Chapter 26
Petra
Un-fucking-believable. Not one of them had it in them to lay a hand on me in the name of protecting the realm?
“Don’t move.” Katia’s words were spoken slowly, pulling me from my annoyance and sending a chill up my spine. Her voice was low and trembling in the pitch black. “Petra, do not move.”
I took stock of my senses, sinking into the familiar feeling of inhabiting a bodiless form in the Darkness Beyond. I heard the familiar sound of the Occulti’s chittering and hissing. Familiar, but…
They hadn’t been here when I’d visited Katia and Rhedros before.
“He has guards here now,” Katia said slowly, each word spoken softly, almost like she was trying to make them blend into the background noise.
“Guards?” I asked as quietly as I could .
“Demons patrolling,” she answered slowly. “He knows you’ve found us here.”
I swallowed hard, wincing when one of the eerie screeches seemed to come close and then speed away. “They don’t see me?” I asked carefully.
“We don’t know,” Rhedros answered, and something inside me relaxed at the sound of his voice.
I took a steadying breath. My entire being buzzed with questions and adrenaline in a combination that made my invisible body feel taut as a bowstring.
“We found Noros,” I whispered.
I couldn’t tell amid the noises, but it sounded like Katia let out a quiet sob.
“That’s wonderful,” she said finally. Maybe it was the snapping talons and skittering sounds, but it sounded like there was something souring her joyous tone.
Just a little, just enough to notice. Like she had to force the words out because maybe, they weren’t completely true.
“We never wanted Malosym to find you,” Rhedros whispered.
“I’m going to free you,” I said carefully.
“ No ,” Rhedros breathed.
I felt like the rug had been pulled from beneath me. “No? What do you mean no ?”
“It is far too dangerous for you. Do not come for us. Not anymore.” His voice was urgent, a tone of desperation beneath its rippled surface.
“I don’t understand, I thought–”
“Stay with Noros,” Katia cut in, her tone just as hurried as Rhedros’.
“Will he have answers?” I held my breath as another noise came and went, but there was no answer from either Keeper. “I’m going to get you out of–”
I was cut off by the sound of Katia’s gasp followed by Rhedros’ scream of horror. “Get off of her!” he bellowed. “Petra, get out of here! ”
I was frozen, listening in horror as their screams filled the void. I wanted to move, wanted to call out, but the words stuck in my throat as I stared into the darkness. Rhedros screamed out in pain, the sound rattling through my body.
“Petra,” Cal’s muffled voice cut through the darkness. No. Not yet.
But consciousness was yanking me backward, like a wave receding back into the ocean. “I’ll get you out of here!” I roared, hoping they heard me.
◆ ◆ ◆
I shot straight up, my ears ringing as I gasped for breath. The back of my head ached. It felt like parts of my mind were still making their way back over the barrier, and I fought to distinguish what I was seeing from the world I’d been in just moments ago.
As soon as my eyes opened, Cal’s palms were on my cheeks, his eyes scanning mine. “Don’t you dare do that again, Petra,” he fumed, anger in his words but fear in his gaze. “Promise me.”
“I’ll make no such promise. You better hit me next time,” I mumbled, squinting in the daylight that streamed through the window.
“The Occulti are there,” I breathed, my lungs burning as I fought to even my breathing.
Cal’s face slackened, his scolding put on hold until later.
Miles and Tyrak were crouched at my sides, Miles’ face hardened while Tyrak’s was desperate.
“They weren’t there before, and now they are.
Katia and Rhedros are being guarded. Malosym knows I’ve been communicating with them.
Can the Occulti kill Katia and Rhedros?”
Tyrak’s chest seemed to still for a moment as he stared at me. “I don’t believe so,” he finally answered, and the tightness in my chest loosened slightly. “Did you see her?”
“No. I’ve never actually seen them. Only spoken with them. ”
“And did they tell you anything else?” His expression was unreadable, his tone as well.
“They told me not to try to free them.”
Tyrak blinked, scanning my face. “She said that?”
“Rhedros did. One of the first times I spoke with them in the Darkness Beyond, they told me I was the only one who could free them. But now, they told me not to.”
“Their plans have changed.”
What was that look on his face? Fear? Apprehension? “Can you just tell me what the fuck you’re thinking?”
Unruffled by my tone, Tyrak took a deep breath. “Their original plan was hoping Malosym never found you. They didn’t know you’d be able to pass into the Darkness Beyond, so I can only assume hope had grown from that. But if Rhedros is asking you not to, that means it is far too dangerous to try.”
“But…” I shook my head. “What comes next? They’re locked away forever? What if they die? I just… I don’t understand.”
He didn’t answer, his eyes going distant for a beat. “Did she say anything else?”
I eyed him, unsure of how to feel. “Was there something else you were expecting her to tell me?”
Tyrak shook his head once, his expression morphing back into concern.
He was keeping something from me. That much was clear.
But my head was still murky and I needed some air.
I pushed to my feet, ignoring the three outstretched hands from the three men around me.
Dusting my skirts off, I rolled my eyes. “Oh, now you want to help me?”
◆ ◆ ◆
I’d sent word to the King and Queen that another member of my court had arrived, and they arranged the room adjacent to our suite for Tyrak. I hadn’t seen much of either of them since our initial dinner, and I was content to keep it that way .
“You need more rest, Petra,” he chided from where he walked behind me. “Three hours was not enough.”
He was right, three hours was not enough to heal whatever I’d done to my head when I threw myself from the table. But just like the pain that rang through my head with every movement I made, so too did Rhedros’ words. Do not come for us.
But why? If I could access the Darkness Beyond, if I could free them, why wouldn’t I?
“Petra.” I could tell by the way Cal said my name it wasn’t the first time he’d said it, and he studied my face when I finally turned to him. “You’re thinking about Katia and Rhedros, aren’t you?
“I just don’t understand why they wouldn’t want me to free them.”
He pursed his lips, and I knew he had no answer for me.
I let out an exasperated sigh as Cal pushed through the doors of the library.
“Alright, we’re looking for whatever we can find.
” The smell of dust and parchment had quickly become familiar to me, and I held it in my lungs for a moment.
It smelled like hope and the only bit of control I had here.
I had to wait until the ball, but I didn’t have to be idle.
Cal let out an exasperated sigh. “Whatever we can find.” The sunlight shining through the atrium caught the molten gemstone tones of his eyes, and I all but froze in my steps.
Saints, I could lose myself in them. I could swim in the sapphire sea, fall asleep in the emerald grass.
One day, maybe I could, when this was all over.
“Okay,” I said. “You take the even stacks, and I’ll take the odd.”
He nodded, leaning in to place a chaste kiss against my lips before we disappeared between the packed shelves.
I decided to start from the back this time, since most days we’d scanned the library from the front.
The library grew darker the deeper I walked, the light from the atrium quickly swallowed by the towering shelves.
The smell of dust and leather was stronger back here.
I told myself it was the smell of promise, of truths waiting to be uncovered.
When I made it to the very last stack, I squinted in the dimness, this area lit by just a single torch.
My fingers bumped over the spines of books as my eyes moved over their titles. I’d developed a bit of a system during my time here, scanning each section of shelves top to bottom before moving on to the next one, but I was still afraid of missing something.
My search yielded just two books — neither of which I felt particularly hopeful about — and I made my way out of the last row. But something stopped me in my tracks.
The back wall of the library was covered in all manner of art.
Tapestries and paintings and what looked like carvings on thin pieces of stone.
Why would all this art be hidden away back here?
Peering over my shoulder to make sure I was alone, I conjured a small flame from the tip of my pointer finger, just enough light to see.
Something told me I’d be scolded by a librarian if I was caught with fire so close to books and precious art pieces.
I leaned closer to one of the paintings, a quiet gasp leaving me when I realized what I was seeing.
A portrait of King Laion and Queen Irli stared back at me, both in what looked to be the full royal regalia of Nesan.
Queen Irli’s eye makeup was dark, her face severe, but not as severe as Laion’s.
His dark brows were furrowed, eyes staring right through me.
Below them were three chairs, the outer two occupied by two young women.
They both had the same deep black hair as the King and Queen, and it was easy to see the resemblance between the women and Irli.
But the person in the middle…
A young man, if I had to guess by the surcoat that was similar to the one Laion wore. But where his face should’ve been was nothing but the sandstone wall the picture hung upon. It looked as if the man’s face had been cut out hastily, the edges tattered and frayed .
I moved on to the next tapestry only for my eyes to land upon the same thing.
The King and Queen, the two young women who I assumed were their daughters, and a third figure, this one appearing to have been burned away.
The edges of the threads that remained were blackened, the rest of the family peering out from the fabric with matching looks of regality.
Down the wall I went, my eyes roving over the art pieces in search of the faceless man. In every piece, his face was absent, chiseled out of every carving, burned or torn out of every tapestry, cut from every painting.
“What the fuck?” I whispered to myself.
This had to be the Lost Heir. But why had he been removed?
“Find something?” Cal asked out of nowhere, and I jumped in place, the small flame on my finger winking out.
“Fucking Saints, Cal,” I breathed, a hand over my chest.
“Apologies,” he answered with a mischievous smile. “What is it?”
I called upon the flame in my fingertip again, holding it out. “Look.”
“A somewhat hidden art gallery?” he asked, raising a brow.
“No. Look .” I held the flame closer, watching Cal’s expression morph into confusion, his eyes narrowing as he moved through the art pieces the same way I had.
“The Lost Heir?” he asked quietly, his eyes still glued to one of the portraits.
“I’m assuming so. But why would they want him removed from their family portraits?” I asked. “If he was so beloved by his people, wouldn’t they want to remember him?” I scratched my head with my free hand, wincing when my fingers ran over the sore spot. “Is this some sort of Nesanian tradition?”
“It could be.”
The conversation I’d overheard between Laion and Irli was on the tip of my tongue. But something stopped me from sharing .
I nodded, inhaling the scent of dust once again, bringing my mind back to the books in my arms. “Let’s get reading.”
We made our way out of the darkened library, the light of the atrium beckoning us forward like a beacon. A librarian was pacing when we exited, her eyes widening when she saw us emerge from the stacks.
“Queen Petra,” the petite, mousy woman said, lowering herself into a curtsy. “Queen Irli has requested you meet her in the east garden for a walk.”
A walk? I almost rolled my fucking eyes. “Thank you,” I managed to say with some semblance of kindness before the librarian scurried away.
“That’s nice,” Cal offered, though I knew he could tell I was irritated.
“Evil is on its way to us, and I’m going to take a fucking walk.”