Chapter 4
MAE
The next few weeks pass by in a blur, every day nearly the same—training with Asmo, pacing the strip of yard within the barrier, and wanting to pull my hair out.
Asmo continues to challenge me, urging me to push my magic further.
Our training sessions always leave me physically spent and mentally exhausted as my heart wars with my brain.
I still can’t deny the pull I feel toward him, but that one question constantly niggles in the back of my mind—Can I trust him?
Holly is now able to walk around the house without assistance and has begun to join me as I trample a path into the grass. It’s been nice having another female around again. Even Luca’s attitude has lessened since she’s been more active.
She’s different, a quieter version of herself, but so was I in my recovery. Most days, I still am. Almost dying has a way of turning you into a shell of yourself.
We sit in silence together on the strip of the front lawn, both of us staring at the moon. Although the view is technically different from the last house, it’s still mostly the same—a dark forest filled with the sounds of birds tweeting, squirrels skittering along branches, and cicadas buzzing.
“Hey.” Ivan’s voice comes from behind us. “You two need to see this.”
I force myself to stand, pulling the blanket tight around me, and shuffle inside.
A fire crackles in the stone hearth as I lower myself into the armchair closest to it.
I urge the flames higher, my skin prickling from the sudden shift in temperature.
It doesn’t take long for me to feel warm, but I stay with the blanket wrapped tightly around me.
Asmo watches me from the other side of the room. I look away, thinking of my first date with Marik. Of the way the flames reflected in his dark eyes, as they do with Asmo now. Despite the fire, a chill works its way up my spine.
A newspaper lays sprawled on the coffee table—Ivan’s bedside table, as he likes to call it. This cabin is small, with only three bedrooms to split between the five of us. Ivan chose to sleep on the couch.
“What is it?” Luca asks from the hallway. His gray hair is tousled from sleep. Like Ivan, his wrinkles grow deeper every day.
Ivan settles onto the sofa and hunches over the newspaper.
Holly studies the fire that rages in the hearth.
With her burn scars, her pale flesh was made even paler.
The flames reached her right cheek before they went out.
The scar there glistens, then disappears from my view as she turns back and paces in the other direction.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Ivan looks up from the paper. “Apparently, the High King and Queen will be holding a tithe in a week’s time.”
Surely I didn’t hear him right. “What?”
“All citizens of the Deer Court are expected to attend and offer some sort of payment to the High Crown,” Ivan explains.
“I understand what a tithe is. But that’s not something we do,” I say.
“According to this,” Ivan says, gesturing toward the paper, “you do. They didn’t give a reason, just said it’s now mandatory, per the High Queen.”
“And if people don’t pay?” I ask.
Ivan shrugs. “Doesn’t say.”
Fucking Marik. I turn to Asmo. “What do you think the real reason is behind this? The High Crown doesn’t need any more money.”
He shakes his head, frowns. “Easy way to exert his control over the kingdom. Force compliance and punish those who don’t. It’s just a manipulation tactic.”
This is Marik’s first official move. It’s been weeks of waiting, and here it is. How do we respond? What do we do? Do we even do anything? It hits me. “We have to go. This is our chance to get inside the castle. To see if our theory about Elle is right.”
Asmo tilts his head, chews the inside of his cheek as he considers this, the movement emphasizing his sharp cheekbones. The shadows from the fire dance along the planes of his face, and something deep inside of me stirs. Something I haven’t felt in months. I look away.
Ivan has his face in his hands, massaging his temples. He looks up. “You’re right. Luca and I will go.”
I shake my head. “I’m coming.” A part of me aches to see the castle, to walk its halls again and be back in my home.
Ivan opens his mouth, but I cut him off. “This is my kingdom, and this is my choice.”
Luca leans back in the armchair, shaking his head.
Asmo pushes himself from the wall. “Let’s get to planning, then.”
We spend the entire night and every waking moment over the next two days coming up with a plan to get into the tithe. We have to see Elle. The problem is Marik and Cora would spot any of us in an instant and glamours would disappear the moment someone as powerful as they are put them to the test.
“I think I know something we can do,” Asmo speaks up, breaking the contemplative silence we had all been sitting in for the last fifteen minutes.
Luca stares at him expectantly from the pad of paper he had been scribbling on. Every single line has been slashed out.
“There’s a dark magic spell that Marik and I used to play with when we were kids,” Asmo says, glancing at me nervously and shifting in his seat.
“What a sentence,” Holly mutters from her usual spot—the corner of the living room shrouded in shadows. She sits on the floor, her feet kicked out and crossed at the ankles.
“It’s a blood spell,” Asmo says. “It changes your appearance as long as the mark is intact. We used to transform into each other and trick our parents.”
Ivan sits up in his chair. “Will it hold against any protection spells or wards embedded in the castle?” he asks.
Asmo nods curtly. I stare at his profile, but he won’t look at me.
“Why didn’t you mention this yesterday?” I ask sharply. We spent all day yesterday trying to figure out a way to sneak ourselves in.
He hesitates, but says, “It’s not something I’m accustomed to using. It was more of Marik’s interest as a kid. Plus, we’re in this mess because of dark magic.”
A memory of Marik and me sitting in bed flits into my mind, Marik telling me that Asmo was the one who used to play with dark magic. So, that’s how he got around that lie.
“Yeah, well. I don’t think we can afford to gloss over any tool in our toolbox,” I snap, but I regret it. We’re all running on fumes and acting like that isn’t going to help anything. I bury my head into my hands.
“Princess, dark magic is powerful stuff. There’s a reason it’s been banned for centuries. Nobody should know how to use it,” Asmo says. “It’s designed to whittle away your soul with every use. But I don’t think we have a choice.”
I lift my head. “I won’t force anybody to do it, but I agree. We’ve been talking about this for days and this is the best—no, the only— idea so far. It seems like our only option.”
“Holly needs to stay behind,” Luca says. “She’s not strong enough to wield dark magic.”
“I’m right here,” Holly snarls at him. Gone is the sweet, innocent girl from before. Life has found a way to harden her, to sharpen her into something colder.
“He’s right,” Asmo says quietly. “Dark magic is hard on the body, and there’s no reason you need to be wielding it.”
She shoots a look at him, but nods in resignation. “Fine. I’ll stay here. But I’m portaling in if you lot don’t come back at the agreed-upon time.”
“Portals to the castle grounds will be opened at first light and will close at sundown. They will be available in every town square,” Ivan says. “Asmo, how does this dark magic spell work?”
Asmo leans forward, his weight shifting the couch.
“It’s one of the easiest spells in the book, so that’s good news.
All you have to do is think of a person as you draw the symbol.
It’s best to think of someone you know or look at someone right in front of you.
If you try to transform your features into an idea instead of after an actual person, you’ll likely end up messing something up.
Marik and I used to carve the spells into our skin while we looked at each other. ”
“How cute,” Holly mutters from the shadows.
Asmo ignores her and dips his finger into a nearby glass of water. He draws a wet symbol on the back of one of the discarded newspapers. It looks like an oval with an X in the center.
“You want us to carve that into our skin?” I ask in disbelief. I’m no stranger to taking a blade to myself, but I imagine the others are.
He grimaces, but nods. “It’s painful, but it’s not hard. It’s like your magic recognizes what you’re doing and helps you. You could always paint it on your skin with blood, but I’m worried about it flaking off. The risk is too great.”
“Well, we can’t exactly stare at each other and do the spell. It sounds like we need to portal to another town to get our…models,” Ivan says, hesitating on the word. “I don’t see another choice. Does anyone else?” he asks, looking around the room.
Everyone is silent. We know there isn’t one.
Ivan nods in acceptance. “It’s already late afternoon. Let’s head out, find our marks, then we can come back and discuss the rest of the plan.”
The portal spits us out on top of a hill. The bustling town of Roselake lies below, shoppers flitting to and from different merchant stands like tiny ants.
We begin the trek downward.
People jostle past each other on the narrow streets, everyone seemingly in a hurry to get to their destinations. The first time someone bumped into me, my pulse skyrocketed. By the fifth time, I didn’t even budge.