Page 49 of Bound By Darkness

A grimace crossed his face. “King Hywell isn’t the only one searching for you.”

I blinked, light slowly filtering throughout me as I understood his words. “The rebels want me too?”

He gave a curt nod. “Yes.”

“Great!” My arms crossed over my chest. “Is that all I’m useful for? A weapon?”

“Beats the turnovers you tried to make with Gwen.”

“Not the time,” I grumbled, but a small smile tugged at my lips. Gwen. I hoped she was doing well. Clearing my throat, I spoke, “Then… how am I useful to you?”

He revealed a letter from inside his vest, the edges browned and crumpled. “It’s a letter from Laias asking for aid. The rebels are planning to attack the city. To get rid of the first House.” He paused as he shoved the letter back under his vest.

“They want to get rid of the first House?”

“The House of Laias stores the knowledge of Cethales. If it were to be destroyed or taken, it would be a devastating blow to the kingdom. It would also give therebels more power than they already have by wiping out the only place with trained medics.”

“I’m not following,” I said. “How does this involve me?”

He ran a hand through his hair, muscles tensing as my eyes trailed the sharp cheekbones of his face.

“If you happened to be at Laias, the one person they are searching for, they might call off the destruction of the city.”

My eyes widened. “You want me to be bait?”

“It’s crazy, but I’m out of options. If the rebels succeed, Cethales will be in equally dreadful hands if they destroy Laias. I’m not asking you to fight or anything. All I need from you is to be there—to announce your casting.”

His eyes bore into mine, silver fire alight. “That’s why I asked for your help,” he continued. “I’m sure you also want answers as to why the King wants you… wants your casting. I can’t guarantee the answer, but Laias also has an extensive library filled with books centuries old. We have our deal, and I will abide by it, but what lay in those catacombs might have the answers you are seeking, too.”

Answers? Did such a book exist? Was there a reason I was granted these powers at birth?

Am I really not?—

You are a curse and you will be our ruin.

Maybe… maybe I wasn’t a curse. Maybe I did have a purpose outside of those who proposed their will on me. I needed those answers. Answers I didn’t realize I’d been searching for my entire life. Would it heal the wounds their deaths tore in my heart?

Silence grew, loud and distant before I answered back, a bit of life embracing each syllable spoken. “Okay.”

His brow rose. “Okay?”

Standing, I held out my hand. “I’ll be the bait as long as I get to research on the side until we leave to get Moria.”

He hesitated, but grabbed my outstretched hand. It wasunusually warm as he shook it, a bit of ice left in my palm as he removed it.

Stuffing my hand into my pocket, I glanced at the hill. “This doesn’t mean we are friends. It simply means I’m willing to come with you to find answers.”

“Thank you,” he said softly, his eyes lingering on mine. “For helping me.”

Those were two words I hadn’t heard since my father’s passing. Something stirred in my chest as he looked at me, the moon illuminating the softness of his face.

As the night air swallowed the conversation, my mind reeled with new revelations as I flicked my gaze to the hill.

Rebels. Laias. Potential war.

These were all things my father had not prepared me for, but maybe my mother hadn’t been crazy after all—maybe those years she’d chained me as she shoved conspiracy into my head would be the key to unlocking my casting.

Chapter 16

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