Page 16 of Once the Skies Fade (Immortal Reveries #2)

Chapter 16

Matthias

C onnor lunged, thrusting his sword at me. I easily parried his attack, finding the familiar sound of steel on steel oddly comforting. I stepped to the side and delivered a counter stroke, slicing through the space between us in a backhanded swing. Connor shifted out of reach as he brought his weapon up to meet mine, and in one swift motion, he twisted his blade around, forcing my wrist into such an unnatural angle I had to release my grip.

He began to laugh triumphantly, but cut it short when I summoned a quick burst of power to catch the hilt of my sword before it could hit the dirt floor of the training ring. Before he could move to parry or dodge, I jabbed the blade toward his gut, stopping before it could do more than nick a hole in his shirt.

A half-hearted groan rumbled from my friend as he jammed his sword home into its sheath.

“Done already?” I asked around my frown.

Connor looked at me quizzically. “It’s been two hours. Lieke’s expecting us soon.”

Glancing outside, I noted how the trees’ shadows had shifted since we’d started sparring this morning. “So it has,” I said, and tossed my sword to my other hand before slipping it back into place at my waist. I moved toward the waiting water pitcher on the table against the wall, but Connor cleared his throat, stopping me mid-step.

“Got anything stronger?” he asked, his eyes flicking up to the ceiling.

“Not for you, I don’t,” I said, grinning.

Connor recoiled in offense. “That’s some way to treat your future king.”

I bowed my head reverently. “Simply watching out for your health, Your Highness.”

“And protecting your precious brandy.”

“We all remember what happened the last time.”

“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

I smirked as I shook my head. “Not a chance.”

“I could order you to share it.”

“But you won’t.”

“How do you know?”

“Because Lieke would be disappointed with you if you did.”

Connor stared at me blankly for a moment before finally letting his shoulders slump in defeat. “You’re right. And even if she pretended not to be?—”

“You’d still feel it yourself,” I said. I scrunched my nose at him. “Makes me more and more glad I have no desire—or chance—of ever getting trapped in such a bond.”

Connor gave a short laugh. “You can barely handle your own feelings. I can’t imagine you having to deal with anyone else’s.”

I stiffened. Handle my own feelings? I managed them better than most—better than him, especially. I scoffed. “I don’t know. I’ve handled your mood swings just fine for years.”

Pivoting on my heel, I headed for the door. As soon as I stepped onto the grass, he was beside me, his hands buried in his pockets. “Seems like only yesterday you were lecturing me about needing to be open and honest.”

Apparently, he wasn’t going to let me escape this conversation easily—or at all.

I eyed him sharply as we walked. “With the woman you loved, Your Highness. Bit different.”

Connor pursed his lips and nodded. “True, though I had to first be honest with myself about how I felt. You can’t run away from?—”

Gritting my teeth, I stopped short and pinned him with a glare. “Run away from what? The fucking past?” I narrowed my eyes, but Connor didn’t react at all. “I realize this may be hard for you to understand, Connor, but not all of us need decades to process things. We lost a friend. It was fucking war! And yes, recent shit has brought those memories back, but my choosing to focus on the good rather than fixate on life’s fuckery doesn’t make me broken; it simply makes me different.”

Tense silence stretched between us for a long moment before he finally shifted his gaze away from mine and offered a thin smile.

“Lot of emotion in that little speech.”

“Fuck off,” I growled under my breath as I turned away to continue trudging up the hill. He fell into step with me once again, but I said nothing.

“Sorry,” he offered, but all I could manage was an annoyed grunt in response. We continued on in silence, and with each breath, my irritation eased a little more. It wasn’t his fault that he struggled to understand. Stars, it had taken me decades to accept that he needed time to brood and mope and stew over things while I didn’t.

When he finally spoke again, thankfully it was to change the subject though to an equally difficult one.

“You think Sera will be able to help those kids?”

The image of the pair with their clothes stained from their family’s blood invaded my thoughts. Pulling in a long breath, I tried to picture them playing with my niece and nephew, helping my sister in the garden and around the house. “I wouldn’t have sent them there if I didn’t.”

“I can’t believe she’s a Shadow Keeper,” Connor said, and I nearly wished we could go back to our previous discussion. Nearly.

“My scouts’ reports from Arenysen corroborate the kids’ recount. Word of it has spread quickly, and more and more humans are fleeing into Kinham and Wrenwick.”

Connor hummed. “I can understand why she’d hide her power, especially with how misunderstood it is. But how did she conceal it from everyone? Do you think Brennan knew?”

Shrugging, I frowned at him. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t. It’s amazing what someone can hide from others when needed. Shame? Fear? Either would be powerful motives to keep such magic a secret.”

“I wonder if she’s like the last Shadow Keeper we met,” Connor asked, a hint of worry in his tone. If he was trying to force me to face our past to acknowledge some deep-seated, repressed emotions, this was a shitty way to do it.

I bit back my curse as the memory surged forward like a tidal wave summoned by Connor’s stars-damned words.

In my head, black eyes stared back at me—empty abysses of malice threatening to swallow me whole. Long-forgotten screams pierced my consciousness as I relived the scene of Gabriel rushing at the Shadow Keeper on that distant battlefield. Then shadows flooded the image, and my nerves pulled taut as I once again watched the darkness smother him, silencing his screams. I wiped the image from my mind only to have it replaced by those blood-covered kids stumbling out of the trees.

Peering back at Connor, I whispered, “I sure as fuck hope not.”

By the time we reached the gravel of the palace driveway, my stomach was grumbling, begging me to move faster to discover what Mrs. Bishop had prepared for lunch. Disappointment sank like a stone in the pit of my gut, though, when I noticed the official courier standing beside his horse, watching us approach.

I slowed my pace to allow Connor to greet the messenger, noting the Arenysen seal—a fox draped in ivy—fixed to his jacket and to his horse’s blanket. I stopped a respectful distance away but angled my head so I could still listen to their exchange.

“Official word from Her Majesty, Queen of Arenysen,” the courier said, dipping his sharp chin shrewdly as he handed a thick envelope to Connor.

“And the nature of this message?” Connor asked, eyeing the envelope he now held in his hand.

“Not my place to say, Your Highness. I’m to deliver these to the lords of each of your villages.”

Connor swept an arm toward the stables. “Could your horse use a rest? We are happy to offer you and your mount whatever you need before you continue on.”

“Much thanks, Your Highness, but I mustn’t delay. Matter of urgency, I’m afraid,” he said before quickly turning his horse around and galloping away.

“A tournament?” Lieke balked at the letter she held, reading it over again as she paced in front of the cold fireplace. She stopped and glanced up over the paper at me and then to Connor. “I can’t believe they’re forcing her to remarry so soon, but what is she thinking?”

“If I were to venture a guess, I’d say she’s wanting to avoid having to actually choose someone,” I said from my seat on the sofa.

Connor, sitting in his usual armchair, met his wife’s stare. “I agree. Assuming she chose Brennan out of love?—”

“We know she did,” Lieke asserted, and Connor offered a sympathetic smile before continuing.

“She’s likely trying to protect her heart from being hurt again.”

I leaned forward and cleared my throat. “Regardless of why she’s doing this, we’re sending someone to compete, yes?”

Connor nodded slowly. “One male from each village is to compete.”

“But do the palace grounds count as one of the villages?” Lieke asked. “Would she even want us to send someone from the palace? Surely that will be too painful for her.”

Scratching my jaw, I shrugged slowly. “It doesn’t specifically prohibit us from sending someone, but we could always send someone from our ranks as representative for their hometown.”

Connor reached for the envelope lying on the small table in the middle of the living space. Silently he pulled out a smaller sheet of paper before dropping the envelope back down. “Unfortunately, Sapphire, we do still need to consider the possibility that Calla isn’t innocent here. It seems he may have been murdered after all, and with the same poison we’ve been battling.”

Lieke’s expression tightened, like she had just bit into a lemon, but she accepted the paper when Connor offered it to her. Her face shifted slowly as she scanned the writing, and I waited for her anger to appear as it usually did when we discussed Calla’s hypothetical guilt. This time, though, she let her arms fall weakly at her sides, the paper still gripped in her hand. Tears surfaced, clinging to her lower lashes, but they refused to spill over.

Lieke began to shake her head. “But they said?—”

“ Officially, we were told they didn’t know. This note was tucked in with the official tournament announcement. Someone at the castle didn’t want us to suspect foul play.”

“How do we know we can trust this”—she waved the paper in the air—“over the official report though? We don’t even know who sent this!”

Connor shrugged. “We can’t, but we must consider both possibilities. Someone doesn’t want us to know the truth. Whether that’s Calla or someone working against her, I don’t know.”

I shifted in my seat and added, “Consider, also, that the poison appears to be coming from Dolobare, who does business primarily with Arenysen.”

“Primarily, sure,” Lieke said. “But not solely. That poison could be coming through Wrenwick.”

Connor cocked his head to the side. “Anything’s possible, but I think this tournament”—he paused to flick a finger toward the paper in Lieke’s other hand—“is our best opportunity to try and learn the truth.”

“How exactly?” Lieke asked, but she seemed to quickly determine the answer on her own, because she shook her head and looked to the ceiling as she said, “Compete to get close to her.”

“And discover the truth,” Connor added.

Lieke pierced her husband with a stern glare. “And if she did it? Then what? Vengeance?”

Connor’s jaw pulsed under his clenched teeth. He balled his hands into fists that shook in his lap, but his anger was gone as quickly as it had come on. Stretching his fingers wide, he dropped them to push himself up from his chair. He closed the distance between them and took the paper from Lieke’s grasp, passing it off to me without so much as a glance in my direction. With Lieke’s hands now clutched in his own, Connor released a long sigh.

“I know it won’t bring him back, but if Calla did this—if Calla killed him—she needs to pay the consequences.”

The shimmer of fresh tears returned to Lieke’s eyes, and I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat. This seemed too personal an exchange for me to be sitting here watching, but if I were to get up and retreat, it would prevent my friends from having the conversation they needed to.

“Why do we need to dole out those consequences though? Can’t we leave it to her own kingdom to do so?”

“I don’t know how loyal they are to her,” Connor explained. “I don’t trust them to do what’s necessary.”

“So who do you trust?” No sooner had Lieke asked the question than they were both staring at me.

“What now?” I asked, pretending I hadn’t followed their conversation. They didn’t seem to buy it.

“You willing?” Connor asked.

“Do I have a choice?”

“Of course. I know you’ve been busy chasing the rebels, so I would understand if you don’t want to abandon that effort.”

“Do we know how dangerous this is going to be?” Lieke asked.

Connor rubbed the back of his neck slowly. “They claim to be tailoring these after the historic games, which consisted of frivolous trials. Regardless, Matthias has faced his share of danger. He can take care of himself.”

Lifting a hand to my chin, I tapped a finger against my lips as I considered the decision before me, though there was little need to deliberate. “I could use a change of scenery and a little adventure. When do I leave?”