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Jarin’s warm palm between her shoulder blades calmed her fractionally.

“Trust that you are where you need to be,” he said, his low voice audible under the cacophony of the party.

She sighed. “Perhaps I’m to die by some freak accident that has nothing to do with any greater cause. A falling chandelier, or food poisoning, or?—”

A knot of people on the other side of the room parted. Riella’s heart missed a beat when found herself staring at Polinth’s devious, pointy face. Then, she blinked and the crowd shifted. He was gone.

“Polinth,” she said, grasping Jarin’s arm. “He’s here.”

They pushed their way through the carousing guests to the other side of the room, but the sorcerer had vanished. Growing increasingly frantic, Riella barged into circles of partiers in search of him. But if he was using sorcery, he could’ve taken any form and she’d never know.

“We have to find him,” she said, gazing at Jarin in despair.

“We will. Did you see Seraphine?”

She shook her head. “We should talk to the High Magus. If anyone can deal with Polinth, it’s another sorcerer.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.” He looked around. “Let’s return to the galleries. The Starlight Gardens delegation will be here somewhere.”

They made for the closest exit, stepping into the quieter hallways and foyers. Royal guards were stationed every few paces, but several other guests wandered freely and no one tried to stop the pair.

Riella and Jarin were descending a marble staircase, headed toward the temple, when a telltale black robe swept along the deep blue carpet in the hallway below.

“It’s one of them!” she said, hurrying down the stairs.

They tailed the acolyte to a gallery and moments later, Riella peered around the doorframe with Jarin at her back. Marble statues populated the room, candlelight illuminating the features of the carved stone faces. People stood amongst the statues, but unlike the ballroom, the gallery atmosphere was subdued.

In a corner, King Reynard of Morktland spoke gruffly at his sister, Meliohr, and the High Magus. King Leonid sagged on a chair nearby, staring at the floor. The kings both still wore their masks, but Meliohr had removed hers, revealing a beautiful face with high cheekbones.

The acolytes drifted between the statues in small groups, murmuring to each other from beneath their black hoods.

“Riella,” whispered Jarin. “Guards.”

A pair of royal guards were indeed patrolling the hallway. She and the pirate needed to get out of sight, but she was loathe to give up the golden opportunity before her. The High Magus was just paces away.

“Come on,” she breathed to Jarin, pulling him into the gallery.

They slid through the inky shadows, hiding behind a towering statue of a man wrestling a three-headed snake.

But then, an acolyte turned and looked right at her.

CHAPTER 35

Riella froze.

The acolyte saw her, didn’t they? With the darkness of the room and their mysterious hoods, it was hard to be sure.

Heart thudding, she waited for the acolyte to call for guards, or alert their fellows. Riella and Jarin were blatantly sneaking up on two kings and a queen. Their actions were enough to have them thrown in the dungeon, if not summarily executed.

But the black-robed figure merely stared a few moments longer, before returning to the hushed conversation the others were having.

Riella released the breath she’d been holding. With his back against the statue, Jarin moved closer to the Garstangs and High Magus, whose voices echoed strangely in the cavernous room. She frowned, listening to Reynard’s icy tirade.

“—consort with filth. I agreed to the match on the condition that sorcery not be allowed inside these walls,” he said in a clipped accent. “Your presence is an affront.”

Riella raised her eyebrows beneath her mask. She’d never met the High Magus, but couldn’t imagine anyone taking kindly to such insult.

“Brother,” came Meliohr’s smooth voice. “The wedding is a day of pomp and ceremony, you know that. Once the delegation returns to Starlight Gardens, I doubt we’ll see the mages at all.”