Page 58 of A Deception of Courts

Even now, miles away from Althea, I could still imagine the steam of smoke that’d poured from her ears when I told her my truth. I couldn’t have hidden it from her any longer, not when she asked why we were not all going to Imeria together. Her face bloomed a deep scarlet when I explained the reason. Seeing her reaction was exactly why I hadn’t told her the price I paid for the Asps’ help.

Which was equally why I didn’t tell her the price I wasaboutto pay, requesting their aid once again.

“So, this is what your ancestors did with the power gifted to you by Altar,” Rafaela said, kicking her heels into her stag’s side to urge it onward. “You crafted shrines for yourselves and titled yourselves as kings and queens. Unsurprising.”

“Need I remind you I didn’t ask for any of this?” I spat, my attitude as sore as my backside was in the saddle.

“Nor did Gabrial.” Rafaela glared forward as she spoke. Her golden hammer had been strapped vertically down her back, laid perfectly between her snow-coated wings. Even with the weight on her back, and the added pressure left on her shoulders since the murder of her companion, Rafaela still kept rigid and straight-backed.

“Let’s get inside, shall we? If we are lucky, Seraphine will have something to warm our stomachs,” Duncan announced, hand resting on his abdomen.

“I think we will be lucky if they even let us inside,” I grumbled, announcing my trepidation.

“Regardless of your contract with the assassins,” Rafaela added, her determination burning around her skin like a halo of heat. “This is your home. Your land. They can open the door willingly, or we will be forced to break it down.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that,” Duncan added.

I looked at him, scanning the glint in his eyes, hoping to read his emotion. “Do you think I’ve made a mistake coming back here for them?”

Duncan hesitated long enough for my stomach to drop. “I will always support your decisions.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” I replied. “If someone in our circle killed Gabrial and has done something to Lucari, then the Asps are the ones with the power to wait in the shadows and find them.”

That wasn’t the only reason we’d come. Retired or not, I had to hope Seraphine still had Asps in every corner of every court – including Elmdew, where Aldrick currently resided.

“It is not me you need to convince, Robin.” Duncan pursed his lips and turned back to the castle.

“Then why does it feel like I do?” I knocked my heels into the stag’s side and began following Rafaela. She’d already trotted toward the half-raised gates at the end of the path. I didn’t blame her for wanting to get away. Hearing us squabble was not what she would have wanted to hear, not after what had happened early that morning with Gabrial.

“We are not done talking,” Duncan said, grunting as he put his horse in chase.

“Since this visit was one of the only things Kayne has ever agreed with me on, I would’ve thought that automatically gained your seal of approval, Duncan.”

“Lucari is missing. Of course Kayne is going to want you to do anything to find out what has happened to her.”

“And what of Gabrial?”

He didn’t reply. I didn’t need to look over my shoulder to know that Duncan’s lips were left parted but soundless. There was a part of me that wanted to dismount and continue this argument. But then I would have to face the root of this problem. My vulnerability drove this wedge between us. I understood that. Which is what kept me trotting forward, biting down hard on my tongue.

Running from my insecurities was far easier than facing them.

“Have you come all this way to claim Imeria back from us?” Seraphine asked from her seat upon a silver-coated throne. My mother’s throne – my throne. “Because I could have saved you a journey if that is the case. I thought you were a man of your word, Robin.”

The assassin was laid across it, legs kicking over one arm as she leaned back on the opposite. Her posture screamed disrespect. I glanced at her muddied boot, smudging dirt across the pristine leather of the chair’s arm. I wondered if her playful chuckle was offered because she gloated at the scowl her actions painted across my face.

From the moment we’d dismounted and entered Imeria, greeted by the assassins who melted from the shadows, I was furious. The emotion was misplaced, but I couldn’t dampen it.

“My word is my bond,” I replied, voice echoing across the towering, empty room. “This is not my home, not now, not before.”

“Then do you care to tell me what it is you want? I can see the request haunting those pretty black eyes of yours. Telling like the glare of a magpie. You need something from me.” Seraphine swung her legs over and slammed her boots to the ground. The Asp leaned forward, resting elbows on her thighs and placing her head in both hands. “Which is strange because you, of all people, know that we have retired – as per your own request. We’ve shed the skin of the Asps and now live humbly in our new home.”

“A home that will be destroyed the moment the Defiler is freed,” Rafaela shouted, wings flinching with the urge to spread and demand the space as her own. Her grip on her hammer hadn’t wavered from the moment we stood before Seraphine.

“Which is exactly why I have permitted your entrance. Retired or not, I’m still flattered you’ve come all this way for me.”

I couldn’t fight the curl of my lip, nor did I try to. “Once an Asp, always an Asp.”

“I’ve changed, Robin,” Seraphine said, whilst watching Rafaela with a wary eye. “Out of the kindness we are attempting to adopt, I can offer you all a full belly and a warm bed for the night. Then you can be on your way, taking your burdens with you.”

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