Page 118 of Kingdom of Shadows and Wings

At the assembly, Bigley’s announcement about King Xenon’s attendance at the trial comes as a surprise to all the fledglings apart from Olive and me. However, the follow-up about his imminent arrival this afternoon and the subsequent party Flighthaven will host in his honor tonight is news to us too. When Bigley releases us for the remainder of the day, excitement spreads like wildfire among the fledglings. The opportunities to let loose are a rare enough occurrence here that even most of the men sound hyped about dressing up and dancing.

Olive excuses herself, claiming she wants to meet with Resnick to ask a question about her magic. On my walk back to the dorm, a hand grabs my upper arm from behind. My heart skips until I realize the hand is too small to be Thorne’s. I spin and my muscles coil, preparing me for a potential threat. “Helene. Do you need something?”

“Not here.” She tugs me toward the dorms. I dig in my heels, staring at her hand. Her aggrieved snort tells me what she thinks of my unspoken demand, but it does the trick. She releases me and, with an exaggerated flourish, gestures me forward. “After you.”

Does she think I’m an idiot? “Yeah, no. I don’t think so. After you. I insist.”

She rolls her eyes. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. What do you think I’m going to do, tackle you in the stairwell?”

I lift my eyebrows because, yes, actually. That wouldn’t surprise me at all.

Fixing me with a scathing look, she stomps ahead. I trail behind her while rubbing my temples, praying whatever this is about is quick.

Inside our room, she paces the floor. I sit on the bed and wait her out.

I’m about two seconds away from leaving when she stops in front of me. “You should leave Flighthaven. Tonight. Everyone will be at the party or worried about who’s flying in. I doubt they’ll spend much energy on who’s leaving.”

I sputter a laugh. “Seriously? This again?” I shake my head. “Twice in one day, what are the odds?” I mutter.

Her forehead creases. “What are you mumbling about? No, never mind. It’s not important. Leaving is.”

Exhaustion seeps into my bones. “You know, I thought you stopped trying to threaten me into leaving, that you and I were past this. Guess I was mistaken.”

She wraps the end of her braid around her fingers and tugs. “We were, but that was before I knew the king was coming.”

Frustration roars through my veins. “The king again. Why does the king making an appearance change anything?”

Glancing at the door, she lowers her voice. “Because Leesa didn’t start acting weird until after the king’s last visit.” She swallows. “She told me that if she ever vanished for some reason and her sister showed up, that I should try to get you to leave. And that you should avoid the king at all costs.”

I scoff. “Do you really expect me to believe you and Leesa were friendly enough for her to tell you something like that? Please. I know I’m not very worldly, but even I’m not that gullible.”

“You’d better believe it, because it’s true.”

“Yeah? Prove it.”

Helene flexes her fingers like she’s picturing them around my neck. “Did you go through her belongings yet and find a dragon pendant? Because I gave that to her.”

My gaze slides to the bedside table, where I stashed the necklace I found in the stairwell. The pendant looked expensive. “You gave my sister a dragon pendant.” My flat voice oozes with disbelief. “Even if I bought that story, why would you do that?”

Helene finds something fascinating to study on my comforter and clears her throat. “We were, um, dating.”

I shriek. “You were dating?”

She jumps, checks the door, and then shifts back to me with a scowl. “Shut up!” she hisses. “I don’t need everyone knowing my business.”

I cross my arms. “If you two were dating, why didn’t Leesa ever mention that in one of her letters?”

Her scowl becomes a frown. She closes her eyes, her expression pained. “Probably because I told her we needed to keep it a secret. My family…they wouldn’t understand. That’s also why she broke up with me, if you must know.”

Damn. She seems so genuine, I almost buy it. But this is Helene we’re talking about. Although, if she’s telling the truth, I suppose that could explain why she tried to frighten me off when I first arrived. “Why go through all this? Why not just tell me?”

“You mean, like I’m doing now? Because that seems to be going really well so far, don’t you think?” Okay, point taken. “Also, no offense, but I didn’t know you and had no idea if you’d go running off telling everyone about us. I figured scaring you away would be more effective.”

“So Elijah and Mark…?”

“Total ratfuckers. They’d be just as happy to see you dead as gone.”

A surprised laugh barrels up my throat. “Don’t sugarcoat it for me or anything.” I scrub my palms down my face. “Sorry, this is a lot to take in. Do you have any other proof? Though, it probably doesn’t matter. I’m not leaving. Not yet, anyway.”

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