Page 57 of The Mirror in the Mountain

Rivan set his plate on his chair, placing both hands on the map as he stood. “And in the west is Mayim. Queen Sariyahalready committed her troops wherever they’re needed after Bash’s letters…no boot licking required. Though with the unrest there due to the King’s supporters, I have no doubt their forces will be as divided as they were in the last war.” He tapped a finger next to Mayim, and I watched as an enormous eel-like monster leapt from the water surrounding the castle. Then he smirked at the look of surprise on my face.

“That’s Imyr and the Faewilds,” Yael said, pointing to the swaying treetops in the south. For a second, I thought I saw a tiny shadowbeast slinking through the forest. “And Esterra to the east.” Her finger flicked dismissively toward the kingdom she was born in, the one she had long since stopped calling home. She looked away, and I knew returning there, with the memories it held, was likely the last thing she wanted to do.

“We don’t all have to go,” I said quickly. “Surely Bash and I should be enough to talk them into helping us.”

Yael was already shaking her head, but I caught her brief, grateful look at me. “They’ll expect a full entourage. The east is far too obsessed with propriety. Besides, if they’ll trust anyone, it’ll be someone who looks like one of their own.”

“King Eliav is vain, but he’ll listen to reason,” Rivan added. “Even if he’ll likely put us through the song and dance first.”

“A quick trip,” Bash said. “To gather the last of our allies.”

Tobias cocked his head thoughtfully at me. “And maybe learn a bit more about where Dad came from.”

So he hadn’t missed the familiar lilt of Yael’s accent.

I smiled softly. “Alright then. All of us.”

One last journey together before our adventure to Adronix. To face Aviel…unless I used what I knew to end him first.

I shuddered, all too aware of Bash’s eyes on me. Seeing far too much, as always. Carefully, I pushed the thought from my mind.

Quinn shook her head. “Someone needs to stay to help Pari coordinate mirroring the Imyrian forces here. Besides, the Esterran King won’t be expecting me.”

“I’ll stay too,” Tobias said quickly. “They’re my people. And I’d like to help the Solearan forces with preparations to make sure they’re ready to head north once you return.”

Quinn smiled warmly at my brother. A hint of a blush reddened his cheeks before he ducked his head.

Rivan nodded. “Good. We won’t need all of us anyway. My mother has returned from her travels and is keeping an eye on the Keep, so Marin should be here to join us shortly.”

“We have a day at most to convince the Eastern King that the time has come to return to war,” Bash said gravely. “The same players in the same war that began a hundred and one years ago. The war that was never truly finished.” He looked around the room, meeting each gaze before his eyes found mine. “We’ll end it together, once and for all.”

My dress had been my mother’s. Something about the way it smelled seemed faintly familiar, as though this house had magically preserved that too, along with the contents of her closet. The silky, golden fabric looped around my neck before twisting across my breasts, leaving a triangle of skin exposed on each side where it crisscrossed around the small of my waist. Its skirts flared out from there in fluttering folds, shimmering like liquid gold in the light. The long slit up the side allowed easy access to my dagger.

Bash had insisted I bring my sword, potential alliance or no. I strapped it to my back, the black jarring against the dress’s bright shine.

The gold brought out the crown around my pupils, the color itself an obvious statement. Not to mention that Quinn had braided my long tresses into a less than subtle crown on the top of my head, though half of it cascaded down my back. It would have also matched my mother’s eyes, I realized, as I tried to picture her in my place.

I wondered what she had worn this to…some stately function alongside my father? It felt strange in a good way to slip it on, like I was trying to fit into what used to be her place in this world.

Bash’s eyes darkened as I walked down the stairway to meet him. My cheeks heated as exactly what he thought of the dress flowed down our bond.

“My queen,” he murmured, bending to brush his lips against my knuckles.

“We talked about this,” I grumbled, a smile lifting my lips despite myself.

“As if anything else is appropriate to call you when you’re wearingthat.”

Bash’s fighting leathers were gone. He looked every inch the Imyrian King—elegance stitched into each seam of his ensemble. His linen pants and matching tunic were an almost metallic dark gray and made up of simple but sophisticated lines. Silver threading at the neckline and cuffs swirled in intricate patterns. His sword hung at his side.

My mouth went dry. Bash gave me a devious smirk as he looked up from where his mouth still hovered over my outstretched hand, then turned my wrist to kiss my pulse point. I knew he could feel my heart hammering as his lips worked their way up my arm, his other hand curling against the bare skin of my waist to drag me closer.

“I swear we weren’t this bad,” Marin muttered to Yael as they walked in from the kitchen.

“Marin!” I yelped, running over to her. She grinned widely, in a way that was so much like her brother. Her dress was the same green as her eyes, with capped sleeves and a flowing, tiered skirt. Eyelet details patterned the edge of each tier, fluttering with every movement.

“King Eliav will expect the full contingent,” Marin explained to me. “As much as I’ve enjoyed holding down the fort in Imyr for its king, I wasn’t about to miss out on the fun.”

Bash merely shrugged. “Seems only fitting for its future queen.”

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