Page 38 of Once the Skies Fade (Immortal Reveries #2)

Chapter 38

Calla

I was halfway up the stairs when I called my shadows to retreat, but when they snapped back into my palms, my foot slipped. My shin struck the edge of the step hard. Biting back a curse, I pushed myself to keep going. Two more flights of stairs and I would be safe in my room. No one needed to know where I’d been or what I’d done.

At least I hadn’t killed the asshole. That would be a much bigger mess to clean up, and this was already going to be a pain and a half to keep quiet; Matthias would undoubtedly tell someone.

I groaned, realizing just how stupid I had been. What the fuck had I been thinking? Attacking one of the competitors? And with my shadows, no less!

But no one would believe the general, right? He’d been poisoned, injured, unconscious for nearly a week. No one would believe him. It was my word against his.

Except…

What good was my word now?

No one seemed to believe my innocence.

Stars, even Asher believed I killed my husband.

Asher. One of my oldest friends.

At least he didn’t judge me, though. I guess.

I should have probably found comfort in that fact—that my friend still supported me even when I’d all but admitted to being the killer.

Killer .

I’d fled the hallway before Matthias could utter that blasted nickname, but shit, I was going to need to fix this. I couldn’t rely on others not believing him. I needed to keep him quiet.

Good luck with that. That male never shuts up.

A smile threatened to creep up, but I fought it, biting down hard on my lower lip as I slipped into my room. I just needed a moment to think and come up with a plan. Maybe a bath could help. Maybe?—

“What did you do?” Isa asked, slipping into her disappointed, parental tone, accentuated by the severe gleam in her eye. She leaned against the doorway to my bedroom, her hand falling to her hip.

I clicked the door shut and drew in a deep breath before turning to face her. Widening my eyes a bit, I donned my best air of innocence.

“I took a walk. Why?”

Isa’s already weary expression now darkened knowingly. “I know you, Calla. Your heart is racing erratically, almost as fast as you ran down that hallway. Add in you wringing your hands in your dress, and I assume this has something to do with your shadows.”

I shrugged. “It’s nothing.”

“That shake in your voice—that one you think no one hears?—says otherwise. Now what happened?”

“The asshole had it coming,” I said, rolling my eyes as I strolled over to the sofa and plopped down, kicking my boots off and pulling my feet up under me.

Isa calmly joined me before the cold fireplace. She didn’t seem at all shocked by my answer as she sat and draped her arm casually over the back of the sofa.

“Which asshole was that?”

“I think his name was Korben.”

“Was?” Fear sparked in her eyes, but vanished when I clarified.

“Is. He’s still alive.”

“You’re sure?”

I nodded.

“And? What did he have coming exactly?”

“I might have strangled him. Just a bit. Enough to knock him unconscious.”

Isa leaned forward slightly, fresh concern washing over her face. “Did he try to hurt you?”

“Not me.”

“Then who—” Understanding shifted her question into a whispered oh . “Matthias?”

I pulled my lips into a thin, pathetic smile, but said nothing.

“Is he okay? What about the healers? Where were they? And how did Korben even get down there?”

“I assume he’s fine, but I didn’t stick around long enough to find out. I thought it best if he didn’t see me.”

“But your shadows…”

“Yes, obviously he knows it was me, but I couldn’t deal with him and his whole killer thing.”

Confusion twisted my general’s brow. “What killer thing?”

Rolling my eyes again, I gave small shakes of my head. “It’s just a dumb nickname he’s given me.”

Isa lifted a hand to her mouth, whispering, “Interesting.”

“You don’t think it means something, do you?” She merely leaned her ear toward one shoulder in a silent gesture of uncertainty. “Either way,” I continued. “They were in the hallway, not in the infirmary.”

After a few moments of quiet, Isa peered up at me from beneath her thick lashes. “What were you doing down there? Did you run out of the tea? Jocelyn said she’d deliver more so you wouldn’t have to venture down there.”

Shit. I didn’t have an excuse ready. I sat there looking at her like an idiot, and by the time I thought to lie—to say I’d simply had a question for Jocelyn—I’d been silent for so long, she’d never believe it. I prepared myself for another displeased glare and the accompanying rebuke.

The corners of her eyes and lips twitched slightly as she worked through her thoughts, but when her expression finally settled, I found what looked like an unnerving mix of worry and…hope.

“What?” I asked.

“What do you mean, what?”

“You’re looking at me strangely,” I said, cocking my brow suspiciously.

Isa angled her head at me and pursed her lips for a moment before finally saying, “I’m merely waiting for you to answer my question, which you still haven’t done.”

“You look like you’re expecting me to answer a certain way,” I noted.

“Were you checking on a certain foreign general?” Isa eyed me almost eagerly, like she was hoping that was exactly what I had been doing. If only I could answer her honestly without giving her the satisfaction of being right.

“What if I was? It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Of course it doesn’t,” Isa said through a slowly widening grin.

“Why?” I asked, not caring how childishly defensive I sounded. “Why does it matter?”

Isa shrugged smugly. “No reason. But”—her gaze darkened with a tinge of worry again—“I want to see you happy again, friend. I know you say you can’t love again, but maybe, with the right match, you could. And that’s all I want for you. Another chance at love.”

“Oh, is that all?” A hollow laugh tumbled from me, and I offered her a weak smile. “That’s what best friends are for, right? Believing in us when we can no longer do it ourselves? I can’t get hurt again, Isa.”

She reached forward and rested her hand on mine. “But you can, Calla. As long as you draw breath, pain is possible—perhaps even inevitable—but life isn’t about avoiding hardship; it’s about being the good in someone else’s life, so they don’t have to endure any of this shit alone. You cannot avoid heartache, but you’re not alone in it either.”

My eyes misted against my will, and I swiped my free hand across them.

“Fucking stars, Isa. Why do you have to do that?”

“Do what?” she asked, her voice cracking under her own emotional weight as she wiped away her own tears.

“Make me feel. You know I’d rather just be numb.”

“Numb or angry, you mean?” She laughed when I shrugged in agreement.

“That was a bit of a stretch, though,” I said, and she shifted her gaze to the ceiling as if backtracking through our conversation in her head. “Since when does checking on an injured guest indicate chance at love ?” I emphasized the last three words with a wiggle of my fingers in the air between us.

Isa rubbed the back of her neck slowly as she studied me. “I suppose it doesn’t.”

“Thank—”

“Or it wouldn’t,” she interrupted me. “Had you not ridden in on your shadowy horse and saved him.”

I had to fight to keep my mouth from falling open. What would she have had me do back there? Let him die?

I was about to ask her just that when she noted, “You’re different with him.”

Groaning, I rolled my eyes. “I’ve barely been around him.”

“But you have been around him,” she said, arching one brow. “That’s more than can be said for any of the other competitors.”

“Except Graham,” I said, but she was already shaking her head before I finished saying his name.

“Even Graham. You may have spent time with him before these games, but have you since?”

“At that first dinner he talked to me in the corner,” I said, a tad too triumphantly.

“You mean, after the general rushed over to protect you from a shadowy disaster by dancing with you?”

“I also saw Graham in the forest.” I realized my mistake too late.

All amusement vanished from Isa’s face, hidden under a shroud of disappointment. “So you did go in there during the trial.”

I said nothing. Her hard stare made me want to sink into the sofa’s cushions until I reminded myself that I was still her queen, mistakes and poor decisions be damned. A queen didn’t cower.

“I thought you knew,” I lied, shifting my gaze away from her to inspect my fingernails.

“You’re a shit liar, Calla. How would I have known?”

“Figured that brilliant mind of yours would have deduced as much when I escorted the other injured male back from the forest.” I lifted my eyes to her again, forcing the muscles in my face to relax despite the apprehension this whole confrontation had brewed.

“Flattery? That’s what you’re going with?”

“To be fair, I never promised not to go. You only asked me to promise.”

“Silly me to think you might actually listen to me for once. I told you to buy yourself more time to choose a new king, but this strange vendetta you seem to have against the humans kept you from listening to reason. And now we’re here, with only five weeks left. What do you think the Assembly will do if they find out you interfered with a trial?”

“But I didn’t?—”

“You know the truth doesn’t matter, Calla. Perception matters when you’re the fucking queen! Especially when you’re a queen suspected of murdering her husband!”

Her words shot straight through my chest, igniting fresh rage. Of course I knew all of this. I didn’t need her throwing it in my face, constantly reminding me of the stars-damned rumors. Balling my fists, I pressed my hands down onto my lap as hard as I could. My arms shook with tremors, which only got worse the harder I tried to subdue them by pulling them tightly against my ribs.

Just as quickly as she’d gone cross with me, Isa softened, reaching for my hand once more and giving it a squeeze.

“You know I don’t think you did it, right?”

I swallowed hard. My body was still tense but now from fear instead of anger. I wanted to ask her how she knew, but I couldn’t. I’d already walked into that awkward conversation with Asher, and he had taken my silence to his question—the question Isa would surely have as well—as proof of my guilt.

Instead I only nodded, dropping my eyes to my lap where I slowly uncurled my fingers.

Isa stood and stretched out her back. “As much as I’ve loved getting to talk with you, there is a little bit of a mess downstairs I need to figure out how to clean up. Do you think Korben knows it was you who attacked him?”

I blinked up at her and lifted a shoulder. “I honestly don’t know.”

“Well, knowing the general, he probably delivered Korben to Ami. If I can get down there before he wakes up, maybe we can spin this in your favor. In the meantime, I need you to prepare.”

My throat tightened again, and my words came out weaker than I intended. “Prepare for what?”

“The Assembly insists you meet with each of the survivors from the first trial.”

“And you agreed?”

She lifted her chin slightly. “Yes. I know you don’t plan to choose one yourself, and while this isn’t one of the official trials, I do think it would be good.”

“You’re the one who told me not to take any unnecessary risks. How is it not risky having me alone in a room with males who could be here to assassinate me?”

“This was deemed necessary.”

“Why? How is this at all necessary? I’ve already vowed—with my blood even—to accept and marry whoever wins! How could this possibly help me?”

“It’s not for you,” she said. “Yes, you’ll gain some insight into the males seeking your hand, but this is to help us avoid any of them complaining about favoritism.”

I started to scoff, but Isa halted any argument with a stern look. Shaking her head, she explained, “Matthias cannot be the only competitor you ever speak to, Calla.”