Page 30 of Ties of Shadow

“What does Leon want?”

“The prince hasn’t said yet. He’s more of an ‘attack now, consider the consequences later’ type, wouldn’t you agree?”

I didn’t want to admit that I did agree. “What if he’s here to apologize? To make things right?” I backpedaled at the Shade’s look of skepticism. “Or not.”

The two enemies sent more volleys between them as the sky rippled in black thunder. Acid rain pelted down, obscuring the view.

My belly clenched uneasily at the show of power. “Could you kill them?”

His green eyes flashed to mine, then ahead again. “Yes.”

“Will you kill them?” My heart clenched as I waited.

“No.”His thought echoed in my mind.“Not today.”

“Why not?”

With a roar, he stood again. A surge of shadow and power rushed through the room and burst out all four windows as he whirled toward me. “Because I am not a monster! I am not the creature you think I am! I am not evil, nor am I Death.” I scurried backward through the whirling shadows, but he pursued me. My shoulders hit the stone walls, and he towered over me. The mark on my neck throbbed and burned.

The Shade put a hand by my head, still breathing heavily, and a bead of sweat trickled down his temple. “I am not a monster…I am just a man.”

“But your magic is killing the queen,” I whispered.

He hissed and whipped a hand toward the east…toward the prince. “His magic burns the land. His greed poisons the earth.” He turned and pointed two fingers toward the sky, cutting them downward and dousing a thin blast of flame the prince was forming. “Him and that usurping king regent, Aelia. The leaders that somehow you still venerate!”

“He’s my…our…prince.”

“Are you so blinded by your upbringing and rote venerations of the king? You were not always this way. You were always bright and kind. Not this fake nice garbage.Think,Aelia. Think.” He scoffed. “Being in that castle ruined you.” He stumbled back to the chair and sat heavily, resting his elbows on his knees. Pain blossomed again in my gut and my left leg…pain that I didn’t think was mine. “He doesn’t deserve your attention or your respect. He showed you who he was. He demonstrated that his father dictates all his actions, even over your supposed friendship. Cut him off at the root, Aelia. He showed you his fruit—it’s poison.”

I opened my mouth to retort in defense of our friendship when Leon called out from afar.

“I’m coming for you, Aelia!” he shouted. My soul twisted, filled with dread, tempted by hope that he might be truly sorry. He continued, “I will save you from this nightmare and welcome you back into my grace! We can still save the queen! We can still save our nation!” I walked toward the window to get a better view. The prince and his galers were backing away. “I forgive you for running away!”

I froze and shut my mouth with a clack of teeth. He forgivesme? There was no apology, no acknowledgment of wrongdoing, no plea to the years we had spent together. Disappointment and embarrassment burned hot on my cheeks. All the hope that I had for Leon to realize what he’d done and come for me burned to ash. My eyes prickled, and I begged the tears to remain in place. I refused to turn at the low rumble of the Shade’s voice as he approached to stand beside me.

“Forgiveness. What a perversion of the word.” The Shade scoffed. He outstretched one palm before him, ready to fight back, until the men drifted out of sight. Then he slumped his shoulders and dropped his hand. Shadows swirled slowly on the floor as they withdrew from outside. Distantly, the bright light of the castle tower shone, but despite the settling of the Shade’s magic, the sky still rumbled with darkness. Thick black clouds belched toward the castle—clouds the Shade wasn’t making.

“Those aren’t yours?” I asked quietly, gesturing to the acid-dripping sky.

“No.”

“But…where do they come from?”

“The mines, Madame, obviously,”Jamison chided.“The work in the mines makes the clouds. Sometimes, within the tunnels, fire magic sets something ablaze within the earth. They let it burn through since there is no real way to stop the burning even with all the washers of the kingdom. The metal workers also produce smoke by smelting the ore of the mountains. The smoke is toxic, and the rain drops it on the mountains. The prince manufactures the battles himself. It’s easier to blame the Master than take responsibility.”

I blinked in horror. The Shade plodded back and sat heavily in his chair. I felt a wave of fatigue.

“But the queen suffers because the land is sick, and I couldn’t find or grow more racerbristles.”

“It’s always harder on those with more power and sensitivity.”Jamison, who had perched high in the rafters, fluttered over to grab the water flask and brought it to the Shade.

“Thank you,”the Shade said to our minds.

After taking a deep drink, he turned to me. “What is the queen’s magic, Aelia?”

“She’s a…” I pursed my lips. “Well, of course, she’s got…um…” Why couldn’t I remember what the queen’s magic was? In all the years since I moved to the castle, she’d never been well enough to use it.

The Shade rubbed his forehead, dabbing the sweat with a handkerchief and leaning his head back against the sooty wood of the chair. While his eyes were closed, I studied him. A dark shadow of day-old stubble defined every sharp corner of his jaw, and thick black lashes rested on angular cheekbones. His black hair was longer on top and the most unkempt I’d ever seen it, as if his fingers had repeatedly run through it.

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