Chapter 1 #2
“What just happened?” I held his stare, desperate to shatter the hold the words had had on him. The ones, that for whatever fucking reason, hadn’t dug their claws into me. Something to ruminate on later.
“Rai was named king, man. Were you not watching?” Oz gestured toward the dais, now blocked off by Walkers.
“What about everything before the coronation?” I looked around the room, trying to make sense of anything. But nothing felt tangible, as if everything was falling through my fingers. Everyone was falling through my fingers.
“What are you talking about?” He clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s get some food into you, Kad. It’s coronation day. There is going to be a feast, and as I said, I’m starving.”
Coronation day.
“The food was amazing at the ball in the House of Shadows. Do you think they asked Brida to plan this one too, since she’s a member now and everything? Do you think they’ll have those things, you know those little ones that puffed up? What did Brida say they were called?”
His concern is food. Not the disappearance of our two closest friends, the murder of the heir, and the slaughtering of Addie.
Oz lifted his hand to his face and rubbed his brows. His classic stance while deep in thought. Maybe he’s coming to.
“Vol au vents, that’s it!” He laughed. “We’ll likely have to beat Lil to them if we want any for ourselves.”
Brida. Lil. Where are they? I had told Brida I would protect her. Be there for her. And now…
“Whoa, look at me, Kad,” Oz said, his voice cutting through my fog.
“What?” I snapped, blood humming through my veins, the pulse of it drowning out all other sound. I need to get to them. We all need to free ourselves from this place. Find them, and free ourselves.
“Your eyes are really intense right now. You must be hungry, I know I am. Let’s go get food.
Maybe Tamra and Amera are there.” He added with a laugh, steering me toward the door.
I wasn’t sure what he meant. I knew my hair had changed at the selection ceremony, but my eyes hadn’t changed yet, had they?
It was unusual for Court of Shadows members for eye color to change this soon.
The walk to the reception hall was filled with mindless chatter, but I remained numb.
My arms and legs felt as if they didn’t belong to me, but marched along to the lifeless drum that dictated everyone’s movements as we strode down the corridors of the palace.
I needed to slip away, to find someone, anyone who knew where they were.
Where would I even begin to look? And how would I save them?
They’d both been in front of me, and I’d just watched them, unable to interfere. I’d failed not only them, but myself.
Alvar had been murdered. Murdered by the man they proclaimed as king. What will he do now that he has control? What wouldn’t a kinslayer be willing to do? I dragged my hand over my face, struggling not to let my mouth gape open. I need to get out of here. But where do I even begin to look?
“I think Rai will make a fine king,” someone said.
“He was the right choice,” another murmured.
Except the mark didn’t appear on him. He stole the crown, or Thalius did.
But the Wind Walkers. Why would they agree to involve themselves? The courts functioned together out of necessity to establish the laws of the land, but everyone knew at their cores they hated one another. Why would the Court of Reflection not opt to put one of their own on the throne?
The dining hall was decorated in an awful mix of blues, reds, blacks, and whites—symbolic of the Courts of Reflection and Shadows, symbolic of the unification of two courts, not of a coronation day. It was hideous.
I looked over to a group of girls to our left, all new members of the Court of Whispers.
Violet now streaked their hair, and a cool breeze radiated from them—almost as chilling as their stares.
They too did not want to be here, but it wasn’t for their understanding of what had transpired.
Merely from an instilled hatred of the other.
Every court that was not theirs. Four courts, four ideologies.
Each claiming superiority over the other.
Meanwhile, humans were left to rot outside the walls of Azmeer.
Is this what I’ll be forced to endure now? I looked back to Oz, who remained oblivious, piling food onto his plate. Come on, Oz. You’re better than this. We are better than this. Think, just remember!
I looked at the people around the room, all congregating with fellow court members, distancing themselves from the others.
Turning my gaze back to Oz, I wondered if we would be forced to disassociate now that I was in the Court of Shadows and he the Eternal Court.
Will that be expected, demanded of us? I wouldn’t allow it.
I rubbed my chest. The sensation that had been tugging at me earlier was back, stronger now, the strain more palpable. As if whatever was tethered to it at the other end was a greater distance. Torn from me.
Guests mingled as if nothing had happened while discussing the droughts that had been plaguing the lands outside Azmeer, the interesting weather patterns that had been seen in the Tactras Mountains in recent months, how exciting it was that their courts had grown mere days before.
“Got you a plate,” Oz said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “I don’t see Tamra anywhere. She must’ve snuck off with Amera. Typical.” He scoffed.
“Ah, a fine blessing,” a guest declared while raising a glass of champagne. “Rain! And when we are in such desperate need of it.”
“Rai’s reign has been blessed from the skies.” A man agreed.
“A symbol of fertility.” Another said.
A boom of thunder, unlike any I’d ever heard, crashed in the sky like cymbals. It startled some, but not enough to wake them from this stupor. The rain came in slow, but as it picked up its speed, it railed against the stained-glass windows.
“Thanks.” It had only rained a few times since we’d arrived in Azmeer, the last time being the day we’d looked into the Mirrors of Reflection. When I’d seen Lil…
“You think we should bring a plate to Brida?” Oz asked between bites.
I would bring her a plate if I knew where the fuck she was. If I knew why she’d been taken or involved in any of this.
“She’ll be fine,” I said, forcing a smile. Will she? Will Lil? Would they torture Brida for her association with Alvar? For working with him? Do they think she knows something… Does she know something? Will Lil be able to take on Dainan if she needs to? Would he harm her? Why would he take her…
Walkers guarded the door, guaranteeing our appearance at this event.
Rai, Thalius, and the one who had whispered the news of the coronation made their rounds of the room.
Rai and Thalius each wore smiles of victory across their faces, while the Whisperer’s face never changed.
As stoic as a sculpture, it almost made me wonder if he was real.
A triumvirate of evil. What monstrosities would they inflict on Azmeer as a collective?
Rai wore no crown. He remained in his wedding clothes. A simple black suit, as Dainan’s had been, except Rai’s had red embroidered throughout. Reminding the world of his court affiliation.
For hours, we were forced to endure the patrolling presence of the Walkers. Gusts of wind pushing back anyone who attempted to leave.
The only time anyone left the room was when a newly minted Court of Shadows member spontaneously burst into flame.
Something that had caused both hysteria and delight, depending on the guests.
No one had warned us about our magic consuming us.
A fear I would now live with until my magic, whatever it was, asserted itself.
The Wind Walkers removed his corpse with ease, leaving the rest of us to continue on with the farce of an evening.
When I’d asked Oz if it seemed odd to him that we were being held here against our will, he brushed it off. “Rai’s gotta make sure he keeps up appearances, he has big shoes to fill. Elidas was beloved by most.”
I overheard two Court of Whispers members speaking as they passed us, “Dinner and a show. How marvelous.”
It had taken everything in me not to scream.
It was only when Thalius and Rai left that the Walkers relinquished their patrol, the path to the doors no longer blocked. “Let’s go,” I said to Oz, pushing him towards the exit, needing to be free of the room. I need to get out, I need air, I need…
“You look like shit,” Oz said as we reached our floor.
Of course I did. Every single person in there should look the same as me, and for whatever reason, I’d been singled out.
“I’m just tired.” It wasn’t the worst lie I’d ever told, but it was up there. I wanted to tell him, but what would he say? That I needed sleep, or worse, take me to the infirmary thinking the tea I’d been given was giving me visions of a sort?
“Get some sleep. Maybe tomorrow I’ll finally beat you at the rock wall,” Oz laughed, slapping my shoulder. “Even if we’re in different courts, I will still take pride in kicking your ass, brother.”
I nodded, barely able to do anything else before muttering, “Night, Oz.”
I fumbled with my door handle, pushing into the darkness of my room. The birds outside had stopped their singing, like they knew that something was out of place.
I reached the desk and searched for the matches that lay scattered across it.
I’d never been organized, not in the way Brida had.
I managed okay, I found things when I needed them.
And in this moment, I needed light. I found the closest one, and lit the candle that sat next to the stylus and paper I’d never used.
Lifting the candle, I turned to face the window.
I froze.
A wall of living shadows stood before me, hissing as they swirled downward, revealing the shape of a woman.
“We need to talk.”