Page 59 of The Uncrowned Prince

But his tactics were working. The guards backed away hastily, and she took advantage of the moment, moving towards the reception hall as the song grew quieter and quieter and Niell’s head drooped to his chest as if overcome by drink.

“Are we leaving now?” Senaya asked mildly.

“Yes,weare leaving,” Karreya returned tartly. “Whatever you choose to do does not concern me.” If only her aunt would simply disappear, and allow Karreya to explain all of this in her own time, in her own way.

But she did not.

“I believe I will go with you.” Senaya surveyed the crowd with narrowed eyes and pursed lips. “I have questions, and I suspect my ‘brother’ may have answers.”

“He owes you nothing,” Karreya hissed, concentrating on the fact that they were entering the reception hall, and far too many people were watching, either turning away in disgust or eyeing them with salacious interest. At least none of the guests seemed to be questioning their ruse.

She paused, plotting a route to the closest exit.

“I believe he does,” Senaya said coolly. “Given that he would be rotting in a cell without my help.”

“You realize I am neither drunk nor unconscious,” Niell murmured, his chin still lolling on his chest as if to belie his words. “And I am quite capable of speaking for myself.”

“Not at this moment, you aren’t,” Karreya muttered irritably. “Not one more word until we are safely out of here.”

But even as they made their way through the crowded reception hall, out the open doors, through the wide, brightly lit courtyard and into the streets of the city, she could not escape the nagging suspicion that none of them were truly safe.

That none of them would be safe again until they’d discovered the truth behind these assassinations.

And that Senaya’s help would eventually cost them far more than she was willing to pay.

CHAPTER15

The lights were too bright, the eyes too sharp. The music grated on Vaniell’s ears, and he wrestled with the desperate impulse to demand that everyone be quiet, look the other way, and leave him be.

But he said nothing, because they were surrounded by enemies, and he owed it to Karreya to play his part until they were well away from danger.

Instead, he clung to her like a drowning man, his arm still around her shoulders. As the numbness caused by overuse of magic seemed to creep further up his limbs, he only pressed closer, trying desperately to soak up her warmth.

Thankfully, she did not pull away. Her arm remained around his waist as they left the reception hall, as if she’d forgotten that she was touching him. They were simply strolling along, like any besotted couple, albeit with a few more weapons and a companion who was watching them with an expression that could only be called thoughtful.

Vaniell tried to feel some form of relief. Gratitude for their survival. Surprise at their escape.

But his heart seemed frozen within his chest, as it had since the moment he’d heard those words.

Queen Portiana is dead… stabbed through the heart.

Perhaps he should have simply lain on the floor of the gallery and refused to get up.

He could have remained invisible, locked in the collar until it drained every bit of his magic, along with his life and his ambitions. His body would not have been found until far too late, but the world would have gone on. Atrocities would continue to be committed, and good people would continue to die in service to the machinations of the powerful.

But he, at least, would no longer have had to live with his failures, with his memories of the ambassador destroying what few hopes he had left, or with the inescapable horror of knowing how his mother had died.

Perhaps he should have chosen that end, and yet, despite his utter collapse, Karreya had saved him. Pulled him out of that nightmare with fierce tenacity and a level of skill that still left him stunned. She was beautiful and deadly, an artist who danced with death and made music from the clash of blades.

He owed his life and safety to her efforts, and to the swift actions of the woman striding along at Karreya’s side as they made their way down the dark, quiet city streets. Senaya had saved them both by performing a piece of magic that still made his blood run cold…

Cold. He was so cold. His heart was a lump of ice in his chest and as the ice spread, reaching out to meet the creeping numbness along his limbs, it overtook the pain, the grief, and even the ravening maw of guilt that awaited, deep in the darkness of his own mind.

He did not want to go there again, so he leaned on Karreya’s shoulders and took comfort from the fact that her arm was still around his waist. That she had not abandoned him.

“What happened to him?” That was their companion. Senaya.

The mirror mage.

---