Page 31

Chapter

Thirty

“Over the course of the next week, each of you will be informed of your placements for where you will work while in Azmeer.” Illerium said, “Some of you have been requested, while others I have placed in the houses where I believe you will have the best chance of success. If one or more courts have expressed interest in you, you’ll be informed. You’re required to tell me of your final decision by the end of the week. In addition to the Houses, the library may offer you a placement. Often, the scribes pull from the candidates.”

Marsh hadn’t been with Illerium this afternoon.

It seemed as if he was avoiding me, and I couldn’t blame him.

I would have kept my distance if I had been in his position.

I felt terrible and found myself missing him.

“Can we request a specific placement if we feel we would do best there, Magister Illerium?” A boy named Thoren asked.

“You may not.” He turned his back to us and, with that, dismissed us for the day.

“Any idea how we’re to be informed over said placements ?” Oz asked, looking between Kadian and I as if we would know.

I hoped it would arrive in the form of a letter and not something more dubious and mysterious.

That evening, I decided to go to the pool on the off chance that I might spot Lil.

I didn’t think Thalius was a lounge-by-the-pool kind of man, but my understanding was that members of the Court of Reflection wanted or needed to be in water every so often.

It was possible he was going at off hours to avoid having to speak to those he deemed lesser, which, if my assessment of him was correct, was everyone.

I sat my towel down on one of the chairs and made my way to the stairs that lowered into the temperate water.

I’d never been a great swimmer but decided that I wanted to give it an honest attempt.

Submerging myself in the water, I pushed off the bottom, propelling myself forward, slicing through the water with determined strokes.

My legs were kicking behind me, forming small splashes.

I was making a decent pace.

I soon found I had tuned out the sounds of those chatting; there was an echo and loud reverberation within these walls.

I focused on my heartbeat and my breath.

This is just as meditative as running.

No one stopped or spoke to me for the hour or so that I swam.

I became lost in my thoughts, what I would say to Marsh, to Lil, Kadian, and the placement I hoped for.

After my cooldown, I decided to go sit in the smallest pool for a few minutes.

Closing my eyes, I was brought out of my haze when the splashing of a man joining me grazed my skin.

“You’ve been here before?” A golden-haired man asked, sitting down.

His blue eyes shone as the light hit them.

It was like staring into the sea.

They were breathtaking.

“A few times,” I nodded, but my voice felt hollow like it was slipping out of my control.

His gaze slid over me, too casual for the weight of the question that came next.

“I take it you’re not familiar with the Court of Reflection?” He rested his arms on the edge of the pool, leaning his head back as if we were talking about something trivial.

I shifted, the water lapping against my skin.

“What makes you say that?” My voice was steadier than I felt.

I sat up straighter like I could somehow hide my nerves behind perfect posture.

“Your hair, your eyes, your ears.” He smiled, a knowing curl at the edge of his lips.

“My intuition is telling me you’re human, and if there’s any part of you that’s not, it’s tied to the Court of Shadows. Your hair stands out in a place like this.” His hand gestured to the room around us.

I wanted to laugh it off, but a coil of tension twisted in my stomach.

Why was he paying so much attention to me?

“You’re right, I’m human.” The words felt like an admission I didn’t want to make.

“I don’t know much about the Court of Reflection, but I was hoping to run into a friend of mine here. I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“A lover?” His eyebrows raised, his tone light.

I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me, but even as it bubbled up, it felt wrong, out of place.

“No, just a good friend.”

He closed his eyes, a soft sigh escaping his lips.

“Pity.”

The silence between us stretched thin, and I fought the urge to fill it with meaningless words.

I wasn’t sure why, but I could feel my skin prickling like there was something unsaid beneath his questions, something I wasn’t catching.

Before I could piece it together, he asked, “What’s their name? Perhaps I know where they are.”

“Lil,” I said.

“Lil Towler.”

He mouthed the name to himself, not quite speaking.

The sight of it made my chest tighten.

Why did this feel so wrong?

“Do you mean Lilianna Towler? Niece of Thalius Towler?” His head turned slightly toward me, the sudden shift in his demeanor making my pulse quicken.

“Yes, but she hates Lilianna. We call her Lil.” I could feel my heart thudding in my chest now, louder than the soft echo of water around us.

He laughed, but it wasn’t comforting.

“Yes, I know her. Feisty little thing. Always has been. What would you expect from those bloodlines? Her mother is something else. You’d never guess she is a water nymph.” He leaned back again, more relaxed, but I couldn’t follow his lead.

“Last I heard, she was working with her uncle on a deal between His Majesty and the Court of Reflection.”

My chest tightened.

A deal? With the royal family?

A knot of dread settled low in my stomach.

Was she working with Rai?

The question pushed its way through my mind, uninvited and unrelenting.

“Do you know if she’s working with the king?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even though the effort made my throat ache.

“Don’t be daft,” he said, the sharpness of his words cutting through my fragile composure.

“The king? Have you seen him? He’s barely clinging to life, let alone making deals. He looks as poor as the lands just beyond Azmeer; he’s dying and in no state to mediate an arrangement between anyone.”

“Is Azmeer not thriving?” I began, considering what we had witnessed in the night market.

But how much did we know about Azmeer?

We’d seen what we had been permitted to see.

He inched himself closer to me, “Azmeer is dying,” he said almost in a whisper.

“Dying…” I found myself repeating

He nodded.

“Few are aware of the severity of the situation, but it is growing more dire by the day. It’s not just the king who is dying, but many think there is a connection.”

“What’s happening? To the land, I mean. What does it look like?” I asked, my voice shaken.

“Well,” he sat upright once more, “it looks much like the king and some of the magistrates you may have seen wandering around the palace. It looks devoid of color as if life has been sucked,” he pulled his arm back to mimic his words, “right from the soil itself. The food has already started to taint, and the water has begun to vanish. Those living in Azmeer thus far have remained protected, but those outside its walls,” he clicked his tongue, “a misery worse than death awaits that sorry lot.”

“And no one’s doing anything about this? To stop it?” I found myself saying without thinking.

It was as if the connection between my mouth and brain had been severed.

I didn’t know this man, nor why he was telling me this.

“There are a few that are making inquiries; some are trying to use this to their advantage. Some believe,” he ran his hand through his hair, “that when the courts stopped intermingling, meaning when the courts forbade marrying someone in a differing court, that magic began to change. You see, the courts infuse magic into the land. It’s a give and take; magic always requires a balance.”

Always requires a balance.

Wait, did he say courts weren’t allowed to intermarry?

“This is, of course, just conjecture but a deeply held belief by some. Now,” he tilted his head towards me, “someone like Thalius, for example,” he raised an eyebrow, glancing around to check for eavesdroppers, “is a staunch believer in this ideology. And with a new ruler ascending the throne, what better time to try to mend what is possibly broken by uniting the courts through marriage.”

I thought I was going to be sick.

“He’s trying to marry Lil to one of the princes…” I began to say.

He nodded.

“Do you…” I paused, despite already knowing the answer to my question, but I felt compelled to ask, “Do you know which prince?”

“Rai,” he said, moving further back from me once more.

I felt a hollow pit in my stomach.

“Thalius is brokering an arranged marriage between Lil and Rai. Without the king’s consent?” I asked as the rage began to fill my voice.

I couldn’t tell if the heat from the pool or my anger was making me feel hotter.

He nodded once more.

“Who’s authorizing this?”

“That I don’t know. What is most interesting though, my dear, is that many believe it’s not Rai that will ascend the throne but his brother.”

“Which brother?” I asked.

“Ah, now that is a conversation for another day. I must be going,” he rose from the pool, climbing the stairs.

“If I were you, I would keep what we have discussed between us, and I would not seek out Lilianna again. Especially not while Thalius is around.”

“What’s your name?” I found myself standing.

He’d told me so much, and I had no idea who he was.

“You may call me Thetius, Brida.”

He began to walk away from me, “How do you know my name?”

“We’ve been watching.” He didn’t look back as he exited.

???

When I arrived back at my room that night, I opened the door and found a black envelope lying on the floor.

I bent down to pick it up and saw that it was closed with two wax seals.

I broke them and retrieved the paper,

Brida Larrow,

You have been offered placement at the Library of Azmeer under the tutelage and guidance of Adriana Velin.

You have been offered placement at The House of Shadows at the request of Fayma Aliz.

Please inform your magister of your final decision.

I wondered if my invitation to the Court of Shadows was at the behest of Dainan, but told myself not to care.

I was lucky in that I had a choice, one being a much safer option than the other.

However, if the Court of Shadows was where I was offered my final placement, it wouldn’t matter in the end.

I finished my letter to Dad, letting him know this bit of news and to tell him I would write once I’d made my final decision.

I crawled into bed that night and blew out the candles on my bedside tables, once again hoping to hear anything on the evening breeze. Nothing came.