Chapter Fifty-Seven Riela
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Riela
We reappeared in the middle of Garrick’s study. Vastien didn’t follow, and I frowned. “Did we leave Vastien behind?”
“He’s going to ensure the villagers listened to the scouts before he returns.”
“Good luck,” I muttered.
“A man who can turn into a giant wolf might get their attention more easily than the scouts I sent before. We need humans
to help us spread the warnings. Vastien is going to ensure they do.”
I carefully set the oilcloth bundle on the corner of Garrick’s desk, then rubbed my hands over my face. Today had already
been too much, and I still had plenty more I needed to do before I could dive into my mother’s journal, so I turned my attention
to the next problem. “What can I expect from the Blood King’s court?”
Garrick opened his mouth to argue, and I held up a quelling hand. “I don’t want to fight about whether or not I’m going because
I haven’t decided. But I do want to know what to expect. It will be good information either way.”
Garrick sighed, then nodded. “The law of primogeniture will give you some protection. You will be considered a guest in his
court and must be treated as such. Whatever you do, no matter what anyone says or does, do not attack them in any way or you’ll lose the protection.”
“Are words considered an attack? Are threats?”
Garrick shook his head. “Magic and physical attacks only. You will be threatened, but they can’t hurt you as long as you remain calm.”
A chill danced down my spine. “Sounds lovely.”
“The law also allows you to bring your bonded betrothed or a single guard. Whoever you bring is bound to the same hospitality rules. And if the person you bring breaks the rules, then that negates your protection as well, so you need to trust your companion to keep their head. Vastien and Bria have both already volunteered to go as guards—as will I, if you prefer not to bond or marry.”
My breath caught. The three of them were willing to walk into the heart of the Blood Court with me, even though their safety
was far from assured.
I crossed my arms and started pacing, unable to stand still. “What happens if King Roseguard determines I’m his daughter?
And how will he determine such a thing?”
“He has three days to test your magic. If he determines you are his—and can prove it—then he can require you to stay as a
guest for three weeks to get to know your familial court.”
“So they can torment me for three weeks in an attempt to get me to lash out.”
Garrick blew out a slow breath as he watched me pace. “Basically, yes.”
“And if they succeed?”
“Then you are no longer protected and Feylan can do as he will.” He didn’t say it, but it was clear that Feylan being able
to “do as he will” would be very, very bad for me.
I thought while I walked, then turned back to him with a question. “If I were to kill King Roseguard . . . would I become
the Blood Queen?”
“Yes, you would become Queen Roseguard. And then you would immediately be challenged by most of the court.”
Which would also be bad for me. So I was fucked unless I could survive three weeks in a hostile court without a single wrong move. Unless . . .
“If I break the hospitality rules, could I leave early?”
Garrick’s head tipped to the side as he thought. “I would need to check the exact wording of the law.”
I grabbed the journal bundle and turned for the door. “Let’s do that, then.”
He chuckled but didn’t try to stop me. I stepped out of the study and into the library. “Thank you,” I whispered to the castle. At least I hadn’t broken it, too.
Garrick moved around me and led me deeper into the stacks. He stopped in front of a shelf full of thick books. The translation
charm let me read the titles, but they were all boring treaties and law books that sounded exactly the same, and I didn’t
know which one Garrick was searching for.
After a moment, he pulled a thick leather-bound volume from the shelf and tipped his head toward the nearest table. We sat
side by side, and he opened the book with a creak of ancient leather. The pages smelled old, and the writing inside was small
and cramped.
I squinted at the page as my charm tried to decipher the words for me. I got a nice headache for my effort.
Garrick was undaunted, however, and he expertly flipped to the index, then to a page in the second half of the book.
He’d never looked more attractive, and it must’ve shown on my face, because his grin turned wicked. “Shall I read to you,
little mage?” When I nodded, he started reading about the law that would determine my future, but I couldn’t concentrate because
I was so focused on his voice and the movement of his lips.
Also, the text was mind-meltingly boring. All “Article I” this and “Subsection 2B” that. Even if I’d understood Etheri law—which
I didn’t—it would’ve been hard to follow. So I listened to him talk and nodded along whenever he glanced at me.
“—strip off your clothes and lay you out on this table,” he murmured sometime later, his cadence as even as ever, but the
words finally pierced the daze I’d fallen into.
I blinked at him. “What did you just say?” I looked at the book with newfound appreciation. “Are you still reading?”
His expression was stern, but his eyes glimmered. “You haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said for the last half an hour.
At least, not until I started telling you how I’d prefer to spend my time in the library.”
A heated flush rose in my cheeks. “I was listening,” I disagreed. “I just wasn’t understanding. Give me the summary.”
“If you break the rules of hospitality, then the three-week requirement is nullified. But Feylan can—and will—attempt to capture or kill you, which he will be well within his rights to do. And since he likely knows this loophole exists,
he will have a contingency plan for it. You won’t be safe until you move into another court’s territory, and even then he
could pursue you if he wanted to cause an incident.”
“Which he probably will,” I murmured.
Garrick’s head dipped in agreement. “And I can’t step through the ether on Blood Court land, so we’ll have to walk, ride,
or fly out.”
“Fly?” I asked, momentarily distracted from the gloomy thoughts of how I was going to survive three weeks in a hostile court.
“Without the natural ability, it will be tricky, so it’ll need to be a last resort unless we can find either allies or beasts
to carry us.”
My head jerked toward his. “Are you saying I could be riding a flying horse right now?”
“Not a horse, technically, but yes—if we weren’t in the middle of researching how to keep you alive in Feylan’s court.”
“Fine,” I huffed. “But once this is over, you’re finding me a flying not-a-horse thing.” I grimaced. “And teaching me how
to ride so I don’t break my neck.”
“I won’t let you break your neck,” Garrick promised.
I nodded in agreement, then returned my focus to the book and the problem at hand. Having options was better than not, but
three weeks was a long time for something to go wrong.
“What if King Roseguard breaks hospitality? Or someone from the Blood Court does?”
“A court’s own magic will punish anyone who breaks hospitality. If it’s someone from the Blood Court, then Feylan would also
have to make restitution, either to you, if you survived the attack, or to your court. If he failed to do so, then you could
leave without further obligation.”
“Assuming I was still alive.”
Garrick nodded grimly.
“And if the Blood King breaks the rules?”
“Then you could leave immediately without further obligation. Or you could fight Feylan while he was weakened.” The gleam
in Garrick’s eyes told me which he would choose.
“What happens if we all make it through the entirety of the required time without breaking any of the rules?”
“Feylan is honor bound to allow you to leave.”
I squinted suspiciously. “Leave all the way to safety? Or leave his castle and step into the waiting arms of his soldiers
who just happened to be outside?”
Garrick chuckled. “You’re learning all of the Etheri tricks. Technically the former, but more likely the latter.”
“Anything else I should know?”
“You don’t have to go at all,” he reminded me. He tapped the book. “Marriage to a sovereign is one of the few exemptions,
likely carved out for some horrible reason, but I’m willing to use it if it protects you.”
I bit my lip. Three weeks of torment versus a potential eternity of bitterness, resentment, and heartbreak—there was no decision,
no matter what my heart whispered.
“What does it say about the bonded betrothed?” I asked. “Is the king allowed to separate us?”
“No, though he is allowed to separate you from your guard in certain situations. But as your betrothed, he would not be able to send me away.”
I blew out a slow breath. “You would be in so much danger.”
Garrick wrapped his fingers around my hand.
“That’s the wrong way to look at it,” he murmured.
“Most of my spies in the Blood Court have been found and killed. You’re giving me a chance to see what Feylan’s truly doing, especially now that the seal on the forest has been broken.
And if the opportunity presents itself, breaking the rules of hospitality by killing the Blood King would be far less dangerous than declaring open war.
” He grinned. “Think of it as a three-week vacation with the opportunity for a little murder.”
I laughed, as he’d intended. “When you put it that way, how can I resist?”
“I’m hoping you won’t.”
“I promised you tonight,” I reminded him quietly.
He stood and drew me to my feet. “And I’ve just remembered that evening has fallen in Lohka. Shall we?”
Butterflies beat madly in my chest, but I nodded, and that was all the permission he needed.
The sun was indeed low in the sky when we emerged in Lohka. It probably wasn’t technically evening, but I wasn’t going to argue. I knew we needed to be on this side of the door because of the stronger magic, but