Page 151 of The Queen’s Shadow

Her shadows were twisting off the ground and curling around her. Her dark hair bled into her dark armor and her midnight eyes were hollow and haunted. Her aura was barely contained, and a rolling feeling of anger and despair cut through the room. All of us visibly winced as she entered. Even The Bone Prince.

Her gaze fell on Zayne, and her eyes darkened further. He looked like he might take a step back from her, but instead he dipped his head into a respectful bow, which shocked me.

“My Queen.” He greeted her, and Cerenah pushed past him, holding one of Raven’s shadowstone knives in her hand.

“Queen Raven,” she said, dipping her head into a bow of her own. “Your blade.”

Raven looked at the blade but didn’t take it. Her gaze cut to Dossidian, and her shadows continued to caress her. It was as if they were trying to comfort her from whatever it was that had put her in such a foul mood.

“Have you met with Kael and Sabel? We will need to ensure Cerenah has a shadowstone weapon before I can take the blade back.”

Even her voice was cold. I shuddered against the harsh drag of her aura and hopped into the pit to make her a coffee. She was always in a better mood in the morning after coffee.

Dossidian pursed his lips. “Yes, I went to the shoppe. Kael has been busy. She has been able to craft several dozen blades and knives in our absence. I left her my sabers and she said she would gild them with shadowstone. I will return to pick them up before we head out this evening.”

Raven nodded curtly and took her blade back from Cerenah with a nod of thanks, before sliding it into the sheath on her wrist.

“Good. Did you tell her about the change in plans?” Raven asked.

“Yes. She seemed relieved, she informed me that she and Sabel have been having a hard time finding skilled restructium smiths to assist them with the cause.” His brows pulled together, and it was clear he was debating on whether or not he wanted to share something. Raven noticed too.

“What is it, Dossidian? You’re holding something back.” She said, her cold tone softening slightly.

“Kael mentioned that she sent Sabel to The Court of Envy shortly after we left. There’s a restructium smith guild on the Island of Coveta that she was hoping to petition for help.” He paused again, and I could sense his unease. “She still hasn’t returned… which wouldn’t be too concerning, as it takes some time to travel to and from Envy.

“It is impossible to cross the Obsidian Sea any other way than by boat. It is why Nytara and her band of pirates were such a problem for travellers before Ash Nevra enslaved her. But Sabel hasn’t sent any word back to Kael, and Kael can’t seem to reach her through the trace they have installed on one another.”

Raven’s head snapped up at that, and her dark eyes narrowed.

“What do you mean, she can’t get through the trace? Did she describe what it was like when she tried to reach her? Was it just all dark?”

Dossidian shrugged his shoulders. “She didn’t go into detail. You can ask her later when we go to get the weapons for Cerenah and Zayne.”

I came forward and handed her a coffee. She jumped, as if startled by the gesture. She stared at the coffee for a long moment, and I could have sworn her eyes welled with tears for a minute before she shook her head.

“No thanks, Conrad. I don’t feel like coffee today.”

I frowned at her. Raven loved coffee. For as long as I had known her, she had needed to have a coffee every morning when she woke up.

Something was seriously wrong.

Looking up at Zayne, who was watching the interaction with interest, I decided now was not the time to ask her about it. She turned to Cerenah and Zayne, gesturing to the table in the pit that was piled high with breakfast foods.

“Why don’t we eat, and you can both update me on what happened after we left. We have some updates for you as well.” Raven said.

Cerenah nodded and slid into the pit easily, grabbing a plate. Zayne sneered down his nose at the casual seating arrangement.

“Do you not have a more… appropriate dining room that we could use for this discussion?” He asked. That had been the wrong thing to say. Raven’s eyes flashed and her shadows churned around her in agitation.

“Starve, then.” She snapped dismissing him as if he didn’t deserve the time of day, let alone her attention.

Dossidian and I exchanged a look. Something was definitely wrong. I hadn’t seen her this short tempered since I first found her that day in Toronto.

Dossidian and I slid into the pit, leaving Zayne standing alone. He watched us gather to eat with an annoyed look on his face.

After a long moment, he growled in frustration and slid in next to Cerenah, who not-so subtly moved away from him, and closer to me. I passed her the coffee Raven hadn’t wanted and she took it gratefully. Zayne glared at me as if he could kill me with a look alone, and I glared right back.

I had never felt tension like this in the common room. This had become a safe place for our little team to gather and plan. Having someone like Zayne in here felt like a violation, and clearly wasn’t helping Raven’s already foul mood.