Page 85 of A Deception of Courts

“We will continue this discussion when we make it to Aurelia,” I said, although one look at Rafaela and we both knew that that discussion was pointless. In fact, it would be the topic of how to stop Duncan coming. “If everyone doesn’t mind, I need a moment with Rafaela before we prepare ourselves.”

Everyone got up and left – everyone but Duncan.

He came to stand before me, worry set deep in his forest-green eyes. “Please, Robin. I know you, which means I know what is going on in your mind. I cannot just sit by and let you put yourself in danger.”

I lifted my hand and rested it upon Duncan’s carved cheek. He leaned into my touch, closing his eyes and sighing. If he expected me to tell him he was wrong, I didn’t.

“I’ll meet you outside,” I said, brushing my thumb over his jaw, enjoying the bristling of the dark hairs that had grown in the recent days. “Please, give me a moment with Rafaela alone.”

I could sense Duncan’s reluctance, but I was safest with Rafaela above anyone else… until the tide shifted, and she was forced to act in a manner to protect the world.

Duncan gritted his teeth and nodded, although it clearly took him great effort to do so. He shot her a look, then left. I waited for the slam of the door to prove he really had gone.

“Are you having second thoughts?” Rafaela asked softly, reading my mind.

“No, not about the plan.”

Rafaela scrutinised me, as if she had the power to flay my worries out of my mind. “Then what else is there to discuss?”

“Erix.” His name fell out of my mouth awkwardly and rushed. Three days of not speaking about him, trying everything to pretend he did not exist. That was all I could last. “You never told me if he was innocent of Gabrial’s murder.”

Although I guessed he wasn’t.

I had avoided asking Rafaela how her interaction with Erix had gone for fear that the others would know I cared about it or that I wished to admit to myself that I cared at all.

“I have not told you, because you do notneedme to tell you the answer,” Rafaela replied. “You already know of his innocence.”

I hung my head, chin to chest, relief blossoming within me no matter how hard I tried to squander it. “Good, I’m glad.”

That still didn’t solve the issue of who betrayed Gabrial, but at least it proved Erix was in control of himself.

“Robin, I do not need, or require, an understanding of your relationship with this Erix, but I can tell that the past still haunts you just as it does him. I saw into his truth. I know the guilt he harbours and the pain he is riddled with. But, without a doubt, Erix is not to blame for what happened to Gabrial.”

“Then that person is still out there,” I replied, trying to scrub my mind of everything Rafaela had just said about Erix.

“For now,” she replied, causing shivers to spread across my spine. “All things that hide in the shadows reveal themselves eventually. One way or another, it will come to light. And when the one to blame reveals themselves, I will be ready.”

I exhaled a sigh riddled with guilt. “Thank you for standing by me. I understand.”

“Do not speak too soon,” she replied, placing a hand on my shoulder and squeezing enough to tell me she was here. “Succeed in your plan, and then you may thank me.”

Because if I didn’t see this through and come back victorious, Rafaela had been tasked to ensure the power inside of me would never fall into Aldrick’s grasp, both in life and death.

“I will leave shortly to collect the labradorite stone we require for the transfer,” Rafaela said in a hushed voice.

I swallowed down the bile in my throat. I’d almost given myself up when accepting the Icethorn key, and now I was giving it to Rafaela. But I trusted her. Rafaela’s entire purpose was to protect the key, so there was no better person to give up the power to. At least, as she’d promised, for a short time.

Unless Aldrick won, then she would destroy it, but that was something she’d vowed me to keep to myself. It went against everything she was made for. But we all had to do things we were not comfortable with in the face of impending doom.

Some more than others.

CHAPTER 24

The moment we passed over the border from Icethorn land to Cedarfall, I felt discomfort’s longing hum within my body. Although the feeling came over me suddenly, it didn’t linger long. I massaged at the dip at the centre of my chest and willed the tugging to calm. Leaving my court behind felt as disconcerting as a thorn lodged in my hand. And the further we rode from it, the easier the thorn dislodged until I no longer felt as though a hand was gripped around my heart, squeezing at it viciously.

Althea offered me a tight smile. It screamed with understanding, yet I couldn’t help but notice how straight she sat on her ivory mare or how her cheeks were flushed with colour again. Being back within her family’s lands reinvigorated her. Althea practically glowed, haloed by the orange and red tones of the setting sky we rode into.

Gyah sliced through the sky above us in her Eldrae form. She sped through the sea of gold, her nimble, black-scaled body dancing through wisps of cloud like a serpent. She disturbed flocks of sparrows, even snatching one in her maw for a quick snack. I was confident I recognised her laugh beneath the rumbling roar she emitted, and the giggles that came from Althea only confirmed it. Gyah attempted to fill the journey with some more entertainment than our fleeting attempts at conversation or, worse, my own thoughts.

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