Chapter 84
Mora
The call of Mora’s flask led her past the gatehouse, wisps of onyx slipping under the castle’s main door, newly-cut wood rattling against stone as she forced her way through.
She caressed the cool white and blue tiles of the main hall, torn pieces of tapestries billowing on the walls as she flew past. There were no flowers decorating the opulent white walls.
No echoes of Aedlin’s songs or Kalyan’s laughter.
It was as if she’d entered a tomb, becoming one with the shadows watching over the shattered pieces of her past.
Mora didn’t follow the path toward the throne room, where she thought she’d find Castellan.
Instead, her flask led her toward a stairwell, glittering onyx consuming the royal blue runner as darkness ascended to the upper floors.
A young woman carrying a tray of empty plates slipped through a doorway, her white apron pristine, apart from a dusting of flour.
She squeaked when she saw Mora’s smoke, tray slipping from her fingers.
Porcelain plates shattered, sharp white pieces slipping through black wisps and tumbling down the stairs.
A scream echoed around them before the woman ran, her undying shriek following her back down the hallway until she found a place to hide, a door slamming at her back.
But Mora didn’t follow. She kept going up, up, up until the tug in her center led her to a different hall.
Flames flickered in the sconces, the walls newly painted, a towering door with an arched top waiting up ahead. Her flask calling from the other side.
It was a place Mora rarely ventured, where the politics of the Crown were decided.
The Royal Council Room. Where her parents had entertained the notions of nobles who believed the size of their coffers made them worthy of ruling the world. The Crown standing in their way… unless they could convince the princess to marry one of their sons.
And, somehow, the hands of fate had delivered her back to this place, bound to such a man. Would Lord Briar be pleased?
When she slid beneath the door and rose from the darkness, determination glinting in her bright eyes, Lord Briar gaped at the sight of her, before his lips tipped into a minute grin.
Mora hadn’t expected to see him there. Four men joined him at the round table, Castellan seated at the head in a plush, red velvet chair, her flask glittering in front of him. Stacks of papers piled at its side.
“Castellan?”
His brows furrowed as she approached, lips twitching into the shadow of a sad smile, but he wasn’t the one who answered.
“Mora,” Eris breathed, his voice thick. The sound of it squeezing her heart.
He stood at Castellan’s back, clad in a King’s Guard Uniform, though the fabric was the same bright red and gold as Castellan’s silk tunic. A perfect match to the new chairs and ornate rug they’d added to the room.
Smoke curled around her clenched fingers, slowly seeping back into her skin. “What’s going on?” she asked, glancing from Eris to Castellan.
The gallant knight wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Did they destroy the bridge?”
Mora swallowed, looking around at the gathered nobles. She recognized them. Had known them since she was a child. Lord Briar, Lord Halvard, Lord Austeria, Lord Abbott… They were all there, staring at her with hungry eyes. “Is this a Council meeting?”
“Answer the question, Mora.”
She lifted her chin, ignoring the way her pulse pounded in her ears. “It’s Princess Mora Althenis-Diera in this room, Castellan. You will answer mine first.”
One of the lords scoffed. Mora’s head snapped in his direction, fury burning in her glowing gaze while Lord Halvard paled. Suddenly very interested in the papers piled before him. Running his finger over the ink, pretending he hadn’t made a sound.
Lord Briar, however, had no qualms with courting her fury. “You disappeared nearly two years ago, abandoning your position and your people, only to reappear as a demonic Halfling who reigns terror everywhere you go.”
A muscle ticked in her jaw, teeth cutting into her cheek, but Mora maintained her posture.
Fanning out her gown and clasping her hands in front of her so she looked every bit like the queen she’d been raised to become.
“I did not disappear willingly, my lord. And the terror I reigned was in the name of saving innocent lives from the violence you created.” Mora stepped closer, until the table pressed against her stomach.
A deadly edge cutting her voice. “I know what you’ve done.
How you’ve bolstered people’s fears because you missed your slaves. ”
“Indentured,” Lord Briar corrected, holding her stare, his fingers tracing the stem of a golden chalice.
“Call it whatever you’d like, it doesn’t make you any less of a monster.”
“That’s rich, coming from you. Tell me...” He clasped his hands, resting them on parchment while he leaned closer. “Were you a violent thing before Dother made you his bitch?”
Mora flinched as if he’d struck her, and Castellan slapped his palm on the table, silence following the loud boom. A storm brewing in his stare. “We agreed not to speak of that, Father!”
The lord simply lifted his chalice to his lips, sipping on wine as if this were a normal family meal. “You were his guard,” he said calmly, swirling his drink, his mouth tipping up in amusement. “You saw everything she did to that bastard king. What she’s capable of.”
The words hit her like a blow, her stomach dropping. Mora stumbled back, swallowing against a dizzying wave of nausea. “You were his guard? You were there when he...”
“We had no choice, Vicious Thing.” Eris’s voice was soft, full of pleading, as if he hadn’t destroyed the final shreds of her being in a single admittance.
“He blackmailed us, threatened our families…” The strong columns of his throat bobbed, but he came closer, reaching for Mora’s arm. Frowning when she jerked away.
“You guarded the fucking door!” Mora screamed, wrapping her arms around her center. It was difficult, convincing her lungs to stay steady; she swayed, sipping on air, never gaining enough.
Eris dipped his chin and murmured, “I’m sorry.” He and Castellan shared a look. “We both are.”
No words formed on Mora’s tongue, her racing thoughts flitting through every moment she’d spent with them. Every kindness, every shared breath tugging her from the hell in her mind, the nights she’d spent thinking she was safe by their sides. Her eyes glazed as she stared at the floor.
They.
Guarded.
The.
Fucking.
Door.
“Was fucking me some sort of consolation prize?” Mora seethed, breaking the distance between them, her shaking fists squeezed so tight her bones ached.
Something broke inside her while she stared into his deep brown eyes.
Into the truth she could already see within them.
“Did it make you feel better for listening to me scream while he raped me night after night, and doing nothing?”
The blood drained from Eris’s face. “It wasn’t like that, I—”
A raise of Castellan’s hand was all it took for him to quiet. “Dother’s gone, Mora. He can’t hurt you anymore. Discussing the matter further won’t resolve anything.”
“Won’t resolve anything?” Mora slammed her fist on the table, her flask toppling, scattering papers and nearly rolling onto the floor, if not for Castellan’s quick reflexes.
“You helped him destroy me and then paraded me around this gods forsaken island like some gallant knight. Convincing me to trust you. To save Berwick together. Was it so I’d forgive you?
So I’d give you the crown and reign by your side? Because there is no fucking way—”
“I’m aware.” He hadn’t bothered looking up at her as he gathered the papers she’d disturbed and piled them neatly.
“I had hoped we could do this together. That you’d be open to my plans once the time came to discuss them fully…
but you made it clear we could never rule as one with your stance on Cannamar.
” He sighed. “And you had to go and announce your intentions and utter threats to the people who stand with the Laws. It can’t be fixed. ”
“What?” Mora grabbed the back of an empty chair, her fingers sinking into plush, red velvet. “I thought we came to an agreement—the Halflings will only remain there until we fix this. You promised.”
“I tried to tell you; we can’t fix this.
Not quickly. Maybe someday, but…” His father cleared his throat, and Castellan’s cheeks reddened, but he nodded.
“The safest thing for all of us is for Halflings to stay in Cannamar. They won’t need to fear any violence, and the people of Berwick can live comfortably knowing those with power are controlled by the Crown. ”
Glowing amber eyes narrowed. “And Indentured to noble houses.”
Lord Briar’s laugh sent a cold wave of dread down her spine. “You expect us not to take advantage of such gifts?”
“What of the bridge?” she asked, thinking of Jade, trapped on the islet. The one place Imani wanted to save her from… and Mora had left her there.
Castellan’s lips flattened to a thin line. “We will rebuild once the Halflings understand the new world. In the meantime, boats are an easy enough option to bring in supplies, and the guards will keep the Halflings under control.”
“Forbidden,” Lord Halvard corrected.
Baring her teeth, Mora dismissed him and turned back to Castellan, her nails tearing into velvet. “I expected this from the rest of them, but you—”
A loud crash boomed, the door smacking against the wall, fine shoes clacking over tile. Mora tensed as she spun toward the sound…
“Elodie?”