Page 52

Standing outside the barrier with Fletcher’s hand in mine, we watched as Mirin approached on the other side with a long gait and a fast pace after we asked the guard to seek him out.

His intense orange eyes latched on to me and his head of sandy blond hair bounced in a messy array with every step he took.

As soon as he was close enough to the barrier, he fell to his knees, sat back on his heels, and stretched his arms, pledging to me. “My princess, I am so, incredibly sorry.” A thin layer of tears glistened in his eyes before he bowed his head and magic spiraled down his arms.

Fletcher leaned into me, his breath landing on my cheek with his soft chuckle as he said, “Okay, I like him.”

“I pledge to you—”

“Mirin, you don’t have to—” I began.

“Let the man finish,” Fletcher ordered with a smile erupting on his face.

Then, around my feet grew glittering icicles. They increased in height until the gleaming crystals towered over me by a foot, snowflakes spreading outward at the top like a dazzling winter wonderland.

“I pledge to you, Princess Ripley Griever, I will make it up to you.”

Fletcher gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and said, “I’ll pick you up in an hour.”

“You trust him?”

He nodded and tucked a stray lock of hair out of my face. “He just pledged to you.” He kissed my cheek again, winked, said, “Bye, princess,” then vanished.

I looked back to Mirin, still bowed on the ground. I stepped through the barrier and placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him up. “I forgive you. And I need your help.”

I stepped into his quaint home where there were machines and engines and trinkets of devices spread out across long tables that lined his home.

The unfinished projects lay on white cloth with different colored stains.

The circular windows offered very little light as the sun was directly overhead.

Strung up around the perimeter of the ceiling were glass jars filled with a handful of flying insects that emitted soft yellow light.

Mirin rushed over to some of his projects, attempting to tidy up. “My deepest apologies. I did not expect company—royal company.”

I waved a hand at him. “It’s fine. Don’t worry. I’ll keep my eyes to myself.”

He smiled with relief then put down some papers he had been straightening.

He stepped to me and stuck up a finger. “I’ll be right back.

I have an idea of where we can start. Please, take a seat,” he said, gesturing toward the forest green, two-seater couch behind me.

When I sat, Mirin left and closed the front door behind him that had an arched top.

A few minutes later, Mirin strode in with two heavy containers under each arm. I got to my feet to help him set them down. “Okay. Got them,” he grunted out while closing the door with his foot.

“Why didn’t you just teleport here?”

He bent over, setting the boxes down with gentle chimes of glass clinging together. His brows pulled up. “I cannot teleport.”

My eyes knitted together as I straightened. “What do you mean?”

He shrugged then smiled. “I mean that I was not born with the ability to teleport. We all have our shortcomings though.”

“We do?” I blinked at him, waiting for him to feed my knowledge.

“Perhaps not you. Royalty acquires any discovered ability of our people the day they are born.”

“I did not realize there were magic limitations.”

He grinned and lifted the lid of one container. “Now you do.”

I peeked in, eyeing the stacks of small glass tiles packed neatly into the box. “What else can you not do? ”

A chortle escaped his lips, citrine eyes narrowing to slits with his smile and dimples on either side of his face deepening. “Why don’t you ask what I can do.”

I bent to open the second container for him. “What can you do, Mirin?”

He stood, stroked his chin, and looked into the distance as he counted on his fingers. “I can break objects, teleport others, breathe underwater, detect where crystals are, and camouflage with surroundings.”

I watched as his skin spiraled with purple magic before it darkened and scattered to match my perspective of the door behind him.

“See?”

I giggled. “That’s pretty cool.”

He reappeared and shrugged. “That’s all I’ve discovered for now anyway.”

“So everyone has five abilities?”

He shook his head and crouched near the containers, gently pulling out a stack of four-by-four tiles and placing it on the ground beside my feet. “No. Some have one, some have a hundred. The amount is determined by genetics. ”

If that was true, I wondered what Fletcher’s genetic makeup was. What powers did he have before me? How many? Had he used them? Did he miss them?

Mirin huffed. “Okay. When I got back to Elizy, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

And I think,” he knelt, picked up a single tile, and gave a huge smile as if he had been waiting for this day, “we need to see if you can make this glass indestructible before we start experimenting. If your magic can bind the glass, then we can work on finding a way to break it.”

My heart sank as I bit on a hangnail. “Oh… uh, there’s a bit of a problem with that.”

His brows creased. “What is it?”

A princess unable to use her magic. I shook the thought out of my system and revealed my secret because Fletcher said he trusted Mirin. My shoulders slacked as my finger came flying out of my mouth. “I can’t use my magic.”

He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head, mop of strawberry-blond hair bouncing with the motion. “What do you mean?”

“I have something called split magic. It’s unpredictable, and if I use my magic, there’s a chance it could kill me. ”

His eyes widened and his heavy brows darted up with grave concern. “Oh my, I-I’m so sorry to hear that.”

I sighed. “I don’t want anyone knowing.”

Mirin flattened his hand over his heart and bowed his head, promising, “I won’t say a word.”

“Thank you.” When he looked up, I continued. “But, if you drink my blood, you will be able to wield my magic. That way you can experiment.”

His lips pressed together. “I can, but I’ll need someone else without your magic as a control.

I need a glass coated in the indestructible magic and one without to practice on.

If we can break the indestructible glass without your magic, then we will not need your royal blood to save those in the Cidris Facility.

” He sighed and leaned a hand on the wall while crossing his ankles.

I vehemently shook my head. “I don’t trust anyone. And even you are in question.”

He pressed his lips as if he were disappointed by the statement.

A frown took over his face, and perhaps, he realized it was understandable as he pushed off the wall and shifted his stance to hips-width apart.

“Our best chance is another person if you cannot use your magic. Is there no one you found during your visit here who you trust?”

I ran through the names of those I’d met in my head. Talia. Students. Jarvy. Rosaanne. Decksin. Graff. Rizzy. “Two come to mind if I had to choose.”

“Who are they?”

“Talia and Rosaanne.”

Mirin’s head jerked back like he was in deep confusion. “I would have bet coins on you saying Graff.”

“Talia and Rosaanne,” I repeated firmly.

He bowed his head. “I trust them both. I know Talia better than Rosaanne. I think she would be a great addition, except she tends to dedicate all her time to her students. On the other hand, she does not have the gritty edge that Rosaanne does that we might need. If anyone were going to break into the Cidris Facility to help you, I’d put my bet on Rosaanne. And Graff.”

I clenched my jaw at the sound of his name, crossing my arms. “You trust Graff.”

He nodded. “I trust anyone the king and queen are willing to marry the princess off to.”

With a heavy huff, I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling the possibility of involving Graff clutch at my stress. Mirin was merely offering his opinion, and I took it very lightly. “Let’s start with Rosaanne.”

A twinkle of disappointment glimmered in his eye before he smiled and said, “I’ll get set up here if you want to go have a chat with her. She lives one row over and three houses to the left. The one with the dark blue door.”

I knocked on Rosaanne’s navy-blue door. It cracked open and her electric yellow eyes peeked out, latching on mine.

Then, the door opened swiftly, the draft of the motion fluffing up her curly, scarlet hair and flaring up her short black dress that hung loosely over her curves.

“Princess Ripley,” she greeted with a friendly smile. “Hi.”

“Hi, Rosaanne.” I gave her a similar smile.

“Come in, come in,” she said, opening the door even wider and moving aside.

When I stepped into her home, it was bright and airy, opposite of Mirin’s home.

Each wall of the house was painted a different color of blue and purple.

Yellow accents were scattered around the room and green ivy grew along the walls.

Perched in the corner of the ceiling was a rayko bird cleaning its black feathers.

Touches of their iridescence played peekaboo every time it lifted a silky plume.

On the back wall was a bright countertop and a metal basin for a sink that reflected the sun streaming in from the three skylights.

Across the walls, I’d expected to see hanging pots and pans, but instead, there were black shelves holding up several glass cages that contained a variety of insects.

I walked up to them, eyeing the one creature I’d seen before.

It was what the Cidris used to teleport where they needed to go.

Its perfectly spherical body had three razor-thin legs protruding from either side.

A small head glided smoothly over its entire body in any direction it wanted. “I’ve seen these before.”

“Oh yes, the drabe.”

“Drabe,” I echoed to myself, memorizing the way it felt on my tongue. My eyes shifted to each of the other insects and my heart felt like it snapped into place. I connected to each one like they were mine to take care of—my babies.

“They are an endangered species because of the stupid Cidris. So when I got enchanted a few years back, I found some on my way home, and I thought maybe I could breed them to sustain our ecosystem,” she said, stepping next to me and pointing at the second container that held another drabe.

She cared. And as much as I did about the ?lden Lands. “That’s,” I took a deep breath, watching the kindness in her eyes as she gently scratched the container like she was petting it, “very sweet of you.”

She grinned and pulled her hair into a frizzy ponytail, wrapping it with a silver tie. “Well, thanks.”

“I take it you like working in the crystal fields then.”

“God no.” She laughed rather derisively. “I don’t stand for it. We used to use fire for light. And it worked just fine. Plus, we have enough Elizians who can produce and give electricity around the clock. I still don’t understand why we have to harvest the beauty of the crystal fields.”

I tilted my head and huffed, accepting the truth in what she said. “Why don’t they?”

Her fingers tensed into claws like she was squeezing imaginary heads. “Because no one listens to me!” Then, she relaxed and took off her black choker necklace, setting it beside the sink. “Sorry. You don’t want to get me started. I’ll go on for days… ”

I grinned, feeling some deep-rooted connection with her cause. I loved the ?lden Lands. And anything I could do to make it better, I would in a heartbeat. “I admire your passion and your mission.”

She shrugged. “Well, you’d be one of the few.” We exchanged a look of mutual appreciation before she sighed. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Um, I was wondering if you could help me with something.”

She perked up, squaring her shoulders to me. “What is it?”

I leaned my hip against her counter and rested a hand on it, feeling like suddenly I didn’t know what to do with my body because I knew I’d have to talk to her about Fletcher.

Not only that, but I was doing this behind his back.

He was very clear about not involving anyone else for now.

And here I was in the house of his ex-lover.

I took a deep breath, committing to my decision, then let the words roll off my tongue. “So, Fletcher and I are planning on taking down the Cidris… secretly. We’d like to recruit you.”