“Just tell me…” She held up her hands, proclaiming innocence. “Tell me you are happier than the day you left.”
She knew me too well. Then again, she was the one to help Darren find me a healer after that terrible night in the indoor training courts.
I bit down on my cheek, hard.
I wasn’t going to think about that. If I thought about past events, my happy bubble would break, and I’d be back to avoiding the prince. I wasn’t ready to give up Darren just yet. I had one month. Nyx would send another letter; this time she would give us the solution we needed, and then Duke Cassius would take up the rebels’ side.
Then, and only then, would I give up the prince.
I just needed to stop worrying about things I couldn’t control. If I didn’t find the answer in a pile of scrolls—and I hardly believed I would—there was nothing else I could do. It was time to rely on others, and Nyx was a strategist. She would be the hero to our tale; I had already performed my role.
Now it was time to bask in a world of sunshine and give up the shadows that followed me around.
“You know,” Paige snickered, “Mira is convinced you have it in for her role.”
The two of us turned the corridor, continuing our route to the kitchens. My stomach was a ravaging beast, and I knew Benny would have the answer I needed. “Why does she think that?” Not that I didn’t love the head mage fretting over me. She made my life a misery; I enjoyed reciprocating the same.
“She told everyone all you ever do is camp out in the library to study. She thinks you are looking for a way to impress the king.” The knight snorted loudly. “She tried complaining to Blayne, and he told her off, saying you were looking for a way to win over Cassius. That you are one of his best assets, and if she continues to vex him, he may promote you instead.”
One of his best assets? A way to win over Cassius? The irony was so thick I could cut it with a knife. I gave Paige a broad smile. “If I get a promotion, that’s just a bonus. I will settle for demoting her just to watch the fall.”
“You do seem to be in a much better state of mind.” My knight gripped my shoulder in a rare show of feeling. “I am glad you were able to get away.”
A flicker of guilt flared deep in my gut, but I ignored it. I was not going back to that place. “The Pythians will fight for Jerar.” Just not the Jerar you think. “I’m going to make sure of it.”
“If anyone can find a way to convince the duke, it’s you.” A bit of gum flashed with her teeth. “I only hope I’m there to see the look on Mira’s face when you do.”
“Here, here.” I almost laughed just thinking of the moment the Pythians turned on the villainous king and the mage responsible for Derrick’s death. It would be a day unlike any other.
*
Another week passed, and the Crown was falling apart. Citizens had gathered outside the palace gate, demanding their king. They wanted to know why the alliance had fallen through, why we weren’t marching on Caltoth right away.
Darren was forced to summon Audric and some of his men from the Crown’s Army camp to keep the crowds from getting worse; Mira had doubled the number of mages inside the gates.
The people of Devon were growing restless. Cassius, as promised, had continued to stall negotiations with ridiculous demands. Whenever Blayne seemed ready to commit, the Pythian upped his request. The advisors had begun to catch on and warned their king to refuse, and things had become tense. The duke still had three weeks in our term; he delighted in the stakes. Either way, his brother would have better terms than before.
I continued to prowl the library while the others watched. Thanks to the king’s prediction, half the palace was hanging their hopes on me. I wasn’t even expected to take part in guard duty. I found a new mound of books waiting each time I arrived in the study; Paige had even begun to read the texts aloud to me in the training courts.
The glass barrier had yet to be replaced; my guard’s voice carried easily across the platform as I drilled.
I studied the scrolls, doing my best to understand monotonous formations long into the night. I still had another two weeks before Nyx’s reply, three if it took her more than a day, or the envoy caught on a delay. Now that the commander knew what Cassius expected, she would craft a much better response.
Two fingers drew the parchment from my hands as warm lips pressed against my neck. I didn’t bother to turn; his heat clung to me like a second skin, a warm envelope of cloves.
“It’s time to come to bed.”
I looked up from a stack of papers, wondering if the crown prince was right. The bell had long since tolled midnight; I suspected an hour or two ago.
I wanted to join Darren, but with each day that passed, I grew a little less amorous with my plan and a little more worried Nyx would fail.