Chapter 10 #2
Then the handle jiggles. It jiggles again. Metal scrapes into the lock, and the bolt slides free. My eyes widen and my chest squeezes. He has a key.
Lord Norville swings open the door and steps back into my room. “Now that wasn’t very smart, was it?”
“I’m so sorry, my lord,” I say, trying to maintain normalcy even though I’m shaking. “I’ll come to your office first thing, if I could just…”
I make a move for the door, and he steps into my path. I duck and try again, but he shifts again, blocking my way.
It might be my imagination, but he’s even bigger than before. The room ripples, like chaos magic is spilling out of him. He stalks forward, and I back away, farther than this room should allow. The room wavers and stretches, before snapping into place.
I hit the far wall.
“Where are you going? I just offered you something no servant would ever dream of.”
“I should really sleep…”
I try to dart to one side, and he grabs my wrist, yanking me to him.
“I offered you a prophecy. How about you show a little appreciation?”
“No, I will. I just need…” I try to tug free, but he’s too strong. My knife is under the bed, out of reach. “I need to get something from the kitchen…”
“I’ll give you the prophecy anyway, even if you are ungrateful.” His wine-sour breath coats my face as he leans down, the lantern flickering in his violet eyes. “My prophecy is this: you’ll be mine.”
A spike of panic shoots hot and cold through me. I shove against him, twisting to break loose. His hold doesn’t give as I flail and shriek.
“Can we talk about the children?” I hear the plea in my voice, and how pathetic it sounds, pretending there is still a version of this conversation I can steer us back to. If I can’t get him to go back to normal…if I can’t get him to stop…
A thump sounds, and his grip slackens. His eyes roll back as he releases my arm and collapses, revealing another figure behind him.
It takes a moment to recognize the tall frame of Alaris. He lowers the hand that must have delivered the blow, his eyes moving from Norville on the floor to me, pressed against the wall in my nightgown.
“Are you alright?” he asks.
I can’t make my mouth work. I watch Norville, braced for him to rise up and come at me again. My wrist throbs where he grabbed it.
But Norville stays crumpled and still. He looks so much smaller than the man who loomed over me.
“Are you alright?” Alaris asks again.
“Hm? Yes.”
His head swivels toward the corridor. He crosses to the door and shuts it. The thunk of the wood makes me flinch.
“Some servants were coming,” he says, stepping to one side of the doorframe. “I couldn’t let them see.”
I shake my head. “No, I need to get someone…to tell someone…”
I rush forward and grab the handle.
“Wait,” Alaris says, holding it shut with one hand.
I tug, then brace a foot on the frame and haul with all my strength. The door doesn’t budge. Panic rises. “Let. Me. Out.”
“I will. Just listen. I’m going to let go, but don’t open it yet.” He raises his other hand in an offer of surrender. I stop pulling, and he releases it entirely and steps away. He settles against the far wall.
There is nothing between me and the exit, but I keep my hands on the handle behind my back.
“Think for a moment,” he says. “No one in this manor warned you about him. Do you think others here will side with you if you tell them what the lord came to your room tonight to do?”
“They will. I’ll tell them the truth and…”
“Sadly, they will not. I know because they let you stay here. If they’d told the women before you, maybe there would be one less woman missing. She’s only the latest in the list of young women he claims left of their own accord.”
The room darkens around the edges. Isn’t that what Malda said? That the last governess left suddenly? The same one that Bowan claimed was never late?
I felt so lucky to find a place here. I thought Norville wanted me for my education. Now I know he just wanted me for…
I suck in a quick breath, then another. Alaris was right. He was right about Norville, and he’s right about the staff. I can’t expect help from anyone in this house.
Alaris’s eyes flick to my chest, to how fast it’s rising and falling, then back up. He draws in a slow breath and lets it out, then does it again. I try to match the rhythm, but my own keeps coming much faster.
Cool air wafts over me, and it helps. I let it fill my lungs.
“You need to leave before he wakes up,” he says. “Do you have somewhere you can go?”
I shake my head. I can’t go back without a prophecy. “I’ll have to catch another ferry.”
“Norville will catch you if you take a ferry or go on foot. I can help you travel. Do you have somewhere I can take you?”
I open my mouth and close it. “No.”
He raises an eyebrow at me. “Nowhere?”
“Is that a problem?”
He studies me. “Most people have somewhere.”
“Well, I don’t,” I snap. Focusing my anger on Alaris feels clearer than anything else happening right now.
“Aren’t you the Sovereign of Arastos? I may not be able to get help from the people in this manor, but if you want him arrested, you could demand it.
Then I wouldn’t have to run from him at all. ”
He leans back and his eyes shutter, no emotion on his face. “His time will come.” His voice is low. “Now isn’t the right moment for me to get involved in battles with other provinces.”
Coward, I think but don’t say. He’s happy to drink Norville’s wine and flirt with his guests and issue private warnings, but not get publicly involved? I like this lord less and less.
He sighs. “If you truly have nowhere, you can travel with me to Arastos.”
My eyes widen. Arastos, the land of night, is at the shadoward edge of the continent. Farther from the flame than I ever imagined traveling.
“I can take you anywhere between here and there, but I suggest you decide quickly.” His eyes dip down to Norville. “I’m not sure if I can hit him like that again and avoid killing him.”
He kicks Norville’s foot. To test his consciousness or for sport, I can’t be sure.
Without a prophecy, the best thing I can get is distance from my father and the masked man pursuing me. Arastos is the last place anyone would think to look for Princess Lysandra, or a missing governess.
“Fine,” I concede. “Arastos it is.”
“Then pack. We’ll leave immediately.”
“Turn around.”
When he complies, I pull my uniform over my nightgown as fast as my shaking hands allow. I untie my pouch of jewels from the slats beneath my mattress and grab my knife, shoving both into the bottom of my travel bag next to the seeds and jar of lobellum. Everything else in reach goes on top.
“I’m ready,” I say. “Which way to your carriage?”
“Ah.” He is quiet for a moment. “We can’t take the carriage.”
“What?”
“If I wake half the staff to ready my carriage in the middle of the night, Norville will figure out exactly what happened to the back of his head.” He pushes off the wall. “I can help you leave. But not in a way that leads back to me.”
This sovereign seems far too concerned with his own reputation. “Then how do you propose to get me to Arastos?”
“I have a way we can leave unseen.” He hesitates now, his calm facade briefly broken by some silent indecision. He slowly reaches inside his jacket. “I had a feeling I’d need this with me on this trip. Somnus is always a chaotic holiday.”
He pulls out a faceted crystal with a point on one end and delicate silver etchings on each flat side.
“What is that for?”
Norville stirs, his arm twitching.
“No time to explain,” Alaris mutters. He slashes it down in front of him.
A glowing white line appears where the crystal passed, crackling like lightning. It splits open, revealing darkness, as if he’s cut a hole in reality. The black opening hangs there in midair.
“What is that?” I’ve never seen anything like it.
Norville groans.
Alaris grabs my hand and pulls me through.