Page 91 of Blackheart

Typically, such cheerfulness was unnerving, but I wasn’t entirely deterred by her. More so, I was envious.

“He was very slow, and kinda mean,” Zephy complained.

Amzee shifted her gaze to me. “Now, why wereyouchasingus?”

“Curiosity, I think.”

“About?”

I picked at the skin on my fingers behind my back.

“About where a bladebreather would go, or where more would be.”

It sounded comical, but I had nothing to lose.

“Oh! Easy answer, they live in Moon Hollow. It’s pretty close.”

Thereweremore bladebreathers. While she said they weren’t far, the sun would set soon. I needed to head back.

“Where is Moon Hollow?”

She pointed to a crooked sign labeling a trail. “It’s in a newly developing area, Moonhill. There aren’t people living there yet, or a lord overseeing it. It’s pretty unkempt, but the breathers gravitate to it. Without riders, most of them can’t go far anyway. Maybe when a lord brings people in, we’ll be able to move them around.”

Moonhill.

There was no Lord of Moonhill because there was supposed to be a Lady. Clarke had promised me the land as my reward, and I had completely abandoned it.

My heart sank. If that land was intended for riders and their bladebreathers, I surely wasn’t qualified to oversee it.

“I hear war is coming,” Amzee said. “I visited the House of Sterling today to speak with Lord Xavian Steele about us helping again. I’m told we will be of good use soon, though I fear there aren’t many brave enough to face a bladebreather; thus, we are lacking in riders. It sounds like that might interest you. There are many wings waiting.”

Thatcaught my attention.

“War with who?”

She shrugged. “Saffron is walking a fine line with Lord Xavian Steele, and I’ve heard King Clarke is sick. If he dies, who knows what the next ruler will try to do with Castivian? I know Lord Xavian would never give up these lands without a fight. So me and Zephy are prepared.”

She had no idea what was truly coming. The Drakington council would be in outrage when Xavian finally became king,and the Blood Prince had already made his father’s intentions clear. Was my twin prepared for war againsttwokingdoms?

I needed to speak with him.

Chapter 29

A Wayward Reputation

“Wise men do not venture into Eiden after sunset. For there is no place more unsettling.”

—Dreary Nightsong, The Onyx Scholar

As Amzeeand Zephy flew away, I hiked back to the capital, eyes set on the high-perched Silver Circle.

Through streets lined with proper family homes, I passed by open curtains and dinner parties. My heart beat like a hammer in my chest.

Food, laughter, safety. There were no burn piles, no walls, no Drakers. Life carried on as if thousands of people were not locked in cages across the sea. The people here were ignorant to the circumstances of their own kind. Did they not know, or did they simply not care?

Hesitancy plagued my mind until I no longer hurried towards Xavian’s home. I swung the door to Sailor’s Tear Tavern open and fled to my room, avoiding eye contact with Gia.

With my back against the door, I slid down, burying my face in my hands. If only it were enough to block the rest of the world out.