Page 48 of A Shattered Kingdom of Steel

When I don’t say anything, Asheros speaks again. “This is the fastest way to send your message. Unless you’d rather wait however long it takes for a messenger to reach Keuron.”

“No.” I let my hands wall from my waist. “Let’s try the spell, shall we?”

Asheros grins. “We shall. Luckily for us, the spell will locate the closest silver object to your desired recipient to conjure the connection.”

“All right,” I say, nodding. “What do I need to do?”

“Nothing,” Asheros says. “I’ll do the spell for you. All you need to do is speak to Viridian once the connection is made.”

Straightening my back, I take a breath.

Standing directly before me, Asheros holds the mirror out in front of him so the reflective side faces me. I adjust my position, lining my face up with the center of the mirror.

“Are you ready?” he asks.

“Ready,” I tell him.

Chapter Fourteen

Asheros dips his head in acknowledgement and then closes his eyes.

I wait a moment, staring at my reflection in the mirror when a ripple rolls beneath the glass. It spreads as if I’m looking into the ocean instead of a mirror. More ripples form, filling the entirety of the frame and emitting a faint, white glow.

Not even a moment after, the ripples give way to a clear picture. Viridian’s face materializes in the mirror. Whatever he’s looking at seems to be below him, his chin and torso taking up the majority of the image before us. He moves his arms, something shiny temporarily obstructing my view of his face.

Then he raises a fork to his mouth, chewing slowly, as if he is deep in thought.

He’s eating?

I can’t help but snort. “Am I interrupting your breakfast?”

Viridian’s eyes widen in surprise and then narrow. He cranes his neck down to look at what I can only assume is his plate, scrutinizing me. All at once, the tension falls from his face, replaced with pure astonishment.

“Lymseia?” He shakes his head a little, as if he can’t believe what he’s seeing.

I flash him a smirk. “The one and only.”

“Leave us,” Viridian says to someone nearby. He looks up at something—or someone—beside him and then the plate gets abruptly tugged in that direction.

“Lymseia!”

I smile and bow my head to my High Queen. “Cryssa. It’s good to see you.”

“You, too.” Cryssa returns my expression, and then laughs, scrunching her brows. “Even if it’s only through my husband’s breakfast plate.”

“We needed something silver to reach you,” I explain with a shrug. “It would seem that his plate was the closest thing.”

That has Viridian frowning. “We?” A deeper crease forms between his brows. “Who’s there with you? Where are you?”

Still holding the mirror in front of me, Asheros swallows. A glimmer of worry crosses his face.

Is he afraid I’ll expose him and his role in my failure to arrive at Illnamoor as expected?

I would be lying if I said the thought hadn’t crossed my mind. But I thought better of it. As of this moment, there’s too much at stake to tell Cryssa and Viridian anything about what’s happened in the time I’ve been away from High Keep.

At least, that’s what I tell myself.

Instead, I press my lips together. “You and I both know I shouldn’t answer those questions.”

---