Page 113 of A World of Ruins

Lorcan snorts.

Darius casts Lorcan a look over his shoulder, and I chuckle, though my mind is still consumed by the conversation I just had with Sarilyn.

‘Ah, there’s my other favourite witch. Do you plan to stay?’ Darius says towards the threshold, where Leira enters with a nervous expression.

Already on high alert, the hairs on my neck stand up.

‘I have some news.’

I glance at Darius, noticing all the amusement that was on his face has now been stripped away.

‘By the look on your face, I assume it’s not good news,’ he says.

Leira holds her hand out, a cream envelope in her grip. ‘It’s from the Undarion palace,’ she says as Darius takes it. ‘It arrived this morning.’

As Darius rips the seal and begins reading the contents of the letter, I turn to Leira, asking, ‘Why didn’t you say anything?’

She closes her eyes in apology. ‘You were nowhere to be found.’

‘What does it say?’ Freya walks over, trying to get a peek at the letter.

By the muscle ticking in Darius’s jaw, it must be nothing good.

He runs a hand over his mouth. ‘They’re still demanding we stand down from the throne.’

Lorcan and Idris curse under their breaths as I turn away from them all, my cheeks burning with frustration.

‘Or what?’ I can hear the irritation in Freya’s voice. ‘He’ll declare war on us? This is insane!’ She smacks her hands down on her thighs. ‘I should have known never to trust a man like that; he always gave me the strangest looks whenever my father introduced us at festivities.’

Idris takes a step towards her, his brows furrowed. ‘Did he ever try to do anything to you?’

The question startles Freya and she blinks at him. ‘No, he just—he just—’

‘He was the type to get away with anything because he rules Undarion,’ Lorcan explains. ‘He was never born into royalty. Hedris had to build his way up in the ranks until he got what he wanted from Undarion, and now that he has that, he likely wants more.’

‘Then why can’t he take it from somewhere else?’ My brother scowls at Lorcan, not understanding why there can’t be a solution to this. He has yet to learn what Hedris is like. He’s lucky to have never spoken to him directly.

‘Nara and Darius are new to all of this,’ Leira says, giving Darius and me a sympathetic smile. ‘In his arrogance he probably thinks the two of you don’t stand a chance against him and his army.’

‘We stand a chance,’ Darius states blandly. Suddenly, the letter in his hand ignites in flames. He crumbles the burnt pieces into ashes and then looks up at us with a smile. ‘But for now, I guess we can entertain him in thinking that we don’t.’

‘For the love of—’ Lorcan mutters. ‘We cannot sit around until he tries something.’

‘He is right,’ I tell Darius. Who knows what Hedris plans to do if we don’t give in to his tantrum. ‘What we need is more allies.’

‘You could speak to the Aerians,’ Lorcan suggests, though I know he immediately regrets it. He clears his throat as all eyes latch on to him. ‘They helped once; I’m sure they can again.’

It was Hira who helped, not her sisters. I can’t say that, though. My time in Aeris felt too much like torture to now give the rulers a fair chance.

Darius doesn’t seem too pleased by the idea of going there. He did spend most of his time there in a prison cell with only me or Gus to talk to.

‘What do you think, Goldie?’ he says, his gold eyes seeking an answer as he looks towards me.

There aren’t many options, and Darius knows that himself, yet it is not only his decision. It is my opinion he wants above his.

I nod. ‘I’ll arrange a meeting with them, and I’ll write to the princesses of Terranos to see if they have any news on Hedris that might be of service to us.’

I hope and pray that they do.

---