Page 92 of Shade of Ruin

He holds up his wrist, and I catch sight of a thin black tally mark. Not daring to say the name of who he owes that debt to, he says, “Be ready because I’ve heard my father in his study. War is coming, and if there was ever a time to call in debts, it’ll be now. I don’t know whose side he’ll choose, but the possibility of him swaying the tides of this war is very likely.”

Cole holds Rhion’s gaze for a moment and then nods to him. Rhion’s seriousness turns into another wide smile as he looks down at me. “Good seeing you again, Wyrdling. You might want a bigger blade next time.”

“I don’t see why. You were the one who was looking death in the eye for a few moments there. I think my blade worked just fine.”

He grins again and gives Cole a nod before walking out of the ballroom with his slave in tow.

The entire conversation catches up with me all at once. I blink and look at Cole for a moment before I grab his hand and turn it over. Right there, somehow unseen this entire time, there’s a thin black tally mark. Cole Cyrus owes the Shade a debt. I look into his eyes. “You don’t trust me? Yet you owe him too?”

He stares back at me, his eyes growing harder. “Have I let anything bad happen to you, Maeve?”

“No. But,” I say, but he stops me.

“No. I haven’t. I won’t let anything happen to you. It would break me. Do you understand what that means? If someone, anyone, were to force me to do something that would hurt you, I simply wouldn’t do it. And I’d probably kill that person.”

Cole shifts, his hand moving to his wrist, and for the first time, I see him rub the tally mark, just as I do so often. A movement that seems strange on him.

I stare at him. The punishment for breaking an agreement with the Shade is death. Even if you kill the Shade, if you break the agreement, you die as well. That’s how magical oaths work. Everyone, including humans, knows that.

“You can trust me, Maeve. But can I trust you?”

I stare down at the proof of my own oaths. The little marks on my wrist that I’d almost forgotten about. Would I die instead of let him get hurt? The question hangs over me like a shroud.Thatis the reason he doesn’t trust me. Because I don’t know if I’d die to keep him safe.

Instead of answering him, I ask him a different question. “You know what I received in return for my debts. What was so valuable that you offered your life in exchange?”

He looks past me. “I was given purpose. I was given a chance to heal the wounds that I created.” Purpose? That doesn’t sound like something you’d ask the Shade for.

While I’m still trying to puzzle it out, Sia says,Did you wish for me to show Master Cole what dance you remembered?

Oh. Right. That’s what we were doing. I nod to her, and it’s only a few seconds later that Cole laughs. Yes, he bursts out laughing. After all the serious talk about debts and a bucket of Rhion’s blood on the floor, Cole feels as light as a feather.

“Of course you can’t dance the Virelle. You learned the Brandle when you were still a child. How many times have you danced like that?”

I shrug. “Every Midsummer ceremony. Just like Vesta taught me and Hazel.” That’s when it clicks. It’s Midsummer. The day after the ball. “Wait. Cole, is the event you have to go to a Midsummer ceremony? Is that what this is all about?”

He looks at me, and I notice everyone in the room turn to me, as though my question is a surprise. Now that I think about it, it’s a little strange that I haven’t wondered about what the event was.

“Yes,” Cole says solemnly after a moment’s hesitation. “The event I’m going to is only for nobles, though. It’s supposed to be an honor to be invited to it, but I’d prefer if I could skip it. Luckily for you, no one will expect you to attend.”

The chance to meet with Calyr. The reason we’ve been practicing so much with shadows the past few days. Cole thinks that I may have to use them to get through the Keep’s guards.

“Anyway,” Cole says, breaking the tension, “the Brandle is in four-four time. If that’s the only dance you’ve ever done, then that’s the issue. Your head just needs to spend more time moving. It’s not that you can’t dance; it’s that you can’t dance in three-fourths time. And that’s just a matter of practice. Let me go get some sticks…”

And he runs off, leaving me with Sia and Nevan, both of whom are grinning. When they’re away from the rest of the nobility, with only Cole and me, it seems like they don’t worry so much about the expected cold masks.

It can only be explained by how they both seem to trust Cole. They don’t trust the rest of the nobility, though.

“This is Master Cole’s way,” Nevan says. “Even as a child, he would find something to focus on, some solution to a child’s problem, and there was no way to pull him away. Food and drink and his studies didn’t matter until he’d finished what he’d set out to do. You should have been there the day that he decided he was going to teach Lady Ainslee how to climb a tree. They’d spent two entire days hunting for the perfect tree for her to learn on. You couldn’t have found a more serious and excited Immortal in all of Draenyth.”

And for the first time, I see a smile on Nevan’s face. The scaled face that has been so cold and emotionless every time that I’ve spoken to him. Even more than the other Immortals in Draenyth. But as soon as he started talking about children,especially Cole, it’s like the handcuffs were removed from his emotions.

I ask the question that I haven’t had the courage to talk to anyone about except Cole. “Nevan, when the Houses of Shadows and Earth were broken, and then no more Immortal children were born, people knew the cause, didn’t they?”

Nevan nods slowly but doesn’t respond with any words. The smile fades immediately now that we’re on a more serious topic. “Why didn’t anyone try to fix it? People try to become stronger. It’s an innate need in a world as dangerous as the one we live in, so I understand why they attacked. At a certain point, you have to accept that you messed up, and you have to fix things, don’t you? Even people who crave that power should know that killing the world in pursuit of it is the wrong decision. Right?”

Nevan blinks but doesn’t answer.Lord Casimir Cyrus does not care what happens to the world. He only cares for what happens to his House, and if he had not allied himself with King Gethin, then he would have been targeted first. The House of Flame is weakest against the House of Steel, and King Gethin was going to war whether Lord Casimir had joined him or not. Lord Casimir doesn’t know how to get out of the situation he’s in. For an Immortal who has lived for many thousands of years, thirty years with no children in Draenyth barely concerns him.

Sia has learned how to be forgotten almost immediately, but when her words flow through my head, they make sense. And are honest. She must have told Nevan the same things because I see what can only be the shimmer of a tear in those reptilian eyes. Then it’s gone, and he’s acting like the excellent butler that he is.

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