Page 68 of In The Dark

“Lucky for you, Ivy and Orin arrived just this morning. We can steal it tonight while Orin shifts into the captain. We could use him as a distraction in case something goes wrong. After that, we’ll need to visit the Siphon I tracked,” he adds, pulling his focus away from the fire and meeting my gaze.

“You want Orin to shift into Ren?”

My stomach drops. I hope that Ren doesn’t decide to take a stroll to the kitchens like he did a couple nights ago. He’d have to walk past the courtyard in order to reach them, and as much as I believe we could win in a fight, a small part of me doesn’t. Ren’s one of our most skilled fighters.

Rydian studies me, a mischievous look slowly forming as he rises, then throws me a teasing wink. “It’ll be fun.”

23

It’sclose to midnight as I pace my chamber, waiting for Rydian’s arrival. We’ll be stealing a copy of the map from the archives tonight, but it’s not just stealing. We’ll have to transfer it to parchment and exit before anyone notices.

My adrenaline is pumping. I’ve had no problem fulfilling the king’s orders over the years, but breaking into his private archives is far different than a simple mission. It puts me on edge.

We decided that Ivy and Orin will remain in the Veil as we search for the map unless we need Orin as a distraction, which I’m hoping we won’t.

A faint knock sounds at the door. I find Rydian in all black with his hood up.

He steps in. “Are you ready?”

“No. Are you?” I huff, wiping my damp palms on my tunic.

“When we step into the Veil, you need to hold my hand or we risk you stepping out by accident. Once we get inside and find the map, we can Veil out of there and into the loft,” he says and then grins. “Just don’t, you know… throw up this time. I’d hate for you to ruin this by vomiting.”

After deciding to steal the map tonight, Rydian convinced me to travel to the loft through the Veil this morning, leaving me to run to the nearest basin to keep from hurling all over the floor. Embarrassment floods me, as it wasn’t exactly how I wanted to be introduced to Orin.

A frustrated growl escapes me when another knock interrupts whatever insult I’m about to throw Rydian. He only winks, chuckling as he steps aside.

Pulling the door open with a huff, I find Ivy and Orin waiting in my stairwell. I gave them access to the castle as soon as dusk hit, so it’s no surprise to find them knocking at my door while everyone sleeps.

Ivy wears a thick cloak like ours, but Orin wears a black tunic rolled up at the sleeves and black pants—similar to Ren’s typical wear in the brotherhood. Luckily for us, Orin is very similar to Ren in height, give or take a couple of inches. Only Orin is actually friendly and not a grumpy brute.

With dark hair and wide-set shoulders, he looks everything like a trained warrior, but also like he would start brawls for entertainment. His shoulders hardly made it through the opening on the stairs at the loft.

My curiosity suddenly spikes when a blonde birthmark near the back of his head comes into view, leaving me to wonder if everyone in Aurelia has them. Ivy has a white one resting at the top of hers, but I have yet to see one mixed into the auburn strands on Rydian though.

“Princess.” Orin grins as I step aside and stifle a groan. A nickname I’m not fond ofat all.The room suddenly feels ten times smaller with everyone crammed inside.

Ivy’s serious gaze collides with mine for a breath. “If you have time, I’d like to see if you could search for anything regarding the army’s movements—battle plans if he has any.”

“Weapons and armor too,” Orin adds, scratching the dark scruff on his face. “Anything to help gauge where he is onmaintaining distance from Aurelia, or if he plans on another war.”

Though my face remains neutral, my stomach drops with unease. I only agreed to steal the map to search for my mother, but now they want army movements and battle plans? What happens if I find something?

Ivy’s eyes briefly shift to Rydian’s as he silently strokes his jaw, but now I’m suddenly feeling as if they know something I don’t.

All I can do is nod, eager to get this over with.

Rydian and I clasp hands, and within a second, we arrive outside the archives near the two guards stationed at the doors. The Veil is almost weightless, feeling so light it’s as if I’m walking on water, yet my head buzzes with energy. An unwelcome curl of nausea rises, leaving me to slowly exhale through my nose in order to settle my stomach.

We remain quiet—not a word is said as I hold Rydian’s hand, waiting for the other two guards to exit. At any other time, I might have dwelled on how his hand comfortably wraps around mine, but now would be a bad time to get distracted.

A few minutes go by when the archive doors finally creak open, the two guards deep in conversation as they exit. We begin to move forward on silent feet, squeezing our way in just as the doors begin to shut. I breathe a sigh of relief.

Then, within seconds of arriving, the Veil flickers out, leaving me to whip my head to Rydian’s with panic on my face.

“Did the Veil just disappear?” I breathe, my voice trembling with fear. “Please tell me the Veil didn’t just vanish on us?”

“Elion must have put a ward in here. It’s fine. We’ll figure it out,” he mutters, if only to convince himself. He’s suddenly lost in thought as if coming up with another plan at the last minute.