Page 50 of The Empty Throne

Kite scoffed. "I'm not even on your father'slist of enemies. At best, I'm the last on the list. I'm fairlycertain the first ten entries are all Lindquist."

"You're not wrong," Lysa replied, lipstwitching. "I—"

"Wait," Kite said sharply, lifting a hand asa familiar sensation washed over him. "Sobeki?"

Kite…

Drawing a knife, Kite opened a wound on hishand, crouching to let the blood drip into the carpet in the shapeof a crude circle. Any splash of blood would help to connect, butin magic circles were never a bad thing.

"What…" Lysa's eyes widened as Sobeki'sspirit faded slowly into view. "Spirit walking! I've only ever readabout it."

Sobeki smiled briefly, but it was clearsomething weighed on his mind."Kite…"

"What's wrong?"

"Cohea has returned. He has named meWendeth's heir. Terek marches on Cremisio with Laird Fazekasleading the armies. Oskia is probably headed here to kill me, andBittersea is still journeying here."His breath hitched."Stay where you are. If things— If things go terribly wrong,Cremisio will need you more than ever."

"I'm not abandoning you!" Kite bellowed. "Youare not going to make me stay here while you prepare to die. Fuckyou, Bek."

Sobeki laughed."Fuck you, too, Kite. Ifyou wanted to be part of the fun, you should have stayed, not runoff with your pretty new beau. Stay there, stay safe. I love you."He looked past them, staring at the wall where the bookcases were."That false wall is beautiful spell work. Well, done findingit."

Then he was gone. Kite dropped to the flooras though the strength had been drained from his limbs. All ofSobeki's words rolled through his head.

Sobeki was king. All this time… his littlebrother was the mysterious heir. What? How?

He was alone. Well, no, he had Cohea and anentire army, but asking Kite to stay here so he could go back tobeing in charge if his brother the king died?

No, he'd sooner fuck Takar and Tamar thanwait here for his brother to die.

"I can't believe I didn't notice!" Lysasnarled, grabbing the reading chair, and yanking it away, not quitethrowing it across the room. Then he strode back across the room,snatched up the candelabra, and proceeded to hammer the wall withit, over and over, flakes of blue and white going everywhere likeembers flying from a disturbed fire.

The wall cracked like glass. The whole wall,not just the window that… didn't seem to be a window at all now.Kite's eyes and brain hurt watching it all.

Everything shattered into shards of lightthat winked out in the next moment, revealing an entirely differentwall. Smooth, bare stone, no window, and a dark wooden door rightin the middle where the window had been. Should have been.Whatever.

"What. In the fuck." Kite pushed to his feet,fear and grief crashing into curiosity and trepidation in his head,leaving his emotions a tangled mess, his eyes stinging with theeffort not to cry. "How did we not…"

Lysa glared at the wall like he had apersonal vendetta. Which he probably did, at that. "Thisis—was—exceptional magic. It must be as old as the house itself. Sowoven into the fabric of the house the magic doesn't stand out. Idon't know how Lord Myre…"

"Sobeki—" Kite's words caught in his throat.He cleared it and tried again, "Sobeki's spirit walking also makeshim more sensitive to magic, the same way Oskia's spirit eyes lether see more than the rest of us. He probably realized we didn'tsee it, astute as he is, and tried to be nice about telling us whatseems so obvious to him." He laughed softly.

Lysa took his hand in both of his, squeezinggently. "We'll get back in time to help. All we have to do is findthe bloodstone, and then we'll leave no matter what the time orweather. Or you can leave now, and I'll catch up later. Thatactually makes far more sense."

"No, I promised to help you, and whateverhappens, we won't arrive in time to help anyway, so we may as welldo all the good we can here." He twisted his hand free, thentangled it with one of Lysa's and squeezed back in silent thanksbefore grasping the handle of the door and yanking it open.

The loud, painful shrieking of old hingesmade him wince, as did the smell of old, dead things that waftedout of the door, as if stored up, just waiting to escape.

A couple of paces beyond the door werestairs. The old, tightly spiraling kind that always made him kindof dizzy if he used them long enough. They were barely discernablein the absolute dark beyond the reach of the light coming from thesitting room.

The sound of footsteps drew his attention,and a moment later one of the guards appeared. "Is everything allright?"

"Fine," Kite replied. "We've discoveredsomething."

"Shall I—"

"No," Kite said. "Let them rest. We may haveto leave soon, no matter the weather, so I want everyone as restedas possible. Stay here, though, if you please, so that someone isnearby should we call for help."

The guard saluted. "Of course, YourHighness."

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