Page 66 of Flame and Sparrow

“You know what I am.”

He stopped walking as he reached the top landing, but he didn’t reply.

I stepped closer to him. He turned his powerful gaze on me, but I still didn’t flinch; I was finished with cowering under the heat of that glare.

“Well? Do you deny it?”

To my surprise, he didn’t.

“Did you know what I was that day in Cauldra?” I asked.

He nodded. “I suspected it. Mai confirmed it. The two of us investigated the incident at the temple together, which led us to you in that prison cell. And then we sensed that you carried magic, despite what you were.”

A ribbon of disgust curled through me; despite my constant efforts to bury that healing magic I possessed, to ignore it completely, here was an unwelcome reminder that it was still there.

“It’s unusual for your kind to still carry such powerful divine magic,” Dravyn said, “and I thought studying it more closely might yield answers to some questions I had. The upper-god I serve is aware of you as well, and I made my case to him before I sent for you—which, by the way...surely you didn’t think you could hide from him as well?”

I didn’t reply, my cheeks warming as much with embarrassment as anger, now.

“Such hubris,” he chuckled.

I ignored this comment. “Are the rest of the Marr as aware as you? Does everyone know I’m here?”

“Only my own court,” he said. “Most of the other middle-gods, if they realize what you are, will likely…”

“Disapprove of my very existence in any realm, much less this one?”

“…Your kind are not held in particularly high regard in divine circles.”

I laughed. Coldly. “You can spare me the political wording; I know you hate my kind.” I couldn’t help the snarl slipping back into my voice as I added, “And that you fear them.”

“And you feel the same about my kind.”

“Not the fear part,” I snapped.

“Noted.” A muscle in his jaw twitched. I wasn’t sure if it was from exasperation or amusement.

Our attention was drawn once more toward the windows as we both caught a flash of color moving fast over the landscape. A herd of golden-flanked, horse-like creatures galloped along a distant hillside, fire bursting from their hooves every time they made contact with the ground.

I fought the urge to press against the glass for a closer look, but kept one eye on the dazzling creatures as I asked, “So the other courts—the ones who will be partially responsible for devising my ascension trials—don’t yet know what I truly am.”

“Only because Mairu has been helping to hide you. That house you were staying in was filled with her magic; she’s been subtly deepening the spell surrounding your appearance these past few weeks. It still isn’t permanent, but it should take more quickly and completely now whenever we need to make use of it.”

Another rush of mixed feelings flooded me. The alternative to being shoved into that protective cottage might have been death at the hands of those other Marr—or worse—but I still felt violated, angered by the Shade Court’s subterfuge.

“The disguise is not necessary while you’re here with me in my palace, however—unless we have visitors from elsewhere—so don’t be alarmed if it begins to fade.”

“Why didn’t you just bring me here to begin with?”

“Because.”

“Let me guess: You were toopreoccupiedby other things to have me distracting you as well?”

“That’s the simplest explanation, yes. I couldn’t be around to make certain every creature of, and visitor to, this palace behaved, so I thought you’d be better off set apart from any potential danger.” Under his breath, he added, “Then you went and found yourself some danger anyway, of course.”

I didn’t fully buy this explanation, but I had bigger questions, so I let it go. “What other tricks have you been pulling on me since my arrival?” I demanded.

“None,” he said, starting to walk again.

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