Page 136 of The Dark Mage

Her voice broke on the last word, and she dissolved into bitter sobs.She couldn’t bear their pity.Couldn’t bear their understanding.She turned toward the wall, hiding herself from their gazes.

Esrin’s hand never left herhair.

“Let her go, Zev,” he murmured.His voice was low with compassion.

The magic that had bound her unraveled as Zev released it, leaving only the blanket itself, which she gripped tightly as though it were a lifeline.

Fael was the emperor’s son.He had been raised and trained in the imperial guard to hunt and kill people with magic.He had helped Lissea—and who knew how many others—trap and slaughter powered people, even though he himself was one.That had supposedly changed after his mother’s assassination and the murder of a lover.He had spent the last five years helping people.Or so he had toldher.

Fael.His solid heart.His gentle encouragement and quiet strength.His kiss, his touch, his fire that ignited something within her own power.Did it matter who he was?Could she set aside his name and what it meant?Or did it change everything betweenthem?

Oh, gods,Fael.Had it all been a lie?No.He wouldn’t have protected them on the wharf if it were a lie.Or would he?

Her thoughts spiraled—a storm of bitter tears, anger, and deep, unendingpain.

Dimly, she became aware that Esrin and Zev had moved to the window seat.Their voices drifted through herhaze.

“What was that horrible feeling earlier?”Esrin asked, his tone low and strained.“It almost severed my link to my magic.It felt… wrong.Like broken trees or dried-up riverbeds.”

“I’ve felt it before,” Zev replied, his voice weighted with memory.“Though I’ve never been able to identify it.It always comes from non-magical humans.I once saw a regiment reeking of it as they dragged two druids from hiding and executed them.But I couldn’t pinpoint the source among the living.”

Esrin sighed heavily.“Another complication.Hiding from non-magical people has always been one of the few ways we’ve survived.If they can sense our auras, whatthen?”

There was a pause, then Esrin muttered, “And shit, Zev, what about Fael?The crown prince?How did we notknow?”

“A more difficult question, my friend,” Zev admitted.“But I’ve sensed nothing amiss with him in all the time we’ve traveled together.I never detected deceit—only a deep desire to be honest.And you know I’m not incapable of picking up on lies.His love for Ren’wyn is real.That much is certain.But this revelation hurts, and it has hurt her more deeply, which is what concerns me most.”He hesitated.“His capture or death is a loss I don’t think we can afford.”

“What do you mean?”Esrin asked, frowning.

“He is the flame to our dark shadow.Without him, I’m not sure we’ll succeed,” Zev said quietly.“Ren’wyn is tied to him in a way none of us can replicate.As much as it pains me, we cannot support her the way hecan.”

A long silence followed.Then Esrin said firmly, “We have to save him,then.”

“I believe we do,” Zev agreed.

As Ren’wyn drifted into an exhausted sleep, her tears still flowing and her muscles aching, her warring emotions settled uneasily within her.She loved Fael.She was determined to save him and relieved she wouldn’t have to face that alone.And yet, he had betrayed her by hiding the truth of who he was, and she dreaded what that betrayal mightmean.

Letting go of it all for a moment, she let her mind wander.She pictured returning to Delmor—a warm breeze blowing through the town as the sun set.Fael’s hand cradled hers, a white stone house standing before them.A well-tended garden bloomed out front, window boxes overflowing with herbs.His hand slid to the small of her back as he whispered, “Welcomehome.”

Then the ship rocked as the wind caught the sails, and Ren’wyn drifted into blackness.