30. Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Isoria
As I left the kitchen with Lily, relieved to be away from Archer, I wondered what she thought about the hunt for the escaped phoenix shifter and all the brutal killings.
She seemed gentle enough, but I’d seen her cheer with the rest of them.
As a member of a kingdom fooled into believing the worst of my kind, had she also hoped that Scarlet had been found and could be executed, forever taken from her son?
“Do you mind if I find something more comfortable first?” I asked, gesturing toward my gown. “I have plenty of outfits if you want to change too.”
Lily’s smile was relieved. “That would be wonderful.”
Entering my room, she went straight to my closet to sort through clothes as I began stripping out of my dress.
It didn’t take long for us to exchange our formal attire for soft tunics and leggings and ensconce ourselves in Archer’s library.
Not wanting Lily to suspect anything, I opted for a fictional book with an intriguing title.
She pulled another off the shelf, hugging it to her chest. “This romance is one of my favorites. I reread it every year.”
For a while, we lost ourselves in quiet companionship.
Onyx settled on a table between the two armchairs we’d selected, and we took turns petting him.
Bathed in the buttery glow of candlelight, I relaxed a little as I inhaled the scents of parchment and ink, listened to the sounds of Lily turning the pages of her book, and attempted to lose myself in my own.
Unfortunately, my mind kept wandering each time I tried to read, the sentences all blending together into meaningless drivel. My thoughts were too loud, too troubled.
Eventually, I sensed Lily pause and look up from her book, studying me with her brow scrunched. “Did that trouble you?”
My body went cold. “What?” I asked. Maybe she means that they haven’t found the phoenix shifter. Maybe I need to act like I’m afraid.
“Dragging in that female. Archer using his magic on her and that threat of fire. Knowing that when Archer isn’t available to test them, we sometimes have to be brutal like that and use flames, even toward the innocent, to try to protect them.
” She hesitated. “Even the executions themselves, really. Taking parents from children. Any killing. I know we’re fighting against the phoenixes and their campaign against Emberglade, but it doesn’t change the gruesomeness of taking a life.
King Wystan’s magic is strengthened by feeding off strong emotions, and I fear that’s why he insists that Archer be the one to assassinate them.
The prince doesn’t relish the job, and it gives the king a greater spectacle that creates a whole cocktail of emotions for him to relish. ”
“I didn’t know emotions made the king’s magic stronger,” I murmured quietly, resisting the urge to shudder.
“It’s definitely complicated Archer’s and his relationship, not that it was ever great to begin with.
” She sighed. “Don’t feel guilty, though.
Being troubled by all that doesn’t change your allegiance to Emberglade.
You have a soft heart, the heart of a healer, and that is nothing to be ashamed of.
It isn’t wrong to have a distaste for death, even the death of your enemy. ”
Eyes glistening with unshed tears, I turned to Lily, a mixture of relief and sorrow filling me.
For the briefest moment, I’d hoped. Hoped somehow I had an ally who thought the killings were wrong.
But she was as convinced as Archer that everything she’d been taught about my kind was true, and that we were a threat.
“It differentiates you,” she went on, her tone hardening. “You’re not a monster like them.”
My stomach dropped, but I couldn’t let her see my discomfort, so I forced a smile. “Thank you,” I breathed, unable to find the words to say anything more on the subject.
For a long time, silence settled between us again. I considered making an excuse and going to bed, but I also knew this was part of pretending. And despite myself, I couldn’t hate Lily.
“What did Dell Rosebrough mean when he mentioned your engagement?” I asked at last, setting my book aside and abandoning all pretense of reading.
Lily froze mid-page turn. “Our relationship with Brighthollow has been complicated for generations, as I’m sure you’re aware,” she said crisply.
“As general, my father felt responsible for smoothing things over. Years ago, when I was still a girl, he promised my hand in marriage to their eldest son. But things work differently there. A prince never marries. They wait until the ruling parent dies and they take the throne in their stead, and then they take a spouse. Which means,” she finished with a tight smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “I am free as long as the king of Brighthollow still lives.”
“Oh, Lily.”
“Please don’t pity me,” she said quickly, despite the rapid way she was blinking. “It hardly matters. I have grown up knowing I wouldn’t marry for love, that I’d have to leave Emberglade eventually.”
My thoughts strayed to Owen, then to the romance in Lily’s hands. “Everyone deserves love.”
Lily smiled sadly, busying herself with fiddling with the glossy strands of red hair hanging loosely about her shoulders. “Not everyone can afford such a luxury. What you and Archer have is, honestly, rare for anyone of important status in a court. He’s fortunate to have you.”
My traitorous tongue blurted the words I knew I shouldn’t say. “But Owen.”
Her eyes widened as her cheeks reddened, betraying her. “What do you mean? He’s my friend. The captain of the guard. My engagement means nothing to him.”
“Don’t you care for him?”
Her jaw pulsed. “I can’t care for him that way.
Nothing will happen, Isa.” She sighed, finally giving in to the tears flooding her eyes.
One slipped down her flushed cheek. “That’s why I love losing myself in these books.
It’s nice to imagine, but it’s only a dream.
Besides, Owen would never spare a glance for me like that anyway. ”
I wasn’t sure I agreed, but not wanting to grieve Lily further, I returned to my book, trying to lose myself in it for a while.