Page 66 of The Shadow Heir

“Zara,” Ivy said, tearing me from my memories. “Look.” She nodded at the room’s entrance. My eyes traveled toward the door, though my mind remained in a daze. “You said you were waiting to speak to Ariana. There she is.”

“Oh.” I blinked at the closed book in my lap. “Yes.”

I stood and placed the book of poems on the table beside the settee. Ariana noticed me and walked across the cool cave in our direction. Every room here was cold, cooler than my father’s estate in the dead of winter. Stalactites hung from the roof’s highest point, but as the cavern wall sloped down, the fae had hollowed out more space, and the floor was cut to be perfectly flat save for several wide steps that led from the doorway down into this room.

Ariana approached me and offered a stiff nod, her most polite greeting to date. We were making progress.

“Care to join us?” I asked, indicating the sitting area where Ivy sketched. Eudoria occasionally joined us in here as well to pass the night hours, but she’d fallen in our last training session and twisted her ankle. She’d elected to rest in her room this evening. Samuel and Tomas were playing cards at a table in the far corner of the cavern.

Ariana shook her head. “We are not allowed to enjoy this room.”

“Forget what they say,” I said.

Her brow tightened. “Unlike you, I am not safe from their tempers. If I break the rules, I’ll get punished.”

My arms folded as I built a rebuttal that included last night as evidence I was not safe either, but the feeling of Cas pulling me from the table and setting me beside him somewhat nullified mypoint. I hung my head, wishing I could shake these thoughts of Cas.

“But at least you’re safe now,” I finally said, hoping to get back in her good graces by reminding her of the gift I’d given her.

Ariana sighed and nodded firmly. “Yes. Thank you. You said you wanted to know what I was taught aboutmalditos.” At my nod, she continued, “But what I was taught isn’t important.” I opened my mouth to respond, but she waved my words away. “Last night, I was…” She shivered and started again. “Last night, I was in the hall alone, taking your wine-stained dress to the laundress, and a shadow approached me. It circled me, then moved on.” She exhaled slowly. “I think whoever it was thought I would be a good target for poisoning, but the stone protected me.”

“Oh, Ariana.” I stepped forward, about to wrap my arms around her before remembering she didn’t like me. I tucked my hands at my sides. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Me too.” She nodded several times, not meeting my gaze. “I—thank you.” She finally looked up at me. “You are meant to be alive, Zara. And without you, I might not be.”

Tears stung my eyes, but I blinked them back.

She stepped closer and, to my shock, reached out to embrace me. When her face was beside mine, she whispered, “The fae are stealing from the dragons.” Then she pulled back and tucked her hair behind her ears.

I swallowed and realized she’d just shared a secret with me. I couldn’t help but glance back at Ivy, realizing too late how suspicious I was acting. I smoothed out my dress, then clamped my hand over my right shoulder again.

Ariana shot a warning glance at Ivy, as if to remind me that someone else was watching us. “Gemstones,” she said so quietly I almost missed it. Then she tilted her head, indicating I shouldfollow her. But when I took a step, she gave a tiny shake of her head. “Wait, then follow.”

A few minutes later, I could wait no longer, and I excused myself from Ivy, declaring how tired I was, and walked calmly from the cavern, only hurrying once I was alone. Ariana was offering me the first real information I’d gathered since Cas asked me to hunt for answers. How the gemstones were related to poisons, I had no idea, but I rushed down the main hallway back to the stairwell that led to the level of the library.

Ariana’s white dress vanished from sight at the bottom of the stairs as she turned onto the lower floor. After a deep breath, I casually descended the stairs, forcing myself to walk slowly. She’d said to wait, then follow—she wanted me to see something without it looking like she was showing me. My blood buzzed with energy as I trailed her at a distance.

I paused at the base of the stairs to let Ariana vanish around the far corner, then I proceeded in her direction, assuming that any dark corner could have eyes watching.

Around the corner was another long, dark hall. The magical lights at this end had faded, but at the opposite end of the hall, a single pale light illuminated Ariana’s white dress and red hair. Then, to my surprise, that light faded as well, plunging her into darkness as the one above my head glowed to life.

Ariana hadn’t turned from the hall, and to my knowledge the only thing at the end of this hall was another stairway to the left and the library, its ornate entrance complete with double doors and an archway that glowed with ancient fae writing whenever anyone approached. The archway hadn’t lit up, which meant Ariana hadn’t entered the library, and she hadn’t turned left to go up the stairs.

I walked forward, heart pounding. At the end of the hall, the light remained bright above my head. There was no sign of Ariana at the top of the stairs and nowhere else she could havegone. To test the library doors, I walked up to them. The letters emblazoned in the stone pulsed with blue light. So, they were still working. Ariana had simply vanished.

As I spun in the empty hallway, I noticed a small sparkle of light in the scene carved in the wall to my right. Set in one of the deep grooves of the artwork—this scene of a fae fighting a dragon in flight—was the tiny ruby I’d given to Ariana.

With the light above me, I didn’t think I could grab the stone without being spotted, even though the hall felt and looked empty. Using the wall for support, I leaned down and pretended to fix my shoe. When I stood up again, in my fingers was the small ruby.

When a knock at my door awoke me the following evening, I was surprised to see a new face.

“I’m Sevienne,” said a willowy woman with elegant dark skin and heavily accented Avencian.

“Where is Ariana?” I asked, dread mounting in my stomach.

Sevienne explained that Ariana had fallen ill with a contagious stomach virus. My chest constricted at the news. Ariana no longer had the gem, and she might have been poisoned. This woman quite possible had been instructed to tell a lie.

Days slipped by without any additional information about Ariana. Sevienne was polite, but her Avencian was choppy and clearly difficult for her. She kept her conversation to a minimum.

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