Page 46

Chapter

Forty-Five

“Kadian!” I screamed as he bolted from the chair.

I was in no condition to chase after him.

Do I even have shoes in this room?

I didn’t have time to look and forced myself to follow him.

Kadian wove in and out of the crowds, hitting the odd person, not stopping to apologize.

I knew where he was going; I did my best to keep up.

I felt a slight shake begin in my legs as we rounded the fifth or sixth corner.

My body was crippled with fatigue and was fighting to stay awake with every step I took.

I lost sight of him on the final turn, but I heard him moments later.

“LIL,” he screamed outside of the entrance to the Court of Reflection.

The hallway was empty, save for us.

The trembling in my legs crept upward, reaching my knees.

Standing became challenging.

I leaned on the edge of the Mirrors of Reflection for support.

“LIL,” I heard him yell once more.

“Someone better open this fucking door,” he slammed his hand against it.

“Kadian!” I tried getting his attention, but nothing broke his focus.

My body gave out next to the pathway to the door.

I rested on my knees while the small ledge that contained the Mirrors helped support my upper body.

“Kadian, I’m begging you,” my voice was barely a whisper.

He doesn’t realize I’m here .

I looked into the water and saw a ripple begin to form, similar to the last time.

My eyelids were growing heavy, I needed rest, I needed…

Dainan… Stop him . Please, please stop him.

The ripple in the water began to grow, and its color changed.

What once had been a beautiful pale blue was now crimson that was mixed with something else.

I was struggling to stay awake.

After a few moments, Kadian’s voice began to fade as the darkness claimed me.

???

“You have been causing quite a commotion,” Alvar said as he sat in a chair at the foot of the bed.

Why is there a chair at the foot of the bed?

What room am I in? I closed my eyes and listened.

I heard the soothing sounds of water.

“Did you move me back to my room?” I asked him as a small smile plastered itself on my face.

“I wanted you to be somewhere comfortable. A general room in the infirmary does not fall under that category.” He smiled as he rose to come stand by me.

“Initially, I thought of bringing you to the royal quarters so that I could watch over you, but alas, things have been a bit chaotic.”

“Are you here to tell me that I’ve been let go from my position?” I placed myself in the middle of the bed.

He laughed as he gestured for me to move over and sat down next to me.

“On the contrary. I have classified the past few days as medical leave.” His hands sat atop each other.

I found myself staring.

“Your mark hasn’t darkened.” He nodded, “it will once I’ve been crowned,” his voice became solemn.

“I’m sorry about your father.”

Gods, what about my father?

Had anyone informed him as to what had happened to me over the last week?

Was he okay?

“Alvar,” I said as he looked out the window, “how long was I asleep this time?”

An amiable silence fell over us until Alvar murmured, “I insisted those desserts be set aside,” his voice no higher than a whisper.

“This wasn’t your fault, Alvar,” I reached for his hand, “you weren’t to have known.”

“A king would have been on alert,” he said, lost in his thoughts.

“You were not yet a king, Alvar,” I said as I squeezed his hand, “But you will be a wonderful king when the crown sits atop your head.”

He shook his head as if he returned to the conversation we were having rather than the one he was having with himself.

“I need to speak with you about something that some would consider… delicate, ” he said, his tone firmer than I was accustomed to hearing from him.

“Brida,” he began, “something happened the night of the ball. I only noticed it in the final moments of our dance.”

He remembers.

“Now,” he continued, “I don’t need to know the specifics, but I believe you and I need to be clear on a few things.” I nodded, “should you choose to come back to work, which I hope you do ,” he smiled, “ we need to be on the same page.”

I nodded.

“Dainan is in a rather precarious position now that he is betrothed to Iona. And as much as we both know that he does not wish for that marriage to take place, as of now, there is nothing to be done to stop it.”

“I don’t know what he’s told you…”

He raised his hand at me to stop.

“Several people saw Dainan leave Iona in the middle of the room, rushing to your side as you fell.”

I laid my head back on the pillows.

“I’ve attempted to lessen the damage by insisting Dainan acted chivalrously as he knew how close you and I became after working together these past months.” He said, “And while that has helped stave off some of the whispers, rumors have begun to circulate.”

“Alvar…” I began to say, and he raised his hand once more.

“I’ve spoken with Dainan and told him that he’s to maintain his distance from you, at least until things are sorted.”

“ Sorted? ” I repeated back as I arched my eyebrow at him.

“Yes,” he smiled, “I’ve been attempting to break this pact between Deter and my father. However, the only person who can break a marriage decreed by a king is another king.”

“I believe I’ve heard this part before,” I said and he smiled.

“You have.” He rose from the bed and strode over to my window.

“You have one of the lovelier views,” he said as he turned back to face me.

“Brida, what is the last thing you remember before you collapsed?”

I sat in silence for a few moments.

Shit, Kadian. “Is he okay?” I pulled the comforter from my legs and attempted to leave the bed.

“Ah ah,” he clicked his tongue in response as he shook his head.

“You stay put,” he said as he sat back down in an attempt to block me from moving.

“Your friend, ” his brow furrowed.

“Kadian,” I interjected.

“Yes, Kadian. He, too, has been causing a bit of a ruckus,” he sighed, “when you collapsed, Kadian was in the midst of slamming the entry to the House of Reflection. As they are a levelheaded people, you might imagine that they did not respond well to this type of behavior.”

Gods, what has he done?

“Thalius was rather put out when he opened the door and found someone he did not know demanding to see his niece. His niece, who is presently engaged to a crowned prince.”

I shuddered.

“Is he okay?”

“He is. However,” he rubbed his temples, “since this debacle, I’ve been in meetings with Thalius practically around the clock as he is insisting that the wedding be expedited in order to prevent any more… incidents .”

Kadian had done so much more damage than he realized.

“Are the weddings going to be sooner than expected?” I finally asked.

“It’s yet to be determined, but it’s possible. Thalius can be quite persuasive within the Courts, and Deter has, of course, learned of this and has been attempting similar tactics.”

I sat in silence.

If Kadian remembered, which he no doubt did, would he begin to diminish as he had before?

A sudden pain rippled through my chest. It lessened after a moment, but I was left with the sensation of a gentle pull that tugged at the very core of my being.

It was new but familiar.

As if it had been there all my life, waiting to assert itself.

I placed my hand on my chest and forced myself to close my eyes.

Breathe. You’re okay.

Alvar is here. Listen to the water outside.

Dainan is fine. Kadian is fine.

Alvar just stared at me, admiring what I was doing.

“Are you alright?” His voice was calm and smooth.

I nodded.

“Be honest.” He said, “In the spirit of friendship.”

“Alvar,” I asked him after several moments of silence, “where’s Kadian?”

“He’s in his room down the hall,” he said as he remained looking outside.

“He’s been given a sedative these past several days to assist in keeping his outbursts to a minimum.”

“ Several days ?” I whispered.

He turned to me and held me with his gaze, “You have been asleep for seven days, Brida.”

Seven days.

“Is…” I started to ask him as my vision began to blur.

“Go ahead and ask your question,” His smile was genuine.

“Is Dainan okay?” I felt a tear escape and run down my cheek.

“ Fascinating, ” Alvar said as he approached the bed, wiping the tear from my cheek.

“No, I would not say that he is okay. But,” he continued, “my hope is that he soon will be.”

“Anything else of major import I missed this past week?” A small laugh escaped me.

“Nothing worth mentioning,” he looked at the clock in my room.

“I must be going. I have meetings, sadly. Don’t push yourself too hard these next few days, Brida. Only return to the House of Shadows when you have recovered. I will do my best to come check on you, but if it’s not frequent, I do hope that you’ll forgive me.”

“Alvar?” I asked him as he made his way to the door, “Everything will be as it is supposed to.”

???

I continued to rest over the course of the next few days.

My days were filled with naps and visits from Tamra, Oz, and a subdued Kadian.

I didn’t yet have the energy to leave my room.

I found food waiting for me each morning, and some nights, I could have sworn that I heard the hissing of shadows close by.

Addie came to see me each day and offered information regarding what was happening outside of my bedroom walls.

I’d missed Hild’s festival while I’d been sleeping.

According to Addie it had been successful, without any major issues.

“What happens at her festival anyway?”

“The ritual, traditionally performed in the Hydratas Sea at the actual Court of Reflection, is that you strip naked and submerge yourself in the water.” She took a sip from her cup, “The idea is that She cleanses you of the previous year and absolves you of any wrongdoings. It’s a way to start the year fresh.”

“And what do you do when you are not near the Hydratas Sea?” She raised an eyebrow at me.

“ Oh Gods, ” I said after she refused to answer.

“They go to the pool naked?”

She laughed as she nodded.

“I have news,” Addie said as she put her cup down on the bedside table.

“Alvar is to be made king in ten days.”

I found myself holding my breath.

Ten days.

“Aren’t the weddings in four weeks?” I asked.

News had begun to circulate that neither Thalius nor Deter wanted to be viewed as lesser than the other.

Therefore, a compromise had been struck that both weddings would occur in the same room, at the same moment, in four weeks’ time.

She nodded.

Maybe he would be able to put a stop to this after all .

“I wrote your father,” Addie brought me out of my thoughts with that remark.

“I didn’t tell him everything,” she said as a look of worry took over my face.

“He knows that you’re okay and that you have been busy. I told him that you would write when you could.”

“Thank you.”

We reminisced for the remainder of her visit.

Stories of when she and Mom had run away and found themselves in a cove that had been surrounded by sirens when they were little.

And when dad had nearly burnt the house down when he tried to make a leek and onion tart.

Every night, I sat on my balcony and gazed up at the stars, drawn to them in a way I couldn’t explain.

The quiet, the peace of the sky.

Occasionally, I would hear words on the wind, but it had been less frequent these days.

Marsh had gone back to Hadash.

He’d left me a letter saying that I would see him at the coronation, and that he hoped we’d be able to speak more when he’d returned.

Addie brought me books while I remained in bed.

The one that I had been most eager to continue reading was a book of poetry, a compendium of many of the myths and stories that had been detailed in Teraler’s Anthology , a personal favorite of mine.

I’d left off reading about Egaber and his relentless search for the fountain of youth—a blessing and a curse, as he’d unknowingly traded something precious for his eternal beauty.

That tale was followed by the story of Pelia, who braved the depths of the sea to explore the elusive underwater kingdoms. Each story captivated me, drawing me deeper into a world of wonder and danger, each more enchanting than the last.

I turned the page, breathless after a harrowing battle between giants and men, only to pause as the next title caught my eye: Shadows of Thale: The Veiled Truth.

My heart skipped. I’d never seen Thale mentioned outside of The Trials of Thale .

I turned the page and saw that the entirety of the story was eight lines.

In the realm of Elyria, where legends take flight,

Lived Thale, enduring trials with unwavering might.

Through battles untold and hardships profound,

Her spirit soared, unyielding, unbound.

In whispers they spoke of a woman revered

Her trials and struggles had always been mirrored

For beneath the stories remained a heroine’s fame,

Thale, or Ilia, for both were her name.