Page 138 of Once the Skies Fade

I turned to the male and narrowed my eyes at him with feigned concern. “It may not be wise to patronize the heavily-armed female.”

He looked right past me, staring at Isa, and scoffed lightly. “She wouldn’t risk it. She can’t leave the queen’s side, and she knows coming after me—or any of us—would earn her a swift trip to the executioner.”

Shrugging, I turned away from him as servers brought in the empty glasses Phillip had requested and placed them in front of us.

What was I supposed to do with these? WhatcouldI do at all? Pick one randomly like Korben? That gave me slim odds for selecting the right one.

Phillip shifted away from me, reaching down the table toward Calla’s wineglass.

“May I?” he asked Isa, and she nodded.

He slid the glass toward him and proceeded to pour a little into each empty glass. Across from us Graham was studying each cup of potential antidote. What he was looking for, I couldn’t fathom. They said it was basically undetectable. Beside me, Phillip now poured a bit of one possible cure into a glass with the poisoned wine. Swirling it around, he peered into the cup—brows lifted high with hope—and waited. After a long moment, his face fell and he set it down, moving on to the next potential antidote.

It wasn’t a bad method, to be honest, but there was no way to know if the cure would react with the poison in any observable manner.

What if…

I shook my head, as if I could dislodge the insanity from my mind.

It was a risk, but a worthwhile one. It would only require a sip. I would just need to find the cure as quickly as possible before the poison could pull me into that peaceful darkness. With a glance toward the queen, verifying she was still unconscious, I reached for her wineglass from in front of Phillip and lifted it to my lips.

Chapter 59

Calla

At first their voices were muffled, distant, but they faded away, leaving me with nothing but dark emptiness.

No pain. No anger. No loss. Nothing.

Peace.

Rest.

Was this what death would be like? Was this what death had been like for Brennan? For my parents?

I hoped so. On all counts.

Unlikely, though, given my misfortune. Nothing would ever be as I hoped.

Peace.

Rest.

Love.

These weren’t mine to have. This darkness was an illusion, a void to mirror my hollow chest.

I wasn’t destined for good things, only destruction and misery, blood and chaos.

I opened my palms, but my shadows had become light—wafting through the abyss around me, like smoke with no flame. It swirled and danced against the black backdrop, circling around me, caressing my cheek, and then seeking somethingapart from me, drifting further and further away, though illuminating nothing.

I was about to follow it when a sharp pain in my right hand recalled the light, pulling it back to me. The light wrapped around me as if to shield me, but it couldn’t stop the blood that welled up in my palm or the panic the sight triggered in my heart. What were they doing to me? What was happening to me while I was here? Why wasn’t Isa stopping this? Where was Matthias?

Surely he would ensure I survived this.

Chapter 60

Matthias

---