After, my head didn’t ache but stung. His work was clumsy and brutal—all raw ability as opposed to honed skill like my father. Sura had to only be using him because she had no choice. This kind of magic was a rarity.
“And the other part of our deal.” Sura took a small box from the table, nose wrinkling as soon as she closed her hand around it.
Kat opened it, revealing a plain ring. She glanced to one side, not quite at me.
“It’s as you asked,” Sura went on. “Encased in silver.”
“Iron,” I breathed. From a foot away, I couldn’t feel it, but it would explain the look of discomfort on the princess’s face and the one of relief Kat wore as she slid it on her finger.
Seeing it, I couldn’t even be angry. I’d heard her whimpering through nightmares since poisoning those people.
As Sura led us through the half-ruined palace, I gritted my teeth and told myself that this ring was only a temporary measure. For now, Kat needed the reassurance, but given time the fear would fade and she’d let me teach her how to use her magic safely.
With the iron gone, I could think straight, and a horrible realisation came to me. This was too easy. Sura could’ve driven a much harder bargain in exchange for our survival. “Why are you really letting us go?”
“I have my reasons.”
“What reasons?”
She huffed and rolled her eyes. “You really can’t just accept your good fortune, can you? Fine. The queen will come for us if we kill her Shadow, so it’s in my best interests not to do so. My forces aren’t ready to face hers. Not yet.”
It still felt wrong, though. Unless she was using us. The tattooed man could’ve planted something as he’d wiped our memories.
I walked on as though I accepted her answer, but I felt around in my mind. Nothing felt off, just the missing space about this location.
Before they took us outside, they blindfolded us so we wouldn’t be able to see any landmarks.
“Your stags are here,” Sura told us. “We’ve healed them and fed them well. Your belongings are all packed too, including your interesting weapons.”
I could practically feel her look. A Shadowblade that shouldn’t be in this realm, and a bow made from the Great Yew. A bow that practically sang when it was in Kat’s hand.
“My people won’t bother you on your journey. But we will see each other again, Bastian. I hope when we do, you choose the right side.”
“I already have,” I ground out. Even now, she was trying to persuade me to turn against Braea. Had she succeeded with Kat? Had the tattooed man done something to her mind? She wasn’t familiar with mind magic. She wouldn’t realise, and there was nothing I could do. It wasn’t as though my father would help check her over.
Close by, she scoffed and I heard the pat on my stag’s shoulder. I squeezed the reins, jaw clenched so hard it hurt. To sit here powerless… it grated on my bones.
“Even if you don’t choose me, remember what happened last time you took my head.”
I grunted. “You grew another.” Her daughter. No wonder she’d chosen the hydra as her sigil.
“Remember that. If you kill me next time, there will still be more.”
Then there was a flurry of movement with hooves crunching over gravel.
“What did you agree with her?” I asked Kat as Sura’s people led us ahead.
“To tell her what I knew about the Circle of Ash in exchange for letting us go free.”
My brow furrowed against the blindfold. “What?”
“It’s not like we know much, is it? I let her believe it was more so she’d think it was worth our lives.”
I huffed through my nose. “That’s… genius, actually. I should probably be scared by how well you’ve taken to fae intrigue.”
Instead of laughing, she gave a soft grunt. The sound echoed in me, troubling as we rode away.
70
Kat
The journey back to Tenebris-Luminis felt like slowly waking from a dream. For the first day, my head was hazy and sore, and the world seemed distant. The lack of magic humming against my skin heightened the effect that I was someone else merely watching this woman called Kat.
When we stopped at an inn that night, I had a vague plan to lose myself in Bastian, but by the time I reached the bed, my headache had become so intense it was as though something was growing inside my skull, so big it threatened to burst out.
I caught him giving me sidelong looks as we rode the next day. He was worried about me, and mentioned something about the iron only being a temporary solution. But it took all my energy to stay on my stag and keep my eyes open. Perhaps my deal had been a bad idea. Perhaps the iron was, too. What information had they planted in my mind?
But the third day was better, and we managed to chat as we rode, and that night I lost myself in him over and over until I couldn’t even think about moving.
By the time Tenebris’s walls came in sight, smoky and dark, I felt mostly normal, save for the iron. I had a faint worry that faced with so many people and the judgement of two courts, Bastian might regret what had happened between us. But wasn’t worry the standard?
As we entered the gates, nodding to Dusk’s guards, he rode just as close to me as on the road, knee brushing mine. Maybe I had nothing to worry about.
We left our stags with the stable hands, and I ran to Vespera. Wearing the iron ring, I could finally enter the enclosure that had been set up for her. She bounded over, chuffing in greeting, and butted her great head into me.
I didn’t have to push her away, and at last, I hugged her.
I buried my face in her neck and took in the deepest breath of the dry, musky scent of cat fur, while she rumbled in a purr so deep it thrummed through my entire body like the strongest magic.
When I finally pulled back, Bastian was right there. Smiling, he scratched Vespera under her chin and swept a stream of tears from my cheek with his other hand. “I think she needed that as much as you did.” Then he dipped close and planted a kiss on my lips.
I pulled back, blinking. “People will see.”
His smile became a wicked grin. “I’ll fuck you in front of them all if I have to—if you’ll let me.”
The image of Caelus watching me ride Bastian’s hand burned into my mind, making every inch of me flush as hot as any brand.
While I tried to regain control of my racing pulse, I fussed Vespera some more, then we headed to the grand hall.
“Or,” he said, bending close, “I’ll settle for having you in nothing but those boots tonight.”
I bit back a laugh and lengthened my stride, suddenly keen to get back to our rooms. I really had nothing to worry about.
Oh, how the world must’ve laughed at that thought, because as we entered the grand hall, a pair of faces awaited me that I’d forgotten to look for.
The red hair caught my eye first. I followed it. Blinked.
My stomach fell through the floor, and the pulse in my ears became a close roar.
Uncle Rufus.
And at his side, bland, hateful face pinched, was Robin.
I must’ve stopped, because Bastian turned, a few steps ahead. “Kat? What’s…？”
He followed my gaze.
I couldn’t move, especially not as Robin’s gaze landed on me and he nudged Rufus.