Page 53 of Shadows and Flames (Twin Blades #2)

Chapter Thirty-Two

MELINE

B y the time we exited the palace, the sun had retreated behind the clouds, painting the world in shadows of gray. Even the soft grass beneath my boots appeared dulled as I paced, imagining what horrors Francie was enduring whilst we waited another day.

“We have to go get her,” I said for the fifth time as we stood beneath a tree, away from these Folk who took no issue with the torture of my friend or their monarch eating a decaying head.

This time, Fenix was the one to object, “I’m not in your line of work, but that still seems unwise.”

I clutched my dagger for comfort or to stab him, but Tana stepped between us.

Her leathers matched mine, brown and simple, yet equipped with enough weapons to storm that fucking castle.

My cousin was more than formidable with her staff alone.

And with Elián, Tomás, and even Fenix’s help?

Surely we could spring her from Queen Sarya’s captivity.

“Leen. I know it was horrific to see Francie in that state and to know now the cruelty of these Folk. But we are no help to her if we are dead.”

Elián had tried to tell me the same thing in fewer words, but just like then, this was unacceptable. “And leave her starving and afraid? Have any of you been in Frenzy before? To that extent? We have no idea what pain she is in, just that it persists.”

I doubted the monster of a queen was keeping Francie in a furnished room filled with smooth sheets and a warm fire. She treated an actual animal with more kindness than what she displayed toward Francie.

“It’s awful what they’re doing to her, but I’m not storming that palace. Nogón says he has the item you need in exchange for the caregiver, and I like my flesh on my body, thank you very much.”

I whirled around, shoulders heaving, and shot my arms wide. “I don’t even know why the fuck he said that! How can that be ?”

In all the time since we reunited, Elián’s demeanor was the closest to the laconic Shadow I’d first met three years ago. Now, I remained open as he crossed his arms and jutted that brow in that way, which only made my anger climb higher. “I said it because it is true.”

“ How? ”

Elián remained a statue, letting the breeze sweeping the small field of green and wild flowers shift his hair like the young branches above. Today, it was tied up at the crown of his head, but, like always, silky strands escaped and framed the hard planes of his face.

“When I searched Nethras. For you.” My breath stalled on its way from my throat to my lungs. “We will bring it tomorrow, get Francie, and leave.”

I dropped my arms, letting them flop against my sides and was reminded again of how Elián had searched our realm.

For me. My failures kept mounting, mocking me with the feel of a still body, the scent of Frenzy.

El didn’t pull me into him this time, but he held my stare, keeping us locked until I could feel my legs steady beneath me.

Fenix stood with his back against the thick trunk—or, branch of the ancient tree beneath us.

He was nearly camouflaged by the weight of his shield against the sun, and his voice did not hold its usual audible sneer.

“In that state, she will be hard to restrain. Especially if he is with us.” Fenix gestured toward Blackwood who was writing notes in a ledger and warily listening to us.

“She will scent and view us as adversaries, competitors in the way of her feeding. We will either have to keep her restrained or strike her unconscious for the journey back.” Experience underlined his steady instructions, as if he had made mistakes and was relaying what he’d learned from them.

In his short past, had he been the one in Frenzy or the one having to do the restraining?

“She will need help… adjusting. Once she is in her right mind again. Might help if you are alive for that part.”

Tana crouched, brushing her palms over the land. “Thank you, Fenix. That’s really helpful, and I agree completely.”

I knew my cousin, and I also knew her words were not a betrayal but her trying to engender a sense of belonging for the Vyrkos. It left a bitterness on my tastebuds all the same.

Someone’s stomach growled, but we were all hungry, aside from Blackwood. Like on the ship from Morova, we’d rationed our food from our realm, and we had mutually agreed to not feed from Fenix’s reserve, despite him offering.

Blackwood closed his ledger with a snap, regarding us all with disdain as if were in the way of his precious trade deal with this despicable place.

“You will keep to the agreement we’ve entered.

I care not what you do afterward, but I do need escort tomorrow and once we leave. After that, we are done.”

“If that queen doesn’t eat you first, you mean.

” Tomás’s words should have been in jest, but repulsion swelled between us all.

Did Queen Sarya share Von Herron’s remains with her children?

Her subjects? I had little consideration for the man’s life, but even I felt it a mercy his soul had left the realm before witnessing such a desecration.

Blackwood sputtered in a way he never would have with the Queen. “She will do no such thing. As we saw, she is a woman of her word.”

“Were you in the same room with us just then? Are you that easily fooled by pretty appearances? One can tell the truth and still have no honor.” And I had made a deal with her.

I wasn’t opposed to acting against it, and I would be unsurprised to find Sarya to be the same.

“We don’t even know if her inability to lie is the truth. ”

Tana was now absently weaving grass and flower stems together, and she tilted her face toward the sky.“Do you think that extends to all Folk or just her?”

None of us had an answer to that, but the whole idea sounded ludicrous. Would such a thing extend to every single minuscule obfuscation of the truth, or would it only apply to blatant mistruths? What would happen if they tried to tell one?

While we stood in silence and my anger waned, a heavy cloud trailed across the falling sun, leaving us in compounded darkness for a moment, then continuing on its way across the sky.

The slivers of sunlight piercing through the clouds reflected against the iridescent polish of the Pyrestan guards’ armor.

Yesterday, when we’d traipsed through the city, the eyes of the Folk had been on us, but today, after our audience with the Queen, we were being followed. Quite blatantly, too.

“My goal is to bring Francie home to her mate as quickly as we can.” I thought of the handkerchief Whitley sent me, when I informed them I would be starting this quest to get their mate back.

It lay in my packs, folded neatly and waiting for me to give to Francie.

Something to remind her of home . “If no one will help me get her now, then we will—we’ll get her tomorrow.

For now, maybe we should retire to the lodging house.

” I’d little regard for my own safety, but the others’ were actively in jeopardy, especially now.

This time, my suggestion met no objection.

Finding calm within the confines of the lodging house inevitably proved quite difficult.

While Fenix slept, as his body naturally craved during the light of day, Blackwood fucked off to do whatever it was he had to do to prepare for negotiations with Queen Sarya.

So, that left the four of us to pace and snipe at each other within the overly-decorated walls and nosily helpful staff Folk.

Before they came knocking the first time, asking if we needed anything, we were shouting over a scattered pile of cards, Tomás cursing us for not listening to the rules while Tana and I accused him of cheating.

Then, when they’d tried to come around with a mid-day meal of sweet yogurt and berries, we’d been arguing again, this time over the minutiae of our plan of exit from this place.

How we would first try to calm and restrain Francie, then how we would incapacitate her as kindly as possible, should we need to.

The third time they’d come to the door, meeting a snarling Tomás who slammed the door in their face, Elián had pulled out the bracelet from a smaller leather pouch hidden in his things. I said nothing as I saw the edge of a flat, golden box I knew to be etched with roses.

And the fourth time, when the staff came around with a putrid-smelling supper, I was the one to pull the door open, only to meet the cheery smile of the one who first greeted us yesterday.

My head throbbed, and I tried my best to breathe through my mouth. “What is your name?”

His wings spread, as if to make himself appear larger. “You may call me Ren.”

“Ren. Tha—we appreciate your level of… attentiveness, but to our senses, your food is unappetizing. Please do not bring it again. We will call if we need something.”

His smile didn’t falter, but he did lower the tray, and I saw the others behind him retreat back up the corridor. “Oh. My apologies. The man you are with has been enjoying it, so we assumed.”

“Be that as it may. We do not need anything, so if you’ll?—”

My cousin sprang up behind me, peering around my shoulder. “Wait! Ren, when we went to the palace, your queen mentioned that she cannot lie. Is that true?”

He cleared his throat, taking a step back but still responding, “This is true.”

“Can you lie?” Tana pressed.

Ren did not hesitate. “None of us can lie.”

Tana hummed pensively, but something about his readiness to answer our questions was suspicious in its own way. I clutched the edge of the doorframe, and leaned towards him. He stepped back once again. “Does that mean you always tell the truth?”

There. The lodging house manager kept his expression and posture level, but the pause was there. “We are unable to tell lies, just like our queen. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” And he was gone, moving as fast as any Lylithan or Vyrkos.