Page 58

We all keep our promise. Little by little, Luren reintegrates with the rest of the initiates. But they’re still skeptical toward her, and that serves only to insulate the four of us further.

Let the other initiates underestimate and dismiss her. I don’t mind her being an Ace in my pocket. The students are the only ones whose opinions matter anyway.

We spend our time together in the library, discussing inking. In dedicated rooms, to practice wielding—something she must work herself up to doing again. And reading for one another.

Luren’s state improves steadily over time, as well as can be expected. I still find her staring off at times, her silence weighty. But as the academy moves on, so does she. At least that’s what she presents. I doubt her innermost thoughts are as peaceful as her tone of voice.

I wait weeks, until All Coins Day is five days away, to finally ask her for a reading on what’s about to happen. I use my intimidating reading from Professor Rothou’s class months ago as a pretense. “I want to see if anything has changed,” I say.

The results are not what I expected in the slightest.

The second the evening quiets, I help myself into Kaelis’s apartments through the usual passage inside the bridge and through his closet. He’s not in the main room, but the door to his study is ajar, as if left open just for me.

Our eyes lock the moment I enter.

I waste no time. “Someone is going to try to kill your father.”

Kaelis, very slowly, returns his pen to its stand and steeples his fingers, as though I have come to him with a business proposal and not news of his sire’s impending demise.

“Clara,” he starts slowly. “You cannot just barge in here and talk dirty to me.”

“Excuse me?” I lean back, nearly bumping into the doorframe.

He lets out a brief laugh. For some reason, the sound almost makes a hot flush rise to my cheeks. “Pray tell, how did you come to find out about this regicide plot?”

“One of the other initiates is an incredibly talented reader…” Ignoring my usual settee, I perch myself on the corner of his desk.

I’m too worked up to lounge—I need to be ready to pace at any moment.

I tell him about Luren and the readings she did for me tonight.

And about how, in every spread, there were ominous signs for the king.

“Of course, Luren didn’t quite read it as an assassination attempt—she doesn’t know that I have plans to actually meet with the king—and took the presence of the King of Swords more figuratively.

But it was all there. I could see it, and I’m not even the best reader. So if it’s obvious to me…”

Kaelis hums deeply, sinking back in his chair. “Luren, that’s the woman whose card reversed, is it not?”

“It is.” I try to read him and fail.

“Are you certain you can trust her abilities?”

“Are you questioning my judgment?” I lean back, aghast.

“You associate with the void-born prince; how could I not?” Kaelis taps his desk with his long fingers.

Void-born…Well, since he brought it up… “What do you know about reversed cards?”

His eyes narrow slightly. “If you’re going to ask questions you probably shouldn’t, then you can do better than that.”

“Fine.” I straighten. “Is it true? Can you wield reversed cards?”

“No,” he answers without hesitation. Though it’s not as if I really would’ve expected him to admit it if it were true. He smirks. “You don’t believe me.”

“Given what you’ve done, I—”

“What I’ve done?” he repeats. A shadow crosses over his expression. His words grow harsh. “You mean Clan Hermit.”

I remember what Rewina told me and take it to heart.

“I was going to say founding the academy at such a young age. You did so at eighteen, when most are just beginning to show an inkling toward magic. Two years before your first crop of initiates. You command with both fear and fealty some of the best Arcanists in Oricalis as your faculty. Stories of your prowess are not hard to come by.”

He leans back in his chair, tapping his desk once more, as if he can’t decide whether I’m telling the truth.

Either way, Kaelis lets drops the subject of reversed cards, and the air feels instantly lighter.

“So you think—because of what your ‘talented’ friend said—that someone is going to try to kill my father on All Coins Day.”

“Yes. Do you know anyone who wants your father dead?” I ask.

“Please tell me that you, of all people, didn’t just ask that.” Kaelis gives me a look that suggests how painfully obvious the answer is.

“Fair.”

“There are many foreign adversaries—and people inside our own kingdom—that are always considering making a move against my father. We have secured control over all the means of production of arcane powders, and we have more Arcanists than anywhere else in the world. The clans, while they have been forced to submit to the crown, still have memories in their bloodlines of the days when they ruled their own lands as kings. There are many who would like to see a return to those days, especially now that they’ve seen the power an absolute monarchy can wield. ”

I stare out the window at the city I’ve spent my life in.

In all that time, I thought little of the world beyond Eclipse City, never mind Oricalis and beyond.

The only time I have, it was to help an Arcanist escape through the desert to the east—the best chance they’d have of making it out of the kingdom.

“Does it matter who attacks our king, should such a thing happen?” Kaelis asks, returning my thoughts to the present.

“I don’t think so.” I drum my fingers against the desk.

“The real question is how does this change our plans?”

“I’m going to consult with my friends, see who can position themselves where—what information we can find. If we move quickly and there’s some kind of advance warning, I can save the king and look like a hero.

“If there’s an opening, Jura can lift the cards in the chaos—if she’s managed to see where he keeps them.

Twino will wait back at the regent’s manor and be flexible support.

Should the king be injured, they’ll probably take him there.

Same with Ren. Gregor will act as support behind the scenes.

” I pause to repeat everything in my mind.

It seems to be a solid plan on its face, but I know I’ll need to work out a few kinks and refine a few things before All Coins Day arrives.

And I can rely on Twino and Bristara to poke at my plan and find the little holes.

“All this is assuming your father isn’t killed. ”

“He won’t be killed.” There’s not even a whisper of doubt around Kaelis.

“How can you be so sure?”

“He never goes anywhere without the Twentieth Major, Quaelar—Judgment—right at hand. The Judgment card can revive anyone within five minutes of dying.” Kaelis curls and uncurls his fingers into fists, as if barely containing rage.

“At no small cost to Quaelar. But the man will continue shaving off years of his life if it means keeping my father alive. And that’s not to say anything of the other Majors, and trained Stellis, that constantly surround him.

Unfortunately, my father has made it nearly impossible to assassinate him. ”

I study Kaelis. It’s the prince’s turn to stare intensely out the window. But he looks past the ocean-filled horizon and mountain-wrapped city.

“You really do hate him.” His dismay that his father is so hard to kill is evident and potent.

“There’s much to hate.” Kaelis steps around his desk. I have the sense he’s done with this conversation. “For now, we should focus on what must be done—inking your golden card.”

“Tonight?”

“With only five days left until All Coins Day, there’s no time like the present.” Kaelis stretches out a hand.

And, taking mine, he escorts me back the way I came—through his closet, past the secret door, and down the alternate tunnel.

Already waiting on the pedestal surrounding the statue are an assortment of inking supplies, or at least two-thirds of the materials I’d need: pens and paper. But the ink itself is notably absent.

“You were prepared.”

“You are ready. We both knew it, even if neither of us has said it aloud.” There’s a note of pride in his voice. “Use the water that surrounds the statue as the base of your ink.” He guides me toward the statue and then releases me.

I cross the rest of the way on my own. Hand still tingling from the sensation of his fingers around mine, I study the different writing implements he left out for me. Each is as fine as the last. Even the paper, arranged in a small, neat stack, is perfectly cut.

“You clearly don’t have that much faith in me if you think I need this many attempts.” I tap the blank cards.

“Most don’t get it on their first try.”

“I am not like most.”

“No…no, you’re not.” There’s something more than admiration for my skill behind those words. I hear it, despite not wanting to. The meaning catches on me, halting my movements.

“Kaelis, may I ask you one thing?” My fingertips settle on the cool stone instead of the supplies.

“Anything.” He says it like he truly means it.

“Why have you been so…kind to me?” The moment I ask, I instantly regret it.

I don’t want the answer. Maybe because, in part, I don’t want to acknowledge the hidden truth to begin with.

Yet, ignoring it is somehow worse. There’s a knot in my chest that is only tightening, and I will him to tell me he secretly hates me so I can move on.

“You’re essential to my plans.” The statement is void of all emotion. Almost carefully so.

“You could get what you needed from me without giving me access to your apartments—without looking after me the way you have.” Despite my better judgment, I can’t let this go.

His footsteps echo off the high ceiling as he comes to stand next to me. He hovers for a moment before leaning against the pedestal. “It’s because Priss likes you.”

I snort in reply.

“She does. And she’s an exceptional judge of character, far better than me; she doesn’t warm up to just anyone.

” He smiles. Really smiles. It’s painfully apparent he doesn’t do it often because Kaelis ducks his chin slightly, as if trying to hide it.

The movement puts his face in even deeper shadow, giving a contradictory, sinister aura to the sincerity of his expression.

I stand for a moment in stunned silence. He mistakes my reaction, and his expression quickly falls. Before I can say anything, Kaelis folds his arms and shifts his gaze to stare at the wall. But I suspect the wall is not really what he’s seeing.

“Clara, I know what I am. I know how the world sees me, and that they’re not all wrong.

To be honest, most of the time, I don’t even care.

” He shrugs. “If to bring about a new world—a better world—Imust be the villain, if I must do evil things for the greater good, then so be it. I’ll play the part now and be reborn a hero in my next life.

” There’s a long pause that seems to encapsulate a thousand thoughts, a thousand long nights of inner turmoil I suspect I’m the first person to ever catch a glimpse of.

“But it’s also true that, sometimes, even the worst among us want a moment of absolution.

To feel our humanity isn’t entirely rotted away, that we aren’t just a cold and lonely husk. ”

My fingers twitch. They move on their own, lifting from the stone. Instead of reaching for supplies, I reach for him. My touch lands on his forearm, tense under the thin cotton of his shirt. My fingers trail down, landing on the side of his thumb, a breath away from interlacing with his.

“You’re warm, Kaelis.”

“What?” He startles but doesn’t pull away.

My eyes drag up from our hands to meet his. “You’re too warm to be a husk.” My lips arc in a slight smile, slowly, as if to show him how it’s done. “You’re a man of flesh and blood, whether you want to be or not.”

He opens his mouth and closes it, abandoning all words. I leave him to the silence and pull away, turning back to the cards.

Kaelis, you annoying creature . I didn’t want to like you even a little bit.

I lift a pen and dip it into the glowing water. No…it’s not water. It’s something else. Its viscosity is more like a thin jelly than water. It clings to the metal tip of the pen as I lift it, and with my every gesture, it trails light through the air.

Placing one of the blank cards before me, I close my eyes, steady my breath, and center myself.

All the power you need is within you, Mother reminds me from wherever her soul now rests.

As I press the metal tip into my finger, crimson swirls into the liquid, racing through it.

Never have I seen anything more fascinating…

Never have I felt more magical.

Power surging, I set the tip of the pen on the top left edge of the card. The border is first. Swirls and dots. Intricate but meaningless designs that are little more than a warm-up. I imagine that they are like the lines of fate—rather, of luck, one of the few things that can defy destiny itself.

Even before I lift my pen, the lines break free of their outer confines and swirl inward.

They take the shape of circles. Spinning inward and inward.

All looping around a central symbol of a wheel.

The sun winks through clouds above, and the moon goes through its phases below.

Hidden in the chaotic patterns are hands and eyes that all reach and watch for the same point in the middle of the wheel—a tiny star.

And then, all at once, it’s finished. Drawing even one more stroke would be wrong. I lift my pen and admire the finished product as the faint glow of the liquid dries to a golden metallic sheen.

Kaelis leans over my shoulder and whispers, “It’s perfect.”

He stole the words from my lips, so all I can do is nod.

Reverently, I lift the card and run my finger over the now-dry image.

The lines are raised slightly and cool to the touch, as if they were actual gold.

Even the paper feels different, thicker, as though it were cast in a superfine metal rather than pulped river reeds.

The magic within is also changed. Normal cards thrum and pulse with power, waiting to be unleashed. But this is different. I can feel what Kaelis told me the last time we were here—this card is not meant to be cast.

“Now…” He extends his palm expectantly.

I hesitate for half a breath. Something in me unexpectedly balks at the idea of handing the card over. Even though it’s the first time I’ve ever held it, it feels like I’m giving him a part of myself when I place it in his waiting hand.

Dark eyes meet mine. I can see that his restless energy seeks release. A slight, almost ominous expression crosses his face, highlighted by the faint glow of the water, but the danger is not directed my way. His words send a shiver up my spine. “Now our work will truly begin.”