Page 21 of The Last Heir of Elsewhere

Gwydion danced across the stone floor of the thieves training ring, grinning as he waved his sword in large figure eights. “Come on,” he taunted. “Are you giving up so easily?”

I fixed him with a stony look, and deliberately lowered my own sword arm. “I’ve changed my mind. This is fucking pointless.”

My cousin threw back his head, laughing merrily. “You only say that because you’re losing.”

I pressed my lips together. He was right, of course, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of agreeing.

After the day I’d had, I had felt the extreme desire to fight someone.

This morning’s argument with Bael, combined with the meeting, and finally, Lonnie’s appearance in the barracks had been the straw that finally broke my resolve to avoid everyone, less I explode on an unsuspecting bystander. At this point, I would welcome the confrontation, if only to let out some energy.

I’d sought out Gwydion for exactly that reason. We were not particularly close friends, which meant he’d likely not inquire about my mood. Better still, as my cousin did not possess any combative magical talent, he was by far the best sword fighter in the family.

If Gwydion and I were sparring with any other weapon in the world—magic, intellect, or even fists—I would have destroyed him easily, but sword play was my weak point and the evidence of that was painted all across my face. It seemed as good a way as any to vent my frustrations and practice my least favorite method of fighting at the same time. Except, as he kept beating me, it was having the opposite effect, and I was more on edge than ever.

“I’ve changed my mind,” I told him. “I don’t care for you to help with this.”

“Suit yourself,” Gwydion said jovially, stabbing his sword through the air at an invisible opponent. “I only hope for your sake that you never have to fight Ambrose without magic.”

I stiffened. “What does he have to do with this?”

Gwydion gave me a suspicious sideways glance. “Isn’t that what you’re planning to do? Go after him, that is.”

I pressed my lips firmly together. Again, he was right.

Not agreeing to go to Aftermath had been almost physically painful, and I still was not sure if I’d done the right thing in leaving Bael and Lonnie alone to go on their adventure. Knowing Lonnie wanted me to go made it all the worse, but it still didn’t change anything. Joining them would inevitably ruin not only me, but my relationship with my cousin, and I couldn’t bring myself to ignore that, no matter how much I wanted to.

Not accompanying them, however, left me with few options. I didn’t want to go into hiding in Overcast, nor could I stand to stay here among so many people. My only purpose in life—to rule—had been pulled out from under me, and now I could think of nothing else to do but hunt down my brother.

I nodded stiffly. “Is it that obvious?”

He laughed. “Yes. I would advise you to wait until our army has had time to rebuild, but I know you won’t.”

“I don’t need an army to face Ambrose,” I said stubbornly. “You forget, this last decade I practicallywasthe army.”

“And you forget that I grew up with Ambrose, and know him well—perhaps better than you do. He’s an excellent physical fighter, and he knows he can’t beat you with magic.”

“So?” I snapped. “Unfortunately for him, there’s no chance we’d ever stand off without magic.”

Gwydion shrugged. “Perhaps, but you weren’t held at the top of the tower as the rest of us were. Those rebels did something to prevent anyone from fighting back with magic.”

I furrowed my brow. I vaguely remembered having trouble with magic when I finally fought my way to the top of the tower, but with everything else happening, I hadn’t thought to question why or consider that it might happen again.

“How do you know for certain it was something the rebels did?” I asked. “Maybe Aine was simply living up to all our expectations, refusing to use her powers even to save her own life. In fact, why are you not harassing her about this instead of me?”

“Because she’s gone,” he said, his eyes widening slightly.

“What?” I stood before I realized what I was doing. “Gone where?”

The corner of his lip tipped up. “Did you not know? Aine went with Bael and your…whatever you’re calling her now.”

I schooled my expression back to neutral. “That’s surprising.”

The thought hit me like a punch to the gut: they were really gone. Lonnie and Bael had left, and I couldn’t shake the feeling of regret for not going with them.

Without thinking, I immediately searchedthe back of my mind, as if looking for a thought half remembered. A dream where one knew they were dreaming. Quill was circling high above the city as I’d requested, but dove to land on a nearby roof when he felt my summons. Return home.

If I couldn’t be there physically, I could at least keep an eye on them through Quill.

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