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My heart launched into a gallop. There was no polite way to explain how desperately I wished not to talk about it, but her good intentions permeated the air between us, impossible to offend or escape. I swallowed down the urge to vomit all over the pretty lace corset of her dress. “There are worse things,” I pronounced at last.

“I see.” Her expression transformed, the hard angles softening as she let her shoulders drop and risked another baby step towards me. “Did it help?”

I gave her a quizzical look.

“With reconnecting to your magic?” she prompted, and then she laughed at the look on my face.

“I haven’t tried,” I admitted, blushing at my own idiocy.When did that stop being a priority?

“He’s quite distracting, Aura. Even I can admit that.” Morgoya shook her head in an endearing sort of way, a kind smile reshaping her mouth. “I would love for you to spend some time with me in the palace training rooms. Batre will be there. We’ll ban the boys from entering and see if we can help.” Her viridescent gaze searched mine. “Would you like that?”

My eyes must have betrayed eagerness because Morgoya’s entire face lit up in relief before I’d even opened my mouth. “That sounds great,” I decided. “When and where?”

forty-five

Ground, Open Up and Swallow Me Whole

Imet the High Lady at the agreed time and place so she could show me to the palace training rooms, and while we walked, Morgoya gave me a brief political update. It looked like the Court of Wind had settled in for a long stay—much to the High King’s chagrin—and the carousal was beginning to wind down in the city at last, no thanks to Enyd’s men.

“I’ve been doing the rounds, trying to get a read on public opinion after the Malum attack,” she enlightened me as we climbed a steep, narrow staircase. There were numerous small windows high above us, smothered with fog and barely illuminating the dreary space. “Most faeries were too preoccupied with drink and dance to notice that anything unordinary was happening. The sirens were loud, but only the sober faeries picked up on the fact that they were a warning alarm and not part of the festivities, and the faelight outage occurred while many were sleeping.”

A chill ran down my spine as we paused on the next landing.

The Malum had been right outside their homes, and nobody had known how much danger they were in that night. The clandestine nature of faeries was so extreme they didn’t even ask questions amongst themselves.

“There are, however, a few particular factions of the High Fae who are discussing the missing lights,” Morgoya went on, lowering her voice into a conspiratorial whisper. Her slim-fingered hand drew me into the shadows against the wall, and I felt like concrete had been poured down my spine. “There are rumours that the repeated instances of vanishing lights are connected. There is talk of the High King losing his power.”

Her words froze my blood.

“Does he know?” I choked out.

In the shadows, Morgoya’s features were severe. “He doesn’t care. He thinks he’s immune to public opinion because of what he experienced as a child, but I’ve ordered my spies to see through the rest of the discussions. I’m taking this seriously, Aura, even if he won’t.” Her feline eyes glowed with an emerald viridity through the dark as she appraised me. “I think you should, too.”

A painful throb smashed into my chest, and it took me a moment to realise that it was anxiety affecting the beat of my heart.

I understood what she was trying to tell me.

We both knew Lucais’s power was impeded by the lapsus—though I didn’t think she was aware that the entire city was being held together by one of his spells—and he was under more strain than normal, which was a risk neither of us wanted to continue taking. We also knew that I was supposed to have access to a certain type of magic, which might be helpful to him if I was able to master it, and my inability to do so had already incurred a cost to his reputation.

But there was one part of her warning that bothered me more than the rest.

“Don’t these faeries know I’m the one who took the light in Sthiara?” My voice took on an unfamiliar, harsh edge that surprised me. “They saw me in the Oracle. They’ve heard the prediction of a union between light and dark—not to mention the fact that he basically outed me to everyone at the meeting in the throne room.”

“I wondered that, too,” she assured me. “I believe the narrative they’re trying to spin is that he’s covering up for the fact that you’re a human without powers. Two spells with one stone, so to speak.”

I was already shaking my head, a foreign rage simmering beneath my fingers as I flexed them to try to remain calm. I’d felt anger before, but the things Morgoya told me were making me absolutely livid.

How dare they? He’s theirHigh King—

“That bond really does something to you, doesn’t it?” The High Lady’s smile was rueful but momentary. “I’m not saying any of this to upset you. I truly believe you need to know…because there’s more.”

Forcing myself to swallow despite the tension in my throat, I asked, “What else?”

“If you’re not a faerie with magic, as they’re suggesting, then that begs the question of what the darkness portrayed inside of the Oracle actually means.” Her mouth flattened into a red slash across her face. “Some think it signals the end of Lucais’s reign, but others have started asking about Blythe.”

“Fuck.”

“My thoughts exactly.”