“So you would support your father attempting to overthrow the king?”
Michas glanced over his shoulder to the empty balcony behind us, then to the open courtyard. But no one was around. Still, he hissed quietly, “Lower your voice.”
I took another step closer to him and said in a softer tone, “Are you afraid of being executed if such treasonous talk gets out?”
He gripped my elbow and pulled me to the corner of the balcony, but his movements were filled with fear, not aggression. “The king would execute anyone who planned treason as would be his right.”
“Yet you still take that risk. You and your father. Why?”
“Because—” He paused, then eyed me warily. “Never mind. We don’t support any treasonous movements. Long live King Novakin.”
I rolled my eyes. “Who do you think you’re fooling, Michas? I saw enough on the first night we met to know you’re actively seeking willing participants to join your father. And you saw me as someone new to the court with potential for rising to some kind of power. You saw me as a valuable ally. And now, as the potential future queen, surely your outlook on my value hasn’t changed?”
His chest rose faster, but in the cool night with lights from inside the dining hall spilling out onto the balcony, his face was dipped in shadows. Yet I felt him studying me, weighing . . . something.
“I’ve been nothing but truthful with you so far,” I pressed. “Don’t shut me out. Tell me what your father is planning. Tell me what you know.”
He studied me for a long moment. Seconds passed, but I waited.
Finally, after letting out a deep sigh, he said, “My father is concerned that—”
The door on the other end of the balcony whipped open, and Georgyanna and her date stumbled out. Michas immediately stiffened, his hand wrapping around my elbow as the two drew up short when they spotted us.
“Are you two still out here?” the male asked. He was a noble from Isalee territory who I’d had a date with last week.
“It would appear they are, and they’re lingering in a dark corner from the looks of it.” Georgyanna grinned as her affinity puffed in wafts from her. That slimy feeling tried to coat me, but my Shield repelled it. “What would the crown prince have to say about that, I wonder?”
“He wouldn’t have anything to say as I was just leaving.” Michas gave a formal bow in my direction and refused to meet my gaze. “Good night, Lady Seary. Thank you for a pleasant evening.”
And with that, he turned away and took my chance with him at learning what really drove his father.
CHAPTER 26
They gave us two days to rest before our next test. Two days to stew over what was to come. And when the day finally arrived, I was more than ready to get it over with.
“Are you nervous?” Cailis asked as Daiseeum braided my black hair in a long line down my back.
“Yes,” I replied, tapping my foot on the stone floor as nerves tumbled my stomach. “I have no idea what this next test involves. All I know is that we’re meeting in the courtyard before mistphasing somewhere.” My anxiety was heightened even more because of what else had happened in the past day.
Three more fae had been reported missing. They’d all disappeared without a trace. And what was most concerning about that was the sheer number. Three. Before it had always been one.
Cailis frowned. “I don’t understand why I can’t come to watch and why no other fae are invited.”
“They say the area is too small for spectators at this one. And something about it being far away, so it would be difficult for those who can’t mistphase to attend.” The knotting twists in my stomach resumed. Not even Matron Olsander was allowed at the second test. I was on my own.
“Did they say why it’s so far away? Or where it is?” my sister pressed.
“No.” My fingers trembled as I smoothed a few strands of hair behind my ears.
Daiseeum used her magic to tame the wisps. “There. All done.” She patted my shoulder. “You shall exceed today like you did at the first test. I just know it.”
A knock came on my bedchamber’s door.
“That must be Sandus.” I gave Daiseeum a smile of thanks, then hugged my sister, but when I opened the door, my breath stopped when I beheld the crown prince. A smile parted my lips as my stomach coiled. “What are you doing here?”
“Is that how you greet your prince?” he asked in a teasing, husky tone.
I tried to ignore the flutter in my heart that had nothing to do with the test. Prince Norivun’s wings rose high above his shoulders, his cut jawline also demanding my attention. He wore a rich blue tunic. The fitted material clearly defined his powerful chest muscles hidden beneath.
Blessed Mother, he’s a beautiful male.
Somehow, I managed to bob a curtsy, but my voice came out breathy when I replied, “Sorry, good morning, my prince.”
He took a step closer to me, crowding my space as his aura wrapped around me. His air affinity kissed the skin on my neck, sending a shiver of goosebumps cascading down my spine.
“To answer your question, I’m here because there’s something you need to see.”
I straightened, and some of the curling motions disappeared in my belly at his grim tone. “Now?”
“It’s important.”
“What’s happened?”
“The fields in Isalee—” His brow furrowed, and the worry that etched into his features was deeper than anything I’d seen of late. Dread filled me.
“What’s happened?”
“Come.”
I didn’t have time to ask what he intended to do before his hand wrapped around my forearm. The realm disappeared in a blur of mist and shadows, air and wind.
We reappeared in a blinding snowstorm, and the gusts were so strong I was nearly knocked off my feet. Shielding my eyes, I called upon my air affinity to create a warm bubble around us.
My magic responded immediately, easily ten times faster than it’d been three months ago.
Norivun’s lips kicked up, and some of the tension that had knotted his expression lightened. “You’re nearly as fast as me with your air affinity now.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Nearly?”
He chuckled. “You can’t expect to be as strong as the Death Master of the continent.”
Despite the fact that I was in a snowstorm right before my second test, I laughed. “Did you really just whisk me from my chambers, minutes from the beginning of my second test, just for a jaunt in the snow, my prince?”
The fleeting lightness on his face vanished. “Do you recognize where we are?”
I peered through my air bubble and frowned when memories surfaced of the familiar brutal winds and raging storms. “Is this the Isalee field where the snowgum attacked you? Where the crops first began to die?”
He nodded. “And look at it.” He waved his arm toward the field, toward where growing crops had been.
My lips parted, a stone settling in my stomach as I took in withered black stalks lying limp on the snow. They dotted the entire landscape, barely visible through the blinding storm.
My mood plummeted. “How? What happened?”