Page 58 of Shade of Ruin

Cole shakes his head. “This isn’t something you can force.” He pauses for a moment, takes a breath, and says, “Believe me, do as I say, and I promise that you’ll meet with Calyr and you’ll get to ask him to heal your cousin.”

I cross my arms over my chest and look at the man that my soul is currently tied to. “You’re really not going to tell me how I can prove myself to you?”

He just shakes his head. I stare at him, waiting for an answer, but none comes. He’s not bending on this, but I already trust him more than anyone since Vesta left. “I believe you. You’vehelped me get this far, and it’s not like I have a lot of options. I’ll try not to get Darian and Lee in trouble anymore, but I want a promise from you. A real one.”

He cocks an eyebrow. Part of me thinks about the marks on my wrist and wonders if I should do something like that, but no, I don’t want that. I’m not a Fae who needs a magical agreement. I’ve felt Cole’s mind, and while I know there are more hidden pieces of him, I also know that he puts more weight on his responsibilities than anything else. A human doesn’t need to resort to magical oaths. They trust their instincts about a person’s nature, and I don’t think I’m wrong about Cole. He won’t lie to me about this.

“I’ll trust you, but I want you to promise that when you fix the world, that you pay at least a little attention to the way humans are treated by Immortals. They’re not cattle. I can’t force you to follow through with your promise, but that’s just the way it is when you’re dealing with humans. We don’t have magical oaths, and we don’t have marriages that will force you to be loyal. We have to put our trust in each other’s honor. So, Prince Cole Cyrus of the House of Flames, will you take care of the humans if I stop questioning you so often?”

He looks at me, a strange spark in his eye, and then he nods. Slowly. Solemnly. “You can trust me to do what I can for humans, Maeve. If you help me when I ask it.”

I put my hand out, as I’ve seen my Uncle Trevor do countless times, and I say, “Then shake on it.”

He chuckles, but he shakes my hand, anyway. “Why create a ritual if the ritual doesn’t actually mean anything?”

“It means something to humans. A bargain struck over a handshake is just as binding to many humans as a debt to the Shade.”

Cole just chuckles, but then he gets a more serious look in his eye. He looks past me at the wall behind me and runs his handthrough his thick black hair. “My father was gone when I got back to the Keep, but he’ll be there for dinner. That means that instead of us two eating together, we’ll have to sit at his table and have a formal dinner with him.”

I blink. The most formal dinners I’ve ever had were the few times that Uncle Trevor had made the mistake of letting me go to the annual Winter Solstice celebration in Blackgrove. “I don’t have anything to wear.”

Cole chuckles. “That’s fine. We have a few hours before dinner. We’ll need to clean up a bit before we’re allowed into any reputable shops, though. I may be a prince, but there’s something about seamstresses that makes even me a little nervous.”

“It’s the needles,” I say with a smile, and for the first time since we got to Draenyth, I feel like maybe things will be okay.

Maybe my fears aren’t all going to come true. Maybe I won’t be the next person standing on a slaver’s platform, ready to spend the rest of my brief life in torment. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll do something less miserable.

He gives me a grin and takes my hand. “Are you ready to learn to be engaged to the Prince of Flames?”

Instead of giving him an answer, I shrug, but the grin on my face tells him everything he needs to know. Namely, that I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m willing to try. Who wouldn’t be? I never dreamed that I’d be swept away by a prince, that I’d wear fancy dresses, or meet a king. I might enjoy experiencing some niceties that go alongside the terror and dread of using magic and making bargains with people like the Shade and the Prince of Flames. Maybe it’d be nice to enjoy something because of magic. I could get used to that, actually.

Except that when I catch Cole’s gaze, there’s a haunted look in those eyes.

Chapter 27

Brenna is gone. Roderic is insane.

Gethin is about to attack. I have no options.

~King Casimir, personal journals

My entire world isred marble laced with gold. The castle inside of Draenyth that Cole had taken me to was, in fact, the Keep of Flames. One of four Great House castles within the city gates. The entire building is made from what looks like a single mountain-sized piece of red marble that was carved into hundreds of rooms.

It is the residence of the entire court of the House of Flames. Cole’s father, Casimir Cyrus, and all of his advisors live here, but because Casimir wears the Painted Crown, it’s also the location for all the important Immortal ceremonies and social events.

Steam rises from the water of the inset bath, and the scent of smokey bergamot and citrus fills the space. A thin sheen ofbath oil coats the top of the water, and I have to pinch myself to believe this is real.

A month ago, I had been part of the wealthiest family in Blackgrove, and I’d never even seen marble. Now I’m in a castle made of it, about to step into a bath full of luxurious oils, and then I’m going to go shopping for a dress with a prince that will probably be worth more than every dress Hazel’s worn put together.

I’m not entirely sure I believe it.

I take a deep breath and start pulling off the clothes that I’ve lived in for weeks. The long leather boots and thick linen pants. The tunic that’s so full of dirt and grime that I’m sure it’d turn the water black.

When I get my underclothes off, the reality of how long it’s been since I changed clothes really hits me. A full week and a half. The road from Aerwyn here has been long, sweaty, and tiring in midsummer.

This bath is exactly what I need. I take a step into the steaming water, and the heat washes through me. I let that steaming water purge me of the pain of the nearly thousand miles I’ve walked in the past two months. A thousand miles of blisters and aching toes and worn-out shoes.

Another step, the water coming up to my calves. A thousand miles of aching legs. Of chilly nights where my legs cramped.

---