“King Wylding.” Heat rushes to my face as everyone looks my way. “I haven’t been feeling like myself lately. I should have done something more to find those missing people. As a guardian to the Dead, I should have stayed by His Majesty at all—”
“That’s not your job!” Valoria says, her eyes flashing. “You’re not a soldier, and you’re not a shepherd to the king. You can’t blame yourself for any of this!” She leaps to her feet and stands beside me, linking her arm through mine. “It’s out of your control, Sparrow.”
I swallow hard. The shouts of the Dead woman still ring in my ears.
“There has to be something I can do.” I clench my hands at my sides, gazing up at the queen. “Please tell me how I can help, Majesty.”
Her feeble voice is even harder to hear this time. “I don’t know, Sparrow. It’s difficult to say who’s to blame, and until we know that, search parties are our only course of action.”
“I might know of someone, actually.” Vane and his pet Shade flash to mind. Careful to leave Meredy’s name out of it, I describe my encounter with the Shade-baiter as Her Majesty, Valoria, and Hadrien listen raptly. “I think he’s been creating Shades on purpose, which means he could be the one stealing our Dead. Jax and Simeon are out looking for him. Of course, someone probably would’ve noticed him sneaking around the palace, so . . .”
I shrug, letting the words die. The idea sounded better in my head.
“If this Vane person is behind the kidnappings, he has no idea what’s coming for him.” Hadrien rises, scrubbing a hand over his face. There’s a shadow along his jaw, dark gold stubble that suggests he hasn’t had time for his usual grooming routine. “Believe me, when we find whoever’s behind this, we’ll cut our problem off at the head. Quite literally.”
He strides down the few steps between us, and for the first time I notice a small red gash and a slight bruise beneath his eye.
Reaching out with my free hand, I trace his swollen skin around the cut. “What happened there?” I murmur.
Hadrien gently takes my hand and folds his fingers over mine. “It’s nothing. I fell out of bed.” He bites his lip. “Rather embarrassing, isn’t it? But Valoria is right, Sparrow. You can’t blame yourself for what’s happened to His Majesty. And rest assured, our best guards are scouring the area for him even as we speak. I’ll have them search at once for the man you described, too, in case Jax and Simeon have yet to find him.” He nods to one of the guards at the back of the room, who hurries away.
Glancing from Hadrien to the queen, I search carefully for words. I can’t just sit by while Karthia crumbles without its leader. “I should join the search right away, too. I wasn’t . . .” I pause, as it pains me to admit it. “I wasn’t well enough before, but I’m up to it now. Where would I be most useful, Majesty?”
“Actually, I need your help with another equally important matter.” Hadrien squeezes my hand, drawing my attention back to him. “It’s the reason I called you here, and while I regret that Jax and Simeon haven’t arrived yet, we really can’t delay any further.”
My palm is slick with sweat in the prince’s firm grip. I try to pull away, but he holds fast, refocusing his intense gaze on me. To my surprise—and everyone else’s, judging by Valoria’s soft intake of breath—Hadrien kneels before me.
“Odessa of Grenwyr, I ask you now: Will you be my Serpent?”
I barely hear him over the sound of my racing heart. “Your . . . what?”
With his free hand, Hadrien pulls something from his pocket. A tiny gold pin shaped like a sword with two hissing snakes wrapped around the blade, facing each other. “Every king declares a Serpent. A special soldier who answers only to him, who carries out matters of the greatest importance for the Crown—even if following orders sometimes means doing things outside the law. King Wylding’s Serpent was Duke Nevet, but he went missing with my mother and the rest.” He bows his head, dropping his gaze to the floor in his grief and taking a breath before raising his shining eyes to mine. “In the absence of Duke Nevet, I’m asking if you’ll take on the role. It’s the highest honor I can bestow, but I’ll understand completely if, after all you’ve endured lately, you aren’t up to the task.”
“My husband would approve,” the queen adds softly. “Young as you are, you’re the best at what you do. You’ve been his favorite mage for some time, Sparrow.”
With Valoria looking expectantly at me and the queen’s mask turned my way, I can hardly refuse. I wish I could peek over my shoulder for a glance at Meredy, but she’s probably wearing her usual look of indifference.
My mouth is so dry, all I can do is nod. As Hadrien fixes the gold pin to my tunic, just beneath my two necromancer’s pins, my stomach churns. I haven’t done anything to earn this honor, and no matter what the queen says, I doubt King Wylding would approve. Given how I’ve failed to protect him and Karthia, he’d probably rip the pin off my chest for pretending to be a hero I’m not.
I look down at the pin and remind myself it’s only temporary. Just until we find Duke Nevet. And we will.
“Now that that’s settled,” Hadrien says, stepping back to admire my decorated tunic, “I need your help, as I mentioned. The last time I saw His Majesty, very early this morning, we had received a raven from a baroness in Elsinor Province.” He pulls a piece of parchment from the pocket of his gold-trimmed doublet and hands it to me. “There are reports of Shade attacks in the area, and for some reason, the monsters aren’t retreating to the Deadlands as they usually would. With all my men currently committed to the search for King Wylding, I need you to go to Elsinor and put the Shade to rest before any more Karthians lose their lives.”
“What?” As the word leaves my lips, Hadrien frowns. I cross my arms. “Forgive me. But by my count, there are more necromancers in Elsinor than there are in Grenwyr. Why can’t they handle their own Shades? I’m needed here. I have to help Jax and Simeon search for the Shade-baiter and His Majesty.”
Even as I speak, my thoughts circle around the idea of a Shade coming out of the Deadlands to attack a province. They hate daylight. They wouldn’t have a reason, except . . . Vane once again creeps into my thoughts.
“If the Shade-baiter I mentioned can control the monsters, he might be responsible for the attacks in Elsinor, too,” I say slowly, thinking aloud. “Whether he’s the one who took the king or not, he has to be stopped.”
“I agree,” Hadrien says at last. “And the guards will find him, eventually. But helping the people of Elsinor must come first, as they have no more necromancers of their own. They need someone with training to slay the monsters before they get any stronger.”
“No more necromancers?” I blurt. “What are you—?”