Page 101 of Queen of Legends and Lies
Relief loosens some of the tension knotting my shoulders. At least there’s that small mercy.
Chapter Thirty-Four
An incessant tapping invades my slumber, reminding me of the woodpecker at Castle Axton. Birdie, I’d called it. Not the most original name, but in my defense, I couldn’t have been older than six at the time.
I stretch, wincing as I flex sore muscles from the evening’s battle with the drachen, then sighing as my arm brushes a hard wall of muscle. Snuggling into Sterling, I soak up his warmth for just a little bit longer. My brain is hazy with sleep, my eyes still closed. I have a busy day ahead, but for a few more blissful minutes, I want to?—
The tapping grows louder.
No, not tapping. Knocking. Someone’s pounding on the outer door to our chambers.
With a groan, I sit up and reach for my robe.
Sterling opens his eyes, scrubbing a hand over his face and shooting a murderous glare at the door. “It’d better be an emergency.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” I hurry to put on the robe, knotting the belt around my waist. “I’m coming!”
Sterling stumbles out of bed and pulls on a pair of loose black pants, then grabs his discarded shirt from the floor. “Okay, let them in.”
I pad across the thick rug of the bedchamber and into the sitting room, throwing open the door.
Rhiann stands in the hallway, fist poised to continue knocking. “Your Ma?—”
“Just Lark. You know we don’t care about formalities.” I open the door wider and gesture her inside.
“Thank you.” She enters before piercing me, then Sterling, with one of her classiclet’s get down to businessstares. “So sorry to wake you both, but this is important.”
“It’s all right.” The look on his face says otherwise. “What’s going on?”
Rhiann is unfazed by her cousin’s gruffness. She reaches inside an apron pocket to produce a small vial. “This. A maid found it in Celeste’s room this morning while cleaning.”
My breath hitches as I survey the black liquid. “Eyril?”
“Yes.” She hands the vial to me. “It’s been years since I’ve smelled the stuff, but it’s an odor I’ll never forget.”
A crease forms between Sterling’s eyes. “You didn’t get any on you, did you?”
She releases an indignant, very un-Rhiann-like snort. “Really, Knox? Do you think I’d be that careless?”
“Of course not. Sorry.” His eyes become molten, and I have no doubt he’s thinking about his corruption. What Xenon forced him to do.
Rhiann must sense it, too, because her glare softens. “It’s all right.”
My conversation with Knox from only a day ago comes rushing back, and nausea roils my stomach. “Wait. Please, tell me you know where Celeste is.”
“Unfortunately, no.” Her shoulders tense. “She’s not in her room. At least, she wasn’t twenty minutes ago.”
“Gods.” Sterling rakes a hand through his sleep-mussed hair. “You were right to be suspicious, Lark. Celeste told you about the location of the caves, and when you got there, Xenon was conveniently waiting. Then I saw her in the hall after meeting with Agnar. She didn’t say a word about where you’d gone. I don’t like to think what might have happened if that guard hadn’t overheard your conversation with Celeste.”
I strongly suspect the word Sterling’s looking for isspiedrather thanoverheard, but I won’t worry about that now. “Why am I not surprised?” I slide the vial of eyril into the pocket of my robe. “And remember when she told us to practice merging our powers away from the palace? What if she set that up so we’d be gone when the drachen came?”
We stare at each other, the truth hitting us simultaneously like a bolt of lightning.
Sterling’s face hardens. “She’s a spy. A traitor.”
All her undermining—kissing up to the council, visiting the training grounds, questioning our defenses—suddenly makes sense. “We need to deal with her immediately.”
Just hearing the words out loud helps settle things into place.
