Page 27 of Ties of Shadow

Under the Mountain

Iskipped after the Shade, unwilling to be left behind in the greenhouse. Spyring pieces quickly piled up along the corridor as the animals worked together to drag the remnants down the hall. I turned away from the carnage with a shudder. The Shade swept with unnatural grace down the stairs and across the tile. The shadows bounced after him like bubbles down a stream. I couldn’t tell if the smooth motion was his natural bearing or an illusion from the shadows that swirled about his feet. His leather shoes were silent. Perhaps the shadows dampened that as well. Even my silk dress and soft slippers made more sound than him, which, after years of court training, felt decidedly unfeminine. I willed my legs to step more smoothly, but it took so much effort that it slowed me down.

It was hopeless. He was magic. I quit and caught up just behind the Shade. “Will there be another attack?”

“Hmm?” He slowed and looked back at me. “Oh. Not from the spyrings. Not today, at least, and not from there. But moonlight knows, they show up when they want to.”

“Where do they come from?” I asked as he led us down the hall and back to the central kitchen.

Grabbing a piece of bread and a slice of cheese from a tray, he turned and leaned back against the counter. “Below.” He offered me the oily bread, which I took hesitantly.

“Down the mountain?”

Tapping his fingers on another roll, he answered, “Under it.”

“Under the mountain?” I blinked. “Did you build your house on their nest?”

He raised a brow. “When I made my home, there were no monsters but me and mine.”

“Hmm.” I bit into the oily bread, the mixed-in cheese and herbs were warm and gooey, wholly distracting me for a moment. I missed Chef. Looking outside at the late afternoon sun, I asked, “So where do the monsters come from, really?”

He hummed in a noncommittal way. “The king’s mines scrape at the center of the earth. He found more than just luz ore. The monstersof the deep are swarming and irritable.”

“The prince has only one mine.We are rich in luz. The castle is full of it. The tower light shines brightly.”

“The prince has a great many secrets that he doesn’t share with the populace.” The Shade filled a glass of water and set it before me; I felt a spark when our hands touched. “Or with nobles’ daughters.”

“I was an herbalist apprentice. Surely, I would have heard something about this since we add various ores and minerals to the plants we gather.”

The Shade shook his head. “Not even then.”

I felt unmoored and rattled off a pathetic chorus. “The prince and king lead the nation with light and hope.” My voice deadened as I recalled the prince’s eyes, begging for my sacrifice.

The Shade came toward me—one step, then two—crowding me back against the island counter. “Yes,” he spat out. “Your arrival was certainly full of light.” His nostrils flared, and the shadows flickered around him, darkness swirling within his irises. “And you were bleeding from all the hope he gave you.” The mark on my neck flared with heat, and I touched it with one hand, wrapping the other hand across my waist protectively.

I shook my head, though I wasn’t sure what I disagreed with. My eyes prickled at the rebuke. The prince had once been my friend. He had visited me. He had cared for me. He had betrayed me.

The Shade scratched at his leather bracelet. “He betrayed us all.”

My heart ached suddenly with a stabbing pain. The Shade glanced down before stepping back, rubbing a button of his shirt. “The prince is searching for things that the mountain cannot give. And he grows desperate. Rather, the king regent grows desperate.”

I grabbed his glass and cleaned it in the sink, willing my hands to stop shaking. He might be less desperate if the Shade didn’t fight him constantly.

The Shade’s quiet scoff caused me to turn. “The prince fights himself and cannot clean up the messes he makes. He fears to fight the battles he must. And so the mountain itself turns against him.” Grabbing the glass from my hand, he took the rag as well. “You do not need to clean.”

“I need to do something. I’m here to help. You saved my life, so let me repay you.”

“The greenhouse will not be enough?”

“Perhaps I can do laundry.”

“The creatures have things well in hand.”

I tapped a toe, wondering if I should risk asking. “Then…I can help make those potion bombs.”

He tilted his head. “Perhaps.” His eyes squinted, peering between thick black lashes. “But what if you did nothing?”

“If I do nothing, then I am nothing.” I parroted as I tried to smile. “My father called me Able Aelia.”

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