Page 40 of A Promise of Lies (Shadows of the Tenebris Court #3)

39

Kat

I knew from the look Bastian gave me that Sura was dead. His double must’ve found her and the information passed between them in silence. I rubbed Amaya’s back and tried to smile brightly. “We should get you out of here, hmm? Somewhere warm.” I shot Bastian a meaningful look. “And safe .”

His mouth flattened. He was going to argue.

Before he could, I dragged him to one side. “Aside from Asher, the last two relatives Braea knowingly met, she killed,” I hissed as quietly as I could. “I’m not taking any chances.”

“How do you know she killed Sura? I didn’t say?—”

“Not with your words, no, but your face shouted it. I know you, Bastian.”

He looked back at Amaya, brow crumpled. He was torn. Shocked. Hurt. He’d lost so much with Sura—not only an aunt, but a chance to know more about his mother.

I took a deep breath and touched his arm. “Take some time to think about it, and if you’re sure Braea should know about her, fine, tell her. But this is not knowledge that can be taken away. Once she knows, she knows.”

I bit my tongue against saying the most brutal version of the truth.

Braea was currently two for two when it came to killing her heirs. He and Amaya were only alive because she didn’t know of their existence.

That bitter pill could wait for another night.

“You’re right.” He sounded relieved. “This isn’t a decision to rush. Let’s get her to Faolán and Rose.”

We slipped back into the palace. Kaliban would’ve called my thoughts loud.

Even if Braea didn’t kill Amaya and embraced her as her last surviving heir—another chance—I didn’t trust the queen as far as I could throw her. She’d been a terrible mother, trying to control Nyx, just as my father had tried to control Avice and me. She wouldn’t hesitate to manipulate and control her granddaughter.

Amaya deserved whatever chance I could give her to be a girl.

My eyes burned as I shepherded her into the secret passage. In silence, we passed through the courtyard lodestone and out into Dusk’s part of the palace. Amaya watched everything, but didn’t say a word. Her earlier panic had retreated, leaving a resigned stillness in its place.

We would break that with the news of her mother’s death, but not until we had her somewhere safe.

The thought weighed heavily all the way out into the city streets and to our friends’ front door.

Rose answered quickly, despite the hour. Her braid was messy from sleep, but she seemed remarkably awake as she took us in and immediately stepped back so we could enter.

As she closed the door behind us, Faolán padded down the stairs, yawning and rubbing his eyes, shirtless. “What?” He blinked at Bastian, me, Amaya and shook his head. “Just… what ?”

“He doesn’t do well with being woken up. But I think he’s trying to ask what the hells is going on?” Rose pulled out one of the chairs around the kitchen table, gesturing for Amaya to take it.

But she was busy staring at Faolán, eyes ready to pop, despite the fact she swayed on her feet. I couldn’t blame her, he was rather… massive, even amongst fae.

With a reassuring smile, I steered her to the seat while Bastian gave a calm, condensed version of the night’s events, leaving out the part where Braea had killed another daughter.

“Sura’s alive?” Faolán suddenly didn’t look so sleepy as he joined us at the table, rubbing Rose’s back.

“And knows about the Crown.” Rose eased into a seat. “How was she planning to get hold of it?”

We turned to Amaya.

“I don’t know the plan in detail. Just bits and pieces. Someone in the palace was bribed to collect an acorn from the Great Oak and?—”

“A berry from the Great Yew,” Bastian finished.

“Right. She made new wardstones—infernal magic, she called it. She had pages copied from an old book. And there was talk of an ‘anointed one,’ whatever that’s supposed to mean.”

Infernal magic. An anointed one. I tried to keep track of all the elements and slot them in amongst everything else we know about the Crown of Ashes.

“Mother would get the Crown for me. She said she put in the work a long time ago to ensure both courts would agree. She was talking about me, wasn’t she?” Amaya grimaced, gaze dropping to the table. “She once said she’d seduced the heir to Dawn, how he thought himself in love with her, but she only wanted one thing from him. And eventually, around the time of her coup, she got it. I never understood why she told me that. But… it’s because he’s my father, isn’t it? I’m what she got from him.” She searched our faces, finishing on mine.

“I believe so. I found some letters she sent him. They were lovers. And in you, both courts have an heir.”

“But I don’t want to be a queen, anyway. Especially not after…” She searched my gaze, jaw ratcheting tight as though she was steeling herself. “My mother… she’s dead, isn’t she? That’s why she isn’t here.”

Everyone else sank back, sharing silent glances. Bastian stared at me. He wasn’t prepared to deal with this. Telling his cousin, who had no idea they were related, that her mother was dead—killed by her grandmother. What a fucking mess.

So I held her shoulder. “I’m sorry. But I’m afraid you’re right.”

Slowly, she nodded, pursing her lips. “I had a feeling. The way she said goodbye, it was like she knew it would be the last time. And Kaliban…” She looked up at Bastian. “She always respected him and was sorry to hear of his passing. We’re in the same boat now, aren’t we?” She gave him a tremulous smile, which he returned.

One side of his mouth quirked, reminding me of the bored fae I’d danced with in Albion. I recognised the distance in him—he had shut down all feeling. I’d done it enough to know the signs.

Half shrugging, he said, “As boats go, it’s a pretty shitty one.”

He got a laugh from her, which soon turned into a sob, as she bent over the table and cried into her arms.

The grieving girl Rose put an arm around was a far cry from the slightly arrogant young woman I’d met at Sura’s base all those months ago. She was a child— a child —and Sura had planned to use her as a piece in her plans to take the board. I bit the inside of my cheek and nodded for Faolán and Bastian to follow me to one side.

“We need to get her out of the city,” I murmured while Rose comforted her. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but?—”

“I’ve got it.” Faolán nodded like I was asking for nothing more than a cup of flour. “Where am I taking her?”

This was the part I didn’t yet have a plan for—not entirely. “Do you think Ari and Ly will help? Just while we get something else arranged?”

Bastian answered with stillness. He had to be remembering our earlier debate. But the longer I thought about Amaya left in Braea’s hands, the more certain I was that it would end only with her death.

I would not let that happen.

“I do,” Bastian said at last. “Ari will do anything to help, and Ly… he’s shown he can put our differences aside for the sake of the realm.”

With that settled, we dispersed. Rose helped Amaya get settled on their settee, and soon she was curled up on it, asleep. Bastian and Faolán left to secure mounts to get her out of Tenebris before the sun rose.

And I stepped out into the cool night, turning my feet back towards the palace and my imprisonment in Dawn.