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A smattering of applause followed, awed murmurs breaking out across the gathered crowd.

‘To have saved both king and princess? She’s a true warrior of Thezmarr!’

‘She truly is the Shadow of Death.’

‘Wraith slayer! A legend of Thezmarr in our midst…’

The whispers filled the hall, each one coloured with more admiration than the last. Once, Thea had dreamt of such praise and respect, had yearned for this very reputation as one of the midrealms’ elite. But an icy shiver raked down her spine, like the scrape of a talon. She glanced across at Cal and Kipp, who, like the rest of the court, were beaming all too brightly. Gratitude and reverence shone in their stares – an unnatural display of feeling, she realised.

While she could no longer wield magic herself, her brief experience with it had made her familiar with such things, and now she recognised the strange emotional fog that had cloaked the room for what it was: empath magic.

But Thea was no fool. She bowed graciously, adding a flourish of enthusiasm. ‘We were merely doing our duty, Your Majesty.’

It seemed the line had become the unofficial motto of their quest, its meaning more blurred with every utterance.

King Artos looked pleased. ‘You are all to be honoured at tomorrow night’s masquerade ball, for your valour and endurance. And Althea, Princess Jasira has requested that you attend as her personal guest.’

‘It would be my honour,’ Thea said, bowing again before daring to ask: ‘And the prisoner? Might I see him? I wish to ensure that he is adequately secured after our efforts.’

King Artos gave a rich laugh. ‘Althea, you may rest easy now. He is locked away in Aveum’s most fortified dungeon, guarded by the best of all three kingdoms and Thezmarr’s own. You have nothing to worry about. There’s no need for you to go.’

Thea was quick to nod. ‘Thank you, sire. I only wish to serve the midrealms.’

Queen Reyna stood and gazed at Thea, her expression more distant than before. ‘And serve the midrealms you have, most valiantly.’ She descended the dais, her voice taking on an aloof tone. ‘Not long ago, I had a disturbing vision of a betrayal and an attack on our beloved kingdom —’

A wave of shock rippled across the court, and Thea’s own skin prickled with the queen’s admission.

‘But you,’ Queen Reyna continued, ‘you have saved us from a terrible fate. Darkness was coming for us, and you stopped it in its tracks. You faced the verdant stare of evil and put it in chains. For that, we thank you.’

Thea dipped her head, and when she looked up, Queen Reyna appeared to be herself again.

‘Now is the time to rest and recover,’ she said. ‘Prepare yourself for the celebrations ahead. We have arranged rooms for your stay. Nothing but the best for Thezmarr’s champions.’

More bowing and mumbles of thanks ensued before a flurry of servants came forth to escort Thea, Cal and Kipp away.

‘Thank the gods for that,’ Kipp muttered as they left the throne room, the thrall of empath magic apparently gone.

Thea agreed. She’d felt considerably more uneasy in that hall than she had fighting the wraiths on the Wesford Road. Her skin hadn’t stopped crawling since she’d entered the floating dome.

Verdant stare of evil…The queen’s words echoed oddly in her mind. The reapers’ gazes were ice blue… and Hawthorne? Thea had searched those silver eyes countless times, had peered into them enough to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was not a fleck of green in them.

Green.

That oily feeling was back, sliding across her flesh. There was only one green stare that came to mind.

She glanced at Cal and Kipp, who were alert enough to catch her eye as she raised a single finger to her lips and peeled away from the group. To their credit, neither Guardian broke their stride, continuing down the glistening corridor.

Thea ducked away, finding a small balcony and closing the curtains behind her. The balcony didn’t lead outside, but looked out onto another hall, and Thea made quick work of climbing over the rail and entering the empty room below, unseen by the guards stationed around its perimeter. It was not the first time she had needed to make herself invisible. She was glad for all her years of training in secret – those skills had come in just as handy as any she had learnt as a shieldbearer or Guardian.

For the first time in a long while, Thea followed her instincts instead of her head, Artos’ emerald eyes bright in her mind, his words loud.‘He is locked away in Aveum’s most fortified dungeon… There’s no need to go.’

When someone told her not to go somewhere, that was usuallyexactlywhere she needed to go. She had reasoned and reasoned, churned things over in her mind for far too long.

Now was the time to go with her gut, and it demanded that she see Wilder Hawthorne.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THEA