Page 71 of Acolyte (Tempris #2)

For indeed, shortly after joining the Crystal Guard, Breena had married Atlas Venwraith, the High Lord of Water.

Sarina began to shake her head. “No,” she breathed. “Atlas can’t be the sire. Why would he have sent Breena back to Lycia if she was pregnant with his child? They would’ve been completely unprotected if his political enemies ever decided to move against her.”

“Not completely.” Clearing a place on the table, Ivain laid out the sword and began stripping the wiring.

“Esmund was in Picolo, and he would’ve gladly given his sister refuge.

Especially considering that the continent would’ve been a far safer place to birth a child.

The mortal cities are stable enough for adults, but all it would’ve taken is a single aether blackout, and she likely would’ve lost the pregnancy.

They wouldn’t be the only family to resort to such measures. ”

Sarina looked slightly dazed as she began to walk toward him. “A High Lord’s daughter,” she murmured, arms crossed protectively around her body. “All this time, our little one, our Taly… she was a High Lord’s daughter.”

Ivain pounded a fist on the table, aether flaring around him. “Taly is my daughter,” he growled, low and dangerous. He didn’t often give in to his instincts, but considering the night’s events, his hold on his temper was becoming tenuous.

Sarina merely arched a brow, eyeing the dent in the metal tabletop. “I think you mean our daughter.”

Finishing the repair, he shoved the sword off to the side, then stalked back to the wall. “I mean that while Atlas may be her sire, he is only important because of who he is and what she likely inherited from him.”

“You mean his aether pool?”

He nodded. Breena had been powerful, but bonding with a Shard required a truly massive capacity for aether.

Most mages that tried were burned up from the inside.

“If Taly’s aether pool is even a fraction the size of his, every shadow mage within a ten-mile radius is going to be able to sense her.

Kato said he could find men to help with the retrieval, but I don’t trust anyone else to do this. It has to be me. I’m going.”

Sarina stopped in front of the table, running a finger along an old dagger that had been too rusted to repair. It had belonged to her husband, he realized just a moment too late. The flash of long-buried sorrow was brief but acute. “What is this really about?” she asked.

“I’ve told you.” Skipping the onyx warhammer—it was too heavy for the horses—he selected a thin rapier with a line of earth crystals embedded in the grip. This one would be good for the boy. He needed to start using his off hand.

“I mean it.” Sarina caught his eyes when he turned around.

“I don’t blame you for wanting to go. Right now, there’s nothing I want more than to find our girl and beat some sense into that stubborn head.

But we can’t. Neither of us. I have helped you unite these people, but I can’t lead them the way that you can.

I can’t oversee the Watchers or force dimensional gates to open.

If you leave—if you die —this city falls with you.

You know that, Ivain. You know that you couldn’t be the one to find her before, and it can’t be you now, so what is this really about? ”

Ivain felt something in his chest cave as he tried to find a place for the rapier on the overcrowded table. She was right, of course. Power always had a cost, and in this case, it was freedom. The freedom to take care of his own. To only consider his personal priorities.

It couldn’t be him, and he hated that realization. Hated it so much that for a moment, he had almost convinced himself otherwise. He had almost let himself be taken in by the fantasy that he could be the one to make his family whole again.

Unable to find space, he tossed the sword onto one of the piles. It landed with a clatter. “Breena was here,” he said, not quite trusting himself to look his sister in the eye. “Living in Vale of all places. She was on my island, in my territory, and she didn’t come to me for help.”

Sarina snorted softly, slipping her hands into her pockets.

“One of these days, you’re going to have to forgive yourself for what happened with Breena.

It wasn’t your fault that she did what she did.

She chose to use illegal magic in a public arena, and you did everything you could to mitigate the consequences short of dragging your own name through the mud.

“Towards the end, she saw that. She knew that you didn’t abandon her in her time of need, and if she didn’t come to you, it wasn’t because of some old grudge. It’s because she wanted to protect you. Harboring a time mage is an executable offense. Our lives here on Tempris would’ve been over.”

With a sigh, Ivain leaned against the table, pressing a hand to his chest as that old ache ripped open.

“Maybe,” he said. “But I still should’ve known.

I should’ve known she was here, should’ve realized that Breena would never take her own life, even when faced with the death of a child.

I should’ve seen what Taly was. Just once, I should’ve looked closer.

I’ve spent my entire life studying magic, but what was the point of it all if I can’t even protect my own child? ”

Sarina chuckled grimly. “That’s a lot of shoulds ,” she said, rounding the table and leaning against the edge beside him.

“And you’re neglecting the fact that you were not the only one that failed to take a second look.

I was there, and so was Skye, day in and day out.

There were the healers that tended to her, the household staff that doted on her, the people on the island, even the mainland nobility we’ve hosted throughout the years—no one ever looked closer because the magic was flawless .

Breena was a powerful mage—one you trained.

If anything, you should take it as a compliment. ”

He huffed. “Breena didn’t do this alone. Taly was glamoured—Kato confirmed that. Which means Esmund was helping her. He’s the only water mage that Breena would’ve trusted to protect her child.”

“But then…” Sarina closed her eyes, hanging her head as the weight of that realization settled over her. “Oh no,” she murmured. “Aiden and Aimee. ”

Ivain nodded tiredly. “Yes. If I’m correct, their father’s last mission, the one the Crystal Guard had no record of, was to protect a time mage. Taly, specifically. He died so that she could live.”

“That has the potential to become a very big problem.”

“I’m aware. Taly’s not at fault for the way the world is, but whether Aiden and Aimee will choose to see it that way…” Ivain shook his head. “I just don’t know.” Footsteps sounded from the darkened hall, and he looked to the open doorway. “Speaking of…”

A moment later, two figures emerged from the shadows, marching towards them.

“Aimee—”

“No,” Aimee said as she blustered into the room, Aiden close behind. “I was right.” Whirling in place, she jabbed a finger into her brother’s chest. “ I – was – right. ”

Aiden slapped her hand away. “I’ve admitted that. I’ve said the words, ‘Aimee, you were right,’ many times now. That’s not in question anymore.”

“What’s going on?” Ivain asked, and both siblings turned.

“I was right,” Aimee said, somewhat breathless. “Look.” She was smiling as she came forward, waving a stack of papers.

No, not papers. Glamographs, he realized as they were shoved into his hands.

One of Taly and the other of a fey child he’d never had the privilege of meeting, though he could hazard a guess as to who she might be.

It seemed Aimee and Aiden had already done their own sleuthing, and come to the same conclusions. “Corinna, I presume? ”

Aimee nodded eagerly. “I found these last week, but Aiden ” —she shot him a poisonous glare— “told me I was grasping at straws.”

“Well, if all you had was pictures,” Ivain said, giving the glamographs to Sarina when she held out a hand, “I can see his hesitation.”

Aiden let out a visible sigh of relief. It had been a hard night for the boy, but thankfully, Ivain had been able to stop Sarina from tearing into him too badly.

He may have been keeping secrets, but he had also been acting in the service of a friend.

The same as he had been earlier that night when he had come running back to the townhome afraid that Skye was about to go off and get himself killed.

Aimee looked undeterred. “It still doesn’t change the fact that I was right. Talya is our cousin—Corinna. And if you’re going to get her back inside the city, you’re going to need my help to conceal what she is.”

It was true. Particularly now that they knew Taly’s sire. They couldn’t bring her back in as she was. Even if they could keep her appearance concealed, there was the issue of her scent. She would likely reek of aether. Every shadow mage in the city would be able to scent her coming from a mile off.

And unfortunately, there wasn’t a political solution.

Even if he could figure out a way to bring the Sanctorum to heel, tensions were running too high to broadcast the arrival of a time mage.

The Hunt had left an ugly stain on this island’s memory, and while the people here may have been more sympathetic to the time mages’ plight due to their own bloody history, there was no trust there. Taly would still be seen as an enemy .

Which meant they needed a glamour. A damned powerful one.

Ivain shared a look with his sister, then found Aimee’s eyes. “This glamour,” he said, “it’s going to have to do more than just mimic the human form. It’s going to have to conceal aether—possibly more than even I possess.”

Both Aimee and Aiden faltered at that, paling slightly.

“Do you think you can do it?” Ivain asked. “Would you be willing, considering the possible connection to your father’s disappearance?”