Chapter Twenty-Nine
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Scarlett
If I had known that wearing someone else’s face would be so liberating, I would have done it years ago. Then again, Zandri wouldn’t have given up the blood ruby before now. Not without a very compelling reason.
Standing in the entrance to the throne room, my eyes went to my father, who sat regally above the assembled candidates. Ivalene stood at his side, and just below her was Zandri, her shoulders decorated with dark feathers that gave the impression of wings.
No one had noticed us yet, but that could change at any moment. I glanced at Mira and frowned. ‘You’re not going to wear that in, surely.’ Sabine’s voice – a higher, more musical pitch than mine – was incredulous. ‘Even I wouldn’t antagonise the court so openly.’
‘The emperor already wants me dead,’ Mira said, reaching up to straighten the crown. ‘He can’t kill me twice.’
I raised a brow, torn between admiration and disbelief. The longer I spent with Mira, the more I liked her – and the more I worried that she wouldn’t make it through the Trials.
But I only shook my head. ‘It’s your funeral.’
A hush fell as we stepped into view. All eyes turned to us, lingering longest on Mira. As we came closer, the emperor’s gaze went straight to the golden crown she wore.
‘What is the meaning of this?’ he asked, addressing his wife. ‘Why is that girl —’ he stabbed a finger at Mira—‘wearing my son’s crown?’
Ivalene flinched back from the emperor’s disapproval. Her face was tight with shock, and I knew this wasn’t the outcome she’d intended. She’d probably given Mira this task hoping that Cassius would kill her himself.
‘It was her trial, Your Majesty. As you know, each of the candidates was instructed to steal a specific object. This was hers.’
Emperor Kalias considered Ivalene for an uncomfortably long time. ‘Well, then.’ His voice was low and cold. ‘I suppose congratulations are in order.’
‘Not quite,’ the empress said quickly. ‘The task is only considered complete if all group members are present. I can see only the candidates from the Order of Masks and Artisans – but where is the third?’ She paused, her expression turning triumphant. ‘Where is your Warrior?’
‘I’m here,’ a voice called.
I turned to see Aric striding between the giant candelabras. There was a shallow cut across his forehead, but other than that, he appeared unharmed.
‘You’re late,’ Ivalene said harshly. ‘According to the rules—’
‘The Trial officially ends at midnight,’ Aric interrupted. ‘It’s not midnight yet, Your Majesty.’
Though he phrased the words respectfully, the royal guards visibly bristled. Candidates weren’t supposed to speak without being asked a direct question first. Aric had broken those rules. He’d done so politely, but the indication of rebellion was clear.
The emperor allowed the silence to linger, probably hoping Ivalene would protest further. When she didn’t, he spoke. ‘As I said, it would seem congratulations are in order. Approach the dais and receive your reward.’
I led the way, keeping my head down. My pulse raced as I walked up the steps to the black marble dais, but Sabine’s features shielded me from the scrutiny of the audience.
I curtsied deeply when I reached the stone throne, and my father showed no ill will as he pinned a small gold token to my dancer’s outfit. Our eyes met and for an instant, I feared he might recognise me. That he might order his guards to drag me away.
But, of course, he didn’t. The illusion held.
‘Thank you, Your Majesty,’ I said softly, sweet and demure – the exact opposite of the girl I’d been pretending to be.
Then it was Mira’s turn. If she was nervous, she didn’t show it; she climbed the steps confidently, ignoring the hostile glances in her direction. Her gaze didn’t shift from the emperor as she lifted Cassius’s golden crown from her head.
‘I believe this belongs to you,’ she said, extending it to him.
He took the crown wordlessly, his eyes boring into her face. Even from a distance, I could see the promise of retribution in their depths.
Zandri was right. Keeping Mira alive was going to take a miracle.
I slipped away from the palace and into the fire-lit gardens beyond, inhaling the cool night air.
Holding the illusion – even with the blood ruby’s assistance – was taxing. I pressed my fingers to my temple, feeling a headache coming on.
I only closed my eyes for a moment, but when I reopened them, I had the sense that I was no longer alone. It was an innate awareness, one that made me turn—
Severin was standing behind me. Even in the blackness, his beauty was devastating; that was the right word for it, I knew, because it ripped into me and left me breathless. He was cutting edges and creeping tattoos, intriguing and unfathomable all at once. Devastating was the perfect description.
‘I’ve been watching you.’
His words sent a thrill through me, but I feigned nonchalance. ‘Have you?’ I asked, tilting my head in Sabine’s playful manner. ‘And why is that, I wonder?’
‘Walk with me,’ Severin said, ‘and I’ll tell you.’
My pulse quickened. I looked down at his outstretched hand for a moment before taking it.
We walked without speaking, our shoes crunching against the gravel. This was a path we’d retraced many times before, and that said enough. When it came to Severin, there was no such thing as coincidence.
‘How did you know?’
Severin cast me a sideways glance. The moonlight played over the sharp lines of his face. ‘I’ll always recognise you, Scarlett. No matter whose face you wear.’
As if to solidify his comment, he turned towards the greenhouse. It was an expansive building with a curved glass roof, and unlike the rest of the palace grounds, it was somewhere that guaranteed privacy at night. As we knew from experience.
‘What happened to the real Sabine?’
It sounded like an idle question, but I knew it wasn’t. Severin was fiercely protective of the members of his Order, and candidates were no exception.
‘She’s fine,’ I said quickly, thinking of the girl currently tied up in Zandri’s tower. ‘My mother will make sure she remembers none of this. She’ll wake up tomorrow, relieved that she passed the first Trial.’
It was a testament to how well Severin knew Zandri that this didn’t surprise him. He only nodded and said nothing more on the subject. I had no doubt he disapproved, but with my mother involved, there was nothing he could do.
While there were no braziers inside the humid greenhouse, there was little need for them. Moonlight filtered in through the glass, faintly illuminating the plants in their glorious wildness.
Severin and I strolled amongst the greenery until we were enveloped by the scent of night-blooming plants. I paused to admire a moonflower, its round petals glistening with a silvery sheen. Beside me, Severin was studying a tall flower with vivid red spots.
‘This one is a blister lily,’ he said when he caught me looking. ‘It’s native to Etheria – your brother’s latest conquest,’ he added, at my blank expression.
It seemed strange to associate Roran with a flower, even one so obviously poisonous. But no stranger than having Severin tell me its name, as if nothing had changed between us.
Perhaps he read that thought on my face.
‘I’m sorry for avoiding you.’ His eyes were earnest even in the semi-darkness. ‘I couldn’t stand to watch you with the governor, and I was afraid.’
‘Afraid?’ I asked, feeling myself soften.
‘I was afraid you’d ask me to stay, even when you became another man’s wife. And I was afraid that if you did, I wouldn’t be able to refuse you.’
I was silent for a moment. Would I have asked that of him? If I hadn’t had a plan for the governor, would I have convinced Severin to remain at my side – even if it broke his heart?
‘You think me selfish,’ I whispered, and the realisation wasn’t a comfortable one.
‘I think,’ Severin said, slowly and cautiously, ‘that you can be relentless when it comes to what you want.’
Which was another way of saying yes.
‘But there’s something else, isn’t there?’ I guessed, sinking into a nearby chaise. ‘Something you’re not saying.’
Severin took a seat next to me. ‘I saw something in the Elusive Isles,’ he admitted softly. ‘An ending that I didn’t understand, involving you. But I’m beginning to.’
He cast me a heavy glance that I couldn’t quite decipher. As warm as the greenhouse was, I had to suppress a sudden shiver.
It was dangerous, asking Severin certain questions. Sometimes, the future was best left alone.
Still, I couldn’t help myself. I had to know.
‘What kind of ending?’
‘I can’t tell you that, I’m afraid.’ He sounded apologetic, but it stung nevertheless.
‘Fine,’ I said coolly. ‘Keep your secrets.’
I started to stand, but he caught my arm. His skin was deliciously warm against mine, thawing some of the ice within me.
‘What I can tell you,’ he said quietly, ‘is that you’re about to become a contender.’
I didn’t have to ask for what. In the Ravalian Court, there was only one thing that mattered: power. And in my case, that meant the throne.
I should have been focused on the future he described, on that glorious, golden word – contender . And yet there was something about the way he said it that bothered me. His face was almost too expressionless, as if he was concealing a larger truth.
That was the problem with Severin; he read me so well, so easily , and yet he always managed to remain a mystery.
‘What do I need to do? To succeed?’
Though my words were mild, adrenaline pumped through my blood, setting my nerves alight. Was he saying that he’d Seen me win against my brothers? That my mother’s plan really would clear the path to the throne?
Severin fixed me with those piercing, mismatched eyes. ‘I think you already know. I think you’ve known for weeks.’
I bristled at the accusation in his voice. ‘You can’t blame me for working with Zandri. Not when you’re doing the same.’
‘Not by choice,’ Severin corrected. ‘Zandri has my blood ruby. I have no option but to obey her.’
My irritation quickly faded. Blood rubies were Zandri’s invention, her way of distilling the essence of a person – and their magical potential – into a form she could control. She had blood rubies for everyone she inducted into the Orders, but I hadn’t known she was actively using Severin’s.
‘That will change,’ I promised him, my hand tightening around the blood ruby Zandri had given to me – my blood ruby, resting reassuringly against my skin. ‘Once Kalias is gone and the throne is mine, I’ll be able to do things differently – rule differently. You’ll be free. We both will.’
Severin regarded me steadily, in that irritatingly unreadable way of his. ‘Scar, what Zandri is planning . . . it’s—’
‘I don’t want to talk about Zandri right now,’ I said sharply, brushing back the fabric of my clothes to bare my shoulders. Without releasing his gaze, I stood from the chaise and let the silk fall to the floor.
Answering heat burned in his eyes, the unbridled passion that always simmered just below the surface. I felt the stirrings of my own desire as I leant in and undressed him with slow, sensuous movements.
I shifted to straddle him, my long hair caging us both in a curtain of fire. With a light, reverent finger, I traced along his strong jawline. ‘Did you mean what you said, the night of my birthday?’
Severin’s naked body was vibrant in the moonlight, his eyes riveted on mine. ‘You know I did.’
‘Good,’ I murmured, and claimed his lips.
My kiss wasn’t gentle. It was searing and passionate, and I realised I preferred it like this. I preferred the fierce heat between us, like the harsh burn of a fever, chasing the memory of ice away. The knowledge that, for now at least, I was perfectly in control.
And if there was no more room for questions or conversation—
Even better.