Page 22

Chapter 22

Rahk

We’ve hardly put away the game before Edvear’s hurried footsteps come down the hallway. By now, I know the variations of his stride well. This one has my spine stiffening.

“What’s wrong?” Nat asks, just as she slides the game onto its usual place on the shelf.

I glance at her, startled that she should be able to read me so well, so quickly. A curt reply leaps to my lips, since I cannot lie, but I stop myself. I owe her better than that. “I hope nothing serious,” I reply honestly.

Edvear’s knock is insistent. I bid him enter. He doesn’t even see Nat in the corner and rushes to hand me a crisp white missive. “I just received this from Nothril! I meant to go earlier in the day like usual but with the aftermath of the assassins—”

“Do not worry yourself,” I say as I take the note. “You may leave.”

The room is quiet a moment later. Nat stands like a ghost in the corner, clearly caught between retiring to her own chambers or awaiting my bidding. I break the seal on the note, my heart already quickening its rhythm. It is in Pelarusa’s hand. Concerningly few words are written on the note. I skim it in half a second.

Pavi messed up.

Ice washes through my veins. I stuff the note in my pocket and cast around for my swords. They’re not here—they’re in my study.

“What’s wrong?” Nat asks quietly. She has already gone into motion herself and a second later, she hands me a cloak and a pair of boots.

Gratefully, I swing on the cloak and yank each boot onto my feet. “I don’t know. All I know is that it involves my sister.”

“What can I do?” she asks, her tone serious, without a hint of her usual irreverence. She moves fast with me, following me toward the study. “Your knives are in the bedroom. Should I fetch them?”

I grab my two swords from under my desk, swing them onto my back, and fasten their buckles. “No, this is all I need. I will leave at—” My fingers slip on the buckles of the second sword. The weapon nearly drops to the ground.

But Nat is there, catching the buckle and tightening it for me.

I spare one second to look down at her as she fastens the buckle. She is focused, sharp, while I am caving for a second time. Part of me hates her for it, but it is only because I hate myself for these stupid weaknesses. For caring about my sister when I should let her survive on her own merits.

The greater part of me is relieved that for this one moment, there is someone who will compensate for my shaking fingers without requiring a hefty price in return.

She looks up at me with such concern in her brown eyes. That expression is dangerous. It will make me confide my fears in her when I shouldn’t. It will make me want to trust her far more than I ought.

“I don’t know when I will be back,” I say as I stride past her, letting the glamours fall from my wings even before I shut the door behind me.

Pelarusa meets me at the iron gates of Nothril.

“What happened?” I demand as the guards let me through. Coolness washes over me as we step into the entrance of the deep cave that is the palace.

“Pavi and her young handmaiden decided to play a prank on one of her bodyguards. They stole his helmet and painted pink flowers across the whole thing.” Pelarusa keeps pace with my fast strides, heading toward the throne room. “She is such an idiot sometimes. But that wasn’t where things went wrong.”

“Let me guess,” I growl, frustration building up inside my gut, “Lord and Lady Nothril announced their intention to punish the servant instead of Pavi, and Pavi could not stomach that. She intervened—and then things escalated.”

“Exactly.” Pelarusa throws up her hands. “I should have just let them kill her. I don’t know why I care at this point. She is asking to be put to death. Lady Nothril is simply too fond of her to have allowed it to happen so far.”

“The punishment for the servant?”

“They took her hands. One for her fault, one for Pavi’s fault. Pavi was supposed to be the one to do it.”

I briefly let my eyes shutter closed. Pavi can never hurt another soul. That will cost her dearly if she stays at Nothril. Silently, I berate myself for not having caught the Ivy Mask already. Pavi could be out of here by now. That little servant girl could still have her hands.

We reach the door to the throne room. Yelling penetrates the thick stone. Pelarusa and I share a look. Then I shove open the door.

“We didn’t mean any harm!” Pavi cries. She stands before the two thrones, her hands extended in pleading. The tears are evident in her voice. “It was just paint! It washes off!”

“That warrior has sworn to give his life for you, and you humiliate him with tricks like this?” Lord Nothril shrieks back at her.

“I see that now, but it wasn’t even Kava’s idea! She just went along with me. How could you be so cruel? You should have taken my hands instead!”

“She is a slave girl. She doesn’t matter. I find your care of her to be extremely disturbing, and I will gladly take your hands too if it will ingrain this lesson in your thick skull!”

“Lord and Lady Nothril,” I call, my voice slicing through the storm cloud of fighting. I bow. “I pay my respects.”

“What are you doing here?” Lord Nothril spits. “The High King’s lapdog has finally returned home, but has he brought his quarry? It does not look like it.”

I clasp my hands behind my back, bracing my legs wide. I can take Lord Nothril’s redirected ire. Distraction is the name of this game—not trying to reason with either Lord Nothril or Pavi. I need only to revert attention to me long enough for Pelarusa to get Pavi out.

“I do not have the Ivy Mask yet, but there have been some interesting developments.”

“Do I look like I care about updates on your errands?” Lord Nothril’s vitriol is biting. If I was not used to it, I might have retreated a step from the force of it. “I want the Ivy Mask. I want him cut to pieces at my feet. I do not care about your developments .”

Lady Nothril, who has been sitting silently on her throne in a gown of deep purple, taps one nail on her armrest. We all, as one, swivel our attention to her.

“I would like to hear,” she says calmly.

I incline my chin slightly. “I have been able to effectively trace the Ivy Mask’s movements to the Revar Court. I have also confirmed that he lives in the human world—and I have pinpointed the city. It will not be long before I collect him.”

Lady Nothril’s mouth twist upward. “The vigilante must be quite skilled to be giving you such a challenge.”

I keep my voice devoid of emotion. “There is a reason he has gone so long without being caught. But I will catch him. I am close on his trail even now.”

As we speak, Pelarusa drags Pavi out of the throne room. Pavi doesn’t seem inclined to go at first. She does not know that there is nothing to be done for her friend. All there is, now, is the preservation of her own life.

But, being Pavi, she still has not realized that.

Lord Nothril does not seem to notice, but Lady Nothril’s eyes flick from me as I speak to watch her youngest daughter leave. She returns her gaze to me. She strips me bare with that gaze, reading exactly what I am doing, and exactly why I am doing it.

This is why I bear the blood oath tattoo on the back of my neck. Because I cannot be trusted to act without consideration of the few I care about. Even though Lady Nothril herself is the softest on Pavi, the viperlike expression she shoots me is one of disappointment.

I can almost hear her voice slithering in my ear: “You have never had what it takes to rise to the throne of Nothril.”

“Why are you not just sniffing the creature out?” Lord Nothril demands, missing entirely that Pavi is gone.

“The Ivy Mask does not leave a scent trail, but he is still trackable. I—”

“Then why have you not tracked him already?” It comes out in a violent shout. “You do realize your sister will die if you do not finish this—or are you too stupid to realize that is what a blood oath is? If you drag your feet, she may even be dead before you return.”

My throat closes. I measure my breathing carefully. When I have regained my composure, I say only, “I will hunt him down. Have no fear.”

“Have you at least finished the High King’s errand?” Lord Nothril growls, flopping into his throne and running a hand down his face. “No, do not answer that. I already know.”

“I will finish both of these things within the time specified,” I say coolly.

Lord Nothril flicks his hand. “Then begone and finish your tasks.”

I gladly turn on my heel and march from the throne room.

Pavi waits for me outside. She stands by the servants’ door, ready to flee into it if it was not me who exited. Her shoulders are curled inward. She gnaws on her fingernails until her eyes fall on me. Tears bubble to the surface. She breaks into a run and throws her arms around my waist.

“I didn’t mean for her to be hurt,” she sobs against my chest.

I sigh as I wrap one arm around her. “I know.”

I should berate her for her foolish behavior. I should give her a list of things she should never do again. But my stupidly soft heart cannot let those words pass my lips. Instead, I hold her close and let her cry.