Page 10

Chapter Ten

Corallin

D own the hall I can hear murmurs; they are low and yet clearly angry. I tilt my head as I stride toward the sound of the argument. We are currently in the halls of the Family of Night, the abandoned ruins in the mountains where the assassin order my father and I are a part of are based.

And down the hall is my father’s personal study. Who could possibly be speaking to him in such a manner? I can only think of a few fools brave enough to directly confront my father.

I place my hand on my dagger as I creep down the hall. However, as I get closer, I recognize the second voice, and it starts to make sense. Evengi Ichabod. My sister Natasya’s suitor.

Only Evengi would dare to speak to Elwis like that because Evengi is the only one here who isn’t at least a little bit afraid of my father.

I’m not sure why, it could be because he has no survival instincts. Or simply because he is clever enough to have figured out that if my father hasn’t killed him already, he likely won’t. After all, it’s obvious that my father despises the man. In fact, I think it would be harder for him to dislike him more.

Unfortunately for us all, the arrogant priest and all his holy ways is currently untouchable. If not just because Natasya loves him, but because he is brother to a woman, who by all intents and purposes, will likely be our next queen. If her current relationship with the newly crowned king is anything to go by anyway…

It’s likely that Natasya is the only one in the family who hasn’t noticed the tension, but she is blinded by love for them both.

And so Elwis the Eel and Evengi are locked in an unspoken feud where neither one can make too great a move over the other because Natasya stands to be hurt either way, and they will not risk that.

I make it to the entrance of my father’s study. The door is partially open, so I squeeze through, my slight frame not even brushing the door. Neither of the men in the room seem to notice me so I move to a darkened corner of the room and welcome my friends the shadows.

Elwis is sitting at his desk, Evengi is standing on the other side with his hands planted firmly against the smooth wood.

“When will you begin trusting me?” Evengi demands. “Or is a lowly priest such a threat to you that you must have men trail me through the streets? You won’t let me see my sister yet. I am not your prisoner to be kept at your whims.”

“Not my whims, no,” Elwis says dismissively. He glances up at Evengi. “But what of Natasya?”

“Natasya wants me to get along with you. That goes both ways, Eel.”

“Your guards are for your own protection,” Elwis says dismissively. “The same goes for your seeing your sister. Kingmaking is an interesting and messy affair. It’s best to stay out of it till the very end. After all, if someone wished to hurt me, they need only to do something to you and deliver me an irreparable blow.”

Evengi snorts at that. “I think we both know that you would recover.”

“My daughter’s wellbeing is worth more to me than any gold in this world.”

“I would never hurt Natasya,” Evengi claims. He is earnest, and in that at least, I believe him.

Elwis the Eel folds his hands leisurely over his desk. “In that you and I have a commonality. Because I would never hurt my daughter either. It’s why you’re still breathing and why I must be so invested in ensuring that you remain so.”

A weaker man would flinch at Elwis’s threats. However, if Evengi has one redeeming quality it is that he is not weak, and when he looks Elwis dead in the eyes and squares his shoulders, not the least intimidated, I can almost see why my sister loves him. “And my sister’s connection to our new and illustrious king, may the gods bless his reign, has nothing to do with that?”

Elwis lifts a shoulder. “You are convenient, Fyodorov, but there are other ways to influence a king.”

“Then I suggest that you start finding those ways because you will get nothing from me. I won’t let you use Alya through me.”

Elwis nods his head, glancing down at his desk. He begins straightening some scrolls lying across his desk. Likely assassination contracts that he still needs to go through and choose which assassins to assign to them. “Indeed. Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask, has Natasya said “yes” yet?”

Evengi clenches his jaw. “I’m waiting for the perfect moment to ask her.”

“Yes, of course. I was surprised that you would ask my blessing, but I suppose if we are to be family, we should begin trying to get along now… shouldn’t we, son?”

“So, it would seem,” Evengi manages to get out past his clenched jaw.

Elwis smiles, revealing two of his teeth are slightly more pointed than the others. He lifts a crystalline chalice with a swirling red liquid inside. “To family then.”

“Ugh,” Evengi grunts as Elwis tosses back the drink of blood. He turns and storms out of the study.

Elwis lowers the glass as he leaves. The smile quickly slides off his face as he releases a sigh.

“Are you all right, father?” I ask, choosing that moment to reveal myself.

Elwis doesn’t startle, but he does throw me a second glance showing that I surprised him at least a little bit. “Your skills are growing, my dear.”

I smile at his praise.

He leans back in his chair and folds his pale fingers across his chest. He is dressed in a black tunic which matches his ebony black hair that hangs down around his shoulder. Likewise, his eyes are dark, in the same manner that mine are light, evidence that we are two different races of elves. Our people are supposedly enemies, but Elwis took me in and raised me as his own, not caring for a second that my skin was the color of stones and his the color of gold.

There is nothing I wouldn’t do for him.

Elwis reaches out his hand, the rings on his fingers reflect in the flickering candlelight from the candelabra on his desk. He trails a finger over the rim of his glass before he glances at me. “Do me a favor, dearest. When you bring a boy home, bring home one like Wilder. Not an insufferable fool like Evengi.”

I stare in horror as Valentine hands the spellbook that should be mine to the innkeeper’s son.

I have been tracking that priest across half of Ruskhazar, following the trail of his past healings so that I can find him and find a way to convince him to give up that spellbook. And I missed my opportunity by not being the one standing closest to him?

Now that man has it, he has no idea the power he holds.

I comfort myself with that fact; hopefully, I can convince him to give it up peacefully if he doesn’t know what it actually is.

Suddenly strong arms wrap around my waist and lift me off my feet just as the wine rack collapses, seemingly of its own volition.

“What are you doing?” I demand as Lief drags me backwards and out of the room.

“Making sure that you don’t die,” he says with a grunt.

Sasha is just on the other side of the door. “What is happening in there?”

Before I can think up a response, the guardsman Ibram stumbles through the door behind us. He is clutching his arm which appears to be bleeding heavily. His eyes round when he sees us already out in the hallway. He stumbles back, clumsily grabbing at his sword. He draws it from the sheath and points it to us. “Stay back!” he barks. “I can’t trust any of you.”

Then without another word he takes off down the hall. Lief grabs me again and pulls me down the hallway toward the entrance room. He yanks me behind the corner just as the other Lowlander man, a local I think the others called Lek, races out as well, and Sasha bursts into the wine cellar with the two girls in tow.

Once the coast is clear, Lief grabs my arm and hoists me to my feet. “Ow, I can walk by myself!” I snap as he half drags, half carries me down the hall before he turns into the nearest room. Lief shuts the door and then sags to the ground, shaking all over. “S-sorry,” he gasps out. “I guess I got carried away.”

He offers me a faint smile which I return.

I tuck a loose strand of hair back behind my ear as I begin pacing in front of him. “While I appreciate the gallant rescue, I need to get back out there. The spellbook—”

“Give it a moment, love,” Lief says, pushing to his feet. “People are dying, we need to play this safe.”

I draw in a sharp breath, glancing around to make certain that no one overheard us until I remember that we’re alone.

Lief lets out a chuckle, he always seems amused by my paranoia, but then he hasn’t met my father yet. He doesn’t know my reason for being paranoid. He had this same look on his face when I’d told him that anytime we are in public together we must act like we don’t know each other and any interaction should be antagonistic. He thought it was overkill, but he has no idea just how far my father’s reach extends. “Relax, it isn’t as if the walls have ears. We’re alone.”

I chew on my lip. It seems so strange to drop the charade, and actually acknowledge Lief, let alone that he is the man I love, but finally I nod. I look him over with concern. “Are you all right?”

He nods. “I think we got out just in time. Did you see Ibram’s arm?”

I blow out a long breath and press the heel of my hand to my forehead. How did this job get like this? It was supposed to be a simple hit. I steal a spellbook from an unsuspecting healer. I sent Lief here ahead of me so I could tell my father that he was instrumental in helping me claim my spellbook. Just like that Lief would have a way into my father’s good graces.

Then I could finally be free to love him openly without having to worry that my father might be plotting to kill him.

I just wanted to introduce the man I love to my family in a way that would make it so they wouldn’t immediately disregard him for his profession. Instead, I put him in danger.

How could I have known that I wouldn’t be the only murderous sorcerer staying the night in this inn?

Lief steps forward, encircling his arms around my waist. “I’m sorry I’m not a warrior,” he whispers as he leans down, his beard scratches at my cheek as he nuzzles me. “Then I could have gotten your spellbook and stopped any sorcerers, and you wouldn’t be ashamed to have your family meet me.”

“Oh no you don’t mister,” I snarl as I lean back. I rest the palm of my hand against his cheek. “Don’t you ever wish to change and next time you accuse me of feeling shame of you, I’ll gut you like I have an assassination contract on you.”

His lips turn up as he smiles at me adoringly.

“We have been over this. I want my family to be able to see you as I do, and they won’t if I introduce you to them as a…”

“A writer?” Lief asks, arching his brow.

“I think it’s a noble occupation,” I hurriedly add,

Lief shrugs slightly. “Or at least it will be once I finish my Skyhold jetting book.”

“It will be a great book when it’s done.”

“I certainly hope so,” he says, his eyes turning bright just like they do whenever he mentions his bookish passions. “I’ve dedicated half my life to writing it.”

I push to my tiptoes so that my head is a bit closer to his, but there’s still a gap between us, so I grasp the front of his shirt. “We are going to get that spellbook and stop any bloodthirsty sorcerers that try to stop us. We are going to do it together. And then I can finally bring you home to meet my family and we no longer have to keep our love a secret. I promise, Lief. Tonight is the last night we act like strangers.”

Lief closes the distance between us, pressing his lips against mine. They move tenderly against me as his large hands encircle my waist and pull me closer. For just a moment, I don’t care about spellbooks and assassins or even my family expectations.

I just want Lief here with me every day, holding me like this.

He pulls back, pressing his forehead against mine. “For luck,” he breathes. “Now let’s regroup and figure out how we are going to get that spellbook, because now we have a different mark. The innkeeper’s son.”

“Look at you talking like a thief, you’ll make a fine addition to my family yet.”