidget in my chair. It seems she’s trying to read me now, searching for some kind of secret or truth like Frevella did. I don’t think she can read minds, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a woman of her power could.
“Brave.” Her voice is soft, sympathetic. “But I was wrong before. You are foolish if you believe you will survive.” She rises from her chair, and her dress flows to her feet. King Jehon follows suit.
“We will be preparing for lunch soon,” she announces.
“You are more than welcome to stay and dine with us, or you can join your friends in the infirmary. When you are ready to leave, my people will show you the way out. But I must warn you.” She presses her palms flat on the table and brings her face so close to mine that I can see the faint brown freckles peppered across the apples of her cheeks.
“You must tell no one other than the Gadonian council that you recovered in Immalon. And believe me, if you do tell, we will find out, and we will come for you.” She scans my face.
“You aren’t the only people in this world being hunted. ”
“So the history is true?” I ask.
Her eyes narrow, only a touch. “What do you know about our history?”
“That your tribe sectioned themselves off from the rest of society because others assumed you were creations of Xaimur. They said the elementalists set fires to kingdoms and caused floods in others. Earthquakes destroyed many of the coasts and killed thousands of people.”
She fights a smile. “For starters, we only praise Orvena here. She is our creator, and she provides us with our gifts. And it is true that our ancestors set fires and caused floods and earthquakes, but that was only done to protect ourselves from becoming slaves to those who considered themselves superior to us—those who wished to use their magic against us. Our ancestors were attacked, our people raped, and many children killed. They refused to bow to the enemies, so they retaliated.” Her eyes harden as she looks deeply into mine.
“Now, Immalon is protected, and no one can enter unless we give them that honor. You should be very grateful.”
“Right,” I murmur. “That’s very wise. And I am…grateful, that is.”
“Every story needs a villain, Zaira. The rest of the world can believe what they want, but do you believe we are the villains in this one?”
“No.” I really don’t. I know what it’s like to be attacked—to be shoved into a corner with your back against a wall.
If I had the power of an elementalist or even a sorcerer, I’d have done the same to protect myself and the people I loved in Ember Coast. Then maybe my parents would still be alive. Maybe our land would still be there.
“Wise answer.” The queen steps back and links elbows with her partner. “Check on your friends. When you are ready to depart, come find us.”
When she and the king head toward the exit, I look at Algar, who is watching them go with a blank stare.
“I think she wants to kill Thane,” he utters.
I gape. “What?”
“She has a certain look in her eyes, one I’ve seen many times before.” He finally peels his gaze off the exit. “She doesn’t trust him, and when it comes to people in power lacking trust, they eradicate the source.”
“I don’t think she trusts any of us.”
“That may be so, but Thane is the biggest threat to their tribe.” He leans in closer. “I didn’t see that Maliek fucker go down. If he returns with more assassins and attacks her borders, she’ll give Thane up in a heartbeat. She won’t let him cause her people’s downfall.”
“Then we’d better get out of Immalon before that happens.” I stand as Algar does. As he pushes his chair in and walks with me out of the dining hall, I say, “Algar, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
I twist my fingers in front of me, suddenly anxious. “Is there anything else about Thane’s past that I should know?”
His eyebrows dip. “Like what?”
“Has he ever mentioned having any other family? Talked about his father a little more, maybe? Or an aunt? Uncle?”
Algar thinks on it a moment. “Not that I can remember. Why do you ask?”
“Just curious.”
He studies me with a slightly narrowed gaze. “You’re asking for a reason.”
Once outside, I keep walking until we’re near the clearing. Flying fish leap out of a brook nearby, and several of the water elementalists catch them in wobbly bubbles before dropping them into woven baskets.
I face Algar, whose eyes swim with curiosity.
My mind drifts back to last night, with Thane telling me about Azidel’s tome, to Frevella’s cave, when he confessed about Koa.
He asked me not to tell Algar and Rynthea—or anyone else—about the tome, and other than Algar, I won’t, but he never said anything about not discussing his brother.
For a moment, I toy with telling Algar what Thane revealed in the cave. I feel certain Koa’s death is somehow linked to The Shadow Guild, but it also feels wrong to betray Thane’s trust, even if he hasn’t specifically mentioned keeping this a secret.
Algar grew up with him and knew his father, but there were twelve years when they didn’t see each other, and a half brother with a different mother isn’t out of the question.
I shrug, letting it go. “No reason. Just curious. I don’t really know much about him, that’s all.”
“Well, the only way you’ll find out more is if you ask him,” Algar says. “He won’t tell me anything about his life after he disappeared, but I see the way he looks at you, and I see the way you look at him.”
Those words steal my attention completely. “It’s not like that, Algar. He’s just— I mean, we’re—”
“I’m not judging you, trust me. Though I still urge you to be careful.
” He throws an innocent hand in the air.
“All I’m saying is, at the end of the day, he’s a man, and whether he admits it or not, he is interested in you.
If you soften him up enough, you’ll squeeze the truth out of him… eventually.”