Page 19 of A Crown of Tears and Treason (The Curse of Silver Secrets and Cruel Shadows #1)

Chapter

Nineteen

EVIE

A dara did not like my plan.

She hadn’t said a word, but I noticed the way her jaw had been clenched these past few days.

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” I whispered, drawing Goose’s gray hood over my head. He’d almost had a seizure when I told him I’d asked for his normal clothes to wear them.

I’d had to roll his black pants up seven times to not trip every other step. My leg still stung whenever I flexed my knee, but I’d had worse scrapes from when I slipped on ice while foraging for berries.

“Getting attacked is not fun,” Adara muttered back as we snuck out of the house in the dead of night, keeping to the shadows and the walls.

“Exactly.” Which is why I wanted to sneak outside without an entire army behind me and scour the surroundings at my own pace and on my own terms, to detect any vantage points an assassin might take advantage of.

If whoever had ordered the attack on me thought they’d turn me into a frightened shut-in, they were sorely mistaken.

It only made me want to go out and explore even more.

I knew how hiding in fear ended.

A dozen guards stood outside the gate, perfectly still. Underneath the new moon, we had the cover of darkness on our side. Leading the way, I turned the corner between the house and the fence. I slunk between the thorny bushes with ease, eyeing the tall tree at the edge of the property, flush with slender leaves and fleshy red flowers. Adara had a harder time navigating the shrubs. By the time she stopped at my side, her face was pinched with annoyance.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” she said.

“I told you, I can go out exploring on my own.”

“Which is why I am here.”

Adara had only begrudgingly agreed to accompany me when she realized I really would slip out on my own.

“The sooner we get out, the sooner we can come back.” I pressed my left foot against the bark and propelled myself upwards with practiced ease, grabbing the lowest branch.

After that, everything came easy. My feet, even swaddled in shoes two-sizes-too-big, found the anchor points quickly. My hands went to the crevices as if I’d climbed this tree a thousand times before. The lack of light didn’t bother me–my eyes had been trained in the darkness of the mountains. Only this time, I wasn’t out gathering wood as a punishment, my heart the size of a pea. I was exploring to my heart’s content.

I looked over the fence in time to see Goose, shaking from head to toe, as he opened the gate and asked the guards if they wanted some cookies he’d baked in the morning. The sweet smell enticed the guards and wafted all the way to me, carried by the soft night breeze.

With the distraction in place, I flung myself over the fence, crouching behind the statues. My wound protested, the itchy scab pulling at my gauze.

Excitement drummed through me.

Adara dropped down a second later.

Without exchanging a word, we hurried down the path, the goddess statues covering us like partners in crime.

As the path ended and the wild bushes flanked us on both sides, I swerved to the right, giddy and curious what the night would bring.

Mayhem, that’s what.

I collided against a strong, leather-clad chest with hard, sinewy muscles.

I looked up at the very last face I wanted to see right now, no matter how objectively gorgeous.

“What are you doing here?” I whisper-hissed.

“I couldn’t pass up a chance for a midnight stroll, could I?” Zandyr’s gravel voice pulsed from his chest straight into mine. It sounded even deeper in the darkness, like he’d been made from the shadows around us and they welcomed the return of their prince.

“You were supposed to be gone,” I grumbled. To hunt down the people responsible for hurting me, my mind whispered. I ignored that small voice and turned to Adara, narrowed eyes accusing. “You told him. You literally told on me.”

She shrugged, not the least bit bothered. “My job is to keep you safe. You’re safest with The Dragon.”

Highly debatable .

“What was the point of letting me sneak out in the first place?” Goose had spent so much time baking those cookies and I’d gotten my hopes up way too high.

“To see how well you move. And you do. We start training in three days,” Adara said.

The pang of pride dampened my annoyance.

“You managed to evade the guards all by yourself,” Zandyr said. “Impatience must be a Vegheara trait.”

I rolled my eyes and turned to him. “I’m guessing now you’ll accompany me?”

He inclined his head with a smirk. “I will.”

“Great.” I sent him a smirk of my own. “Then we’ll have plenty of time to talk about blood rituals and reading thoughts. I understand you’re the eminent authority on the subject.”

Zandyr’s face tightened as he slashed a look at Adara.

“I wouldn’t want to intrude,” she said and vanished back over the fence with a high vault that defied the laws of nature.

I watched the fence long after she’d left, suddenly nervous.

I was alone with Zandyr again.

Just the two of us.

The last time we’d done that, I’d been wearing nothing but a bloody corset. Now I was swimming in Goose’s clothes. They’d have to do.

With a small inhale, I turned to Zandyr. A heated stillness settled between us, our breaths mingling in the soft breeze.

“Shall we?” he said. The richness of his voice cut through the silence.

“If we must,” I muttered and followed his lead.

“Why did you want to sneak out tonight?” he asked as we walked side by side, keeping a good few feet between us.

“Maybe I wanted to infiltrate the palace. Steal all the silver you didn’t get a chance to hide.”

He huffed a laugh. “My parents wouldn’t mind. It would give them an excuse to change the cutlery.”

There was a bite to his laughter. Either he really suspected I was a thief underneath all this gray cotton or things were about as complicated in the Blood Brotherhood royal family as in the Protectorate First Family.

I shook my head, glad the hood covered my face. My parents, may the gods look kindly upon their lives, had given their lives for me. I still hadn’t mourned them properly. I still couldn’t.

“Did you find them?” I asked, eager to change the subject. My own death, that I could handle.

“Frayden has disappeared. Left the same day as the attack to visit his family, but he never arrived.”

I sent a silent prayer for him. Perhaps he didn’t deserve it, but if I’d been controlled, maybe he had been to, in some other way.

“But we’ve found the smugglers,” Zandyr said.

I licked my lips, too afraid to ask. “Did you–”

“They’re in jail, awaiting their sentence. They were lied to.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Did they tell you who bought it?”

“They had no idea. They might be connected, though not who I suspect,” he said. “Those people are not from around here, no matter how hard they try to blend in, how much gold they wear, or what high rank they obtain, that’s certain.”

I frowned. Such a weird way to describe whoever they were.

His boots crunched the gravel while I fluttered over it soundlessly.

“I was actually going to ask you about the blood ritual.” It had been haunting me since I’d first heard of it.

“It’s required during the wedding ceremony,” was all he said. He walked with his hands behind his back, looking completely at ease. But those eyes of his slashed between the darkest parts, vigilant.

“No, please, I can’t take so much information at once,” I said.

“You had to entertain yourself a lot when you were a child, didn’t you?”

How cruel of him to notice. “That is none of your business. I don’t go around–”

“I had to do the same,” he went on, surprising me. “A lonely existence, isn’t it?”

I opened my mouth, but no words stuttered out. Yes, it was. But why was he telling me that? And how had he been lonely, surrounded by an entire court and loving parents? He’d had at least one friend. He’d grown up together with Kaya.

“I don’t plan on raising my children the same way,” he continued, this time truly shocking me. Here we were, walking alone in the cover of night, talking about children .

Our children. The thought made my skin prick.

“I don’t want my children to go through what I did, either,” I whispered. I believed every single word, but they were soft, almost getting lost in the night chirps and hums accompanying us from the trees and bushes lining the path.

“This might be the first thing we’ve truly agreed on.”

Hopefully not the last. “A miracle.”

“So you want children.”

“I–I think so. Not for a long time, though.” Was he messing with me? “This feels like something we should have discussed before deciding to get married.”

“If we’d had the choice.” He stopped, turning to me. Even in the specks of light filtering through the thick leaves, his eyes shined.

I’d been in Phoenix Peak for weeks, but the intensity of his gaze still sent tremors through me. Would I ever get used to it?

I tilted my head up to meet his gaze, my hood almost slipping.

“The blood ritual takes place when we exchange our vows,” he said, barely moving his lips, like the words were torn from inside him. “We will each cut our palms with the ceremonial dagger–”

My eyes went as wide as a full moon.

“Each has to sacrifice three drops of blood into the sacred grail, to unite our futures and souls. Then we both drink.”

I blanched. “I have to drink your blood?” And he had to drink mine ?

“Don’t worry, it won’t poison you,” he said with a shadow of his jagged smirk.

I pressed a hand to my belly. “How will it affect me? Will you be able to read my thoughts?”

“No–unless you and the fates wish it to.”

“Definitely not, thanks.”

“I’m flattered.” He gave me a mock bow. “The legends say the wedding blood ritual lets you feel your other half. Sometimes even their thoughts. But only if their love is pure, they’re true fated mates, and their blood sings for the other.”

I thought back to the loving looks his parents gave one another. “They’re not just legends, are they?”

“No. But it’s very rare. And most don’t understand what it truly means.”

Should I? “What does it mean?”

“You can get so absorbed in your mate that nobody and nothing else matters,” was all he said.

Ah. Hence being lonely. It was hard to imagine little Zandyr as a curious boy looking for affection and getting none, when the feared Blood Brotherhood crown prince stood in front of me, all harsh lines and deadly instincts.

But this traitorous heart of mine still grieved a lost childhood. I knew what that was like.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “No child should feel that way.”

Zandyr’s eyes widened. “Sympathy? For me?”

“Yes, well, the snake bite must have affected me more than I realized.” I pulled the coat closer to my body, as if I could hide in plain sight. “At least we don’t have to worry about the whole reading-each-other’s-thoughts thing, do we? Since love is required.”

“Yes, love is inescapable, sadly,” he said evenly. Then his face did that thing where it changed from human and captivating to bone-chillingly intense. He tilted his head to the side; wolves did that too, in the dead of winter, when prey was scarce and their instincts roared for a kill. “Now tell me why you wanted to sneak out.”

Of course he had an angle. Zandyr didn’t just walk around talking about his childhood and spilling Blood Brotherhood secrets for giggles.

“Truth for truth?” I clenched my jaw. He nodded. Fine . “You really want to know?”

“I’m dying to find out,” he said, voice dripping with charm as he leaned toward me.

I pointed at the large tree behind us. “See that branch?”

It was a gnarly thing, with bulbous knobs and skinny twigs that ended in thick foliage.

“It needs to be trimmed, down to the trunk,” I said.

“Why?”

With only a smirk as a reply, I bolted toward the trunk. One jump, a strong grip, and a twist later, I snaked across the branch, vanishing behind the leaves. I couldn’t see Zandyr and he definitely couldn’t see me.

I parted the twigs to the side, poking my head through the leaves, a self-satisfied smile on my face. Was I showing off? Maybe. But after my body’s control had slipped out of my grasp, I wanted to test its limits. Remind myself of what these limbs, small and lanky as they still were, could do.

Zandyr still had his arms behind his back, but he looked up at me with amazement. I would have been flattered if that didn’t mean he had such low expectations of me to begin with.

“If I can do that, an assassin can, too. And I don’t want to ride my horse down this path one day and get my head chopped off, I’m quite fond of it.”

I jumped back down, coat fluttering behind me, and landed with a soft tap, acutely aware of Zandyr watching my every move.

“I’ll request they trim it tomorrow,” he said.

I nodded instead of thanks. That small word was still difficult to utter when it came to him. My parents had never thanked me for anything I did, and I’d always wished they wouldn’t hoard all their gratitude for themselves. Yet here I was, doing it too.

But I’d been their daughter, and Zandyr was my unwilling groom.

“You ride?” he asked.

A big smile bloomed on my face, nourished by the memories of riding Zorin. The biting spring air in my hair, flushing my cheeks. Dodging the lowest tree branches. His strong hooves hitting the ground without hesitation.

“I love it. Well, I loved it with Zorin. I’ve never seen a horse like him. Tall and proud, with a thick golden mane and a coat as white as snow. During winter, if he was in one of his moods, he’d hide in the woods, completely disguised, until I tricked him back with promises of braiding his hair.” I sighed. “I hope he’s alright.”

Zandyr’s mighty brows furrowed. “A white horse with a golden mane?”

“He was a beauty and he knew it.” My chest tightened. Zorin could survive out in the wilderness, I knew it. He was as stubborn as me. But if someone managed to catch him…Zorin couldn’t be caged.

“Fascinating,” Zandyr muttered, stealing me from the crisp memories of winter and bringing me back into the Capital’s warmth.

“What is?”

“You. You’re small and seem naive, but you’re a cunning little menace when you want to be, aren’t you? Here I was thinking you’d be up to no good tonight, and instead you’re surveying your surroundings for any possible threats.”

“Surprise,” I dead-panned. “I’m not some wide-eyed country girl.”

Maybe if I said it enough times, I’d start believing it myself.

“No,” he said with a slow smile. “You’re a fighter behind those wide eyes.”

As he turned, he looked over his shoulder at me, as if to check he hadn’t been seeing things. “Perhaps I do need to watch my back around you.”