Page 14 of A Reign of Storm and Madness

Instead of performing the task he’s been assigned—bringing me to the head Terra—he stares at the door as if it’s about to turn into a mystical being of old with a thousand eyes and rows of terrifying teeth. Niall’s pale face grows whiter by the second, so much so that the light smattering of freckles on his features—one on his forehead, another on his jaw, and a third just to the side of his cheek—stand out. I never noticed them before.

With a sigh, I reach up and touch his shoulder. He jumps as if I’ve branded him and those wide, doe-brown eyes of his that remind me of wild, innocent animals in the Hinterlands swing to me. “I’ll be alright,” I assure him, hoping I’m not lying. “Thank you for bringing me.”

Niall’s features tighten at my words and his eyes turn misty. “I-I—” He wants to apologize, but I can’t let him. Not knowing who could be—who most likely is—listening.

So, I let my hand fall away from his shoulder and I reach for the door myself, lifting my other palm, fingers curled inward as I rap upon the wood three times and wait for a response. Niall’s gulp is audible.

Dauphine answers quickly. “Come in,” she commands from the other side.

I nudge Niall. “Go back to your duties,” I whisper to him. “I’m sure Maeryn is waiting.”

He looks back at me, lips thin and pale. “I’ll ask her to see you again if you—”

I shake my head. “I appreciate it,” I say, “but no, I’d rather not get either of you involved.” That, added to the fact that I can’t possibly understand why another Mortal God would pity a Terra like me—even if it’s at the behest of her own. I still remember that night in the courtyard, the flower she’d handed me. It had been the nail in my coffin, so to speak. The proof—as if Dolos or any other God needed any—that I’d disregarded the rules of the Academy and therefore needed reprimanding. I’m as confused by her unnerving friendliness as I am by the Academy walls that feel as if they’re slowly inching towards me, closing me in and keeping me trapped.

She’s curious and I can’t have anyone being any more curious about me than they already are. I’ve already fucked up far more than enough for this mission.

With a careful breath, I release the tension in my shoulders, forcing them down, and nudge Niall again. “Go on, I’ll see you later,” I assure him.

Finally, he takes a step back and I move forward, turning the handle and letting myself into Dauphine’s office. Without looking back at Niall, I close the door behind me and lift my gaze to the woman sitting behind the spindly desk shoved towards the back wall.

Just like Hael’s office, this room feels like a more opulent version of the Terra bedrooms. Smooth, clean floors that hardly creak as I walk across them towards the slit of a fireplace on the side of the room. Flames crackle in the hearth, fluttering against the blackened and charred brick insides.

It’s warmer than the corridor for sure. Almost too warm, as the heat has little other place to go but up the skinny chimney and the cold that leaches in from the tiny vertical window at Dauphine’s back is hardly enough to balance the temperature in the room. Too hot in the winter, and I’ll bet it’s too fucking cold in the summer as well.

I say nothing as Dauphine stares at me over the half-rimmed glasses perched on her long nose. I’ve never seen her wear them before. They make her look far older than I originally thought her to be. A woman far closer to her sixties than her forties or fifties.

Her eyes, shrouded in masked emotion, dip to the black uniform I’m currently wearing. I’m thankful at the very least for the trousers that I’d been given rather than the skirts other female Terra wear. Still, though, the black is a sign of the Gods’ displeasure with me. Dauphine’s lips curl downward at the sight.

My lips twitch. She doesn’t approve of the new uniform either. Interesting.

Dropping her quill to the desk, Dauphine sits back and removes her glasses, letting them fall to her breasts, held around her neck by the thin beaded ties that hang from either side of the frames.

“Though your original punishment has been meted out by our gracious Dean,” she begins with a wiry twist of her lips, “your insolence and disrespect to our institution will continue to remain an infraction upon all Terra. Therefore, you will also be receiving added tasks to better serve the Academy and its needs.”

I remain quiet. Waiting. That’s what I do best. Watch and wait. If she’s impressed by my lack of distress at her words, she doesn’t comment.

Ripping a page up from her desk she waves it at me. “You will continue to serve the Darkhavens during the day,” she states. “Your duties with them will conclude after dinner and you will be required to visit the library three days a week to help the Terra there by any means they request of you. There are a few … others”—I tilt my head to the side as she pauses there—“that have also requested your assistance. This”—she holds out the parchment in her hand—“is your new schedule.”

I step forward to take it, unsurprised by the added responsibilities even if I am frustrated by the new leash it feels like. There will be little extra time for me to do much more than eat and sleep with these new restrictions. Certainly no time for me to hunt down my target once I get word—if I ever do get word, that is. I’m starting to feel as if this mission is little more than another of Ophelia’s tests.

Dauphine jerks the paper back as I reach for it, her dull brown eyes meeting mine. “You are a symbol to the rest of this Academy, Kiera Nezerac,” she states. “You are a symbol of the Gods’ mercy.” Her eyes narrow on me with meaning. “The Gods do not often show such mercy.”

I am well aware. The words linger on the tip of my tongue, but I bite down, keeping them back.

“Should you fail to live up to their expectations this time,” Dauphine continues. “You will not be the only one to suffer.”

Cold ice etches into my heart, creeping around the organ I thought died long ago, but somehow forgot to stop beating. Is she saying what I think she’s saying?

As if she senses my thoughts—or perhaps the shock I feel has surfaced against my will—Dauphine inhales sharply and nods. “There are plenty of mortals willing to take any and all of our positions here at this Academy,” she says. “It would take nothing for the Gods to wipe us all out and begin anew.”

No no no. I grit my teeth. I cannot have more lives on my conscience. Yet, Dauphine continues to stare at me, and I finally recognize what that enigmatic emotion was when I first came in. The shadow hovering behind the anger and irritation at having to deal with me. I’m surprised it’s taken me this long to realize it. I know it all too well.

She’s fucking terrified. Because as much as she dislikes me, as angry as she is at having been put in this situation alongside me, she knows that one more wrong move from me will likely have the rest of the Terra completely wiped out.

“Do the others know?” The question squeezes out of my lungs.

Slowly, Dauphine shakes her head. Her stiffened, sharply pulled back hair is tied in a bun at the back of her head, the grays glinting with the firelight and sunlight pouring in through the window at her back. “It would cause mass hysteria,” she confesses. “Which is why you shall not reveal this truth to anyone else.” The fear recedes, and in its place is pure determination as she glares up at me once more. “Your life is no longer your own, Kiera Nezerac.”

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