Page 99 of A Promise of Peridot
“You don’t know?” Fedrik asked me, confusion dotting his crystal eyes.
“No, Prince, she doesn’t. And I don’t think now is the time, do you?”
“Know what?” I asked. I had developed a very unpleasantresponse to the thought of Kane hiding anything from me. My palms had already begun to itch and I folded them into my skirt to halt the fidgeting.
“My grim history,” Kane snarled at Fedrik.
My stomach tightened at the words. I knew very little about Kane’s failed attempt to take his father’s crown—only that it resulted in many deaths and forced him and others to flee to Onyx. I didn’t blame him for not feeling as if he could open up to me now. Not after all our progress had just been washed down a bloody, rain-drenched drain.
Especially not when another man was seated beside me, a supportive hand moving up and down my back. Kane’s eyes were glued to the motion. A beast with its prey.
I hadn’t told him yet about Fedrik and me—that I wasn’t pursuing something with the prince.
But I couldn’t think of that right now. I couldn’t think of anything but Mari.
Kane stood abruptly. “I’m going to make some coffee.”
“I’ll take one, too,” Fedrik said.
Kane regarded him with such distaste I nearly laughed. But I didn’t, and Kane walked out of the sitting room in silence, his heavy footfalls echoing as he trudged down the long hallway behind us.
“My mother told me about the Fae when I was eleven,” Fedrik said, eyes on the flames before us as they waved and jumped. “She said there was another realm, beyond Evendell, and it wasn’t on any map, or taught in any classes. A secret place, where very magical creatures called Faeries lived.
“It wasn’t so foreign to me—Citrine is a peculiar kingdom, as I’m sure you’ve gathered. The magic that keeps our kingdom safe isageless, elemental, born from the seas themselves... But unlike Citrine, my mother had said, the Fae were kept in their realm against their will. Then she told me of the rebellion.
“Briar was one of Kane’s followers. That’s what she means by doing him favors. The last one she did for him lost Briar her husband, her home...”
I pursed my lips, my mind already moving back to Mari. Whether Briar would help her if she blamed Kane for the loss of her life back in Lumera.
“Briar is going to know what’s causing Mari’s illness, Wen. I’m sure of it. She’s said to be the most powerful witch of all time because she has the longest lineage. Her ancestors were the first-ever witches to exist, back when there were no mortals, only Fae Gods.”
“You know of the Gods?” I asked. His answering smile turned me sheepish. Of course he did. He was so worldly and educated. He had seen so much, been so many places. Explored, adventured, learned.
“I’m not sure what I believe. If you go to the Jade Islands, they worship something entirely different. It’s all relative, isn’t it?”
I nodded, though I knew nothing of the Jade Islands, or what they believed in. Where was Mari when you needed her? My heart protested as if I were pressing on a fresh bruise. I shot my eyes back to the top of the staircase.
“Shall we take our minds off it for the time being? Favorite place you’ve ever traveled?”
Siren’s Cove, with Kane.
Fedrik was trying so hard to be helpful. He actually was a good friend. Maybe my second or third ever. But thinking of Siren’sCove made me think of Kane, which made me think of our stupid, violent argument earlier. And what might have unfolded between us had we not been interrupted.
“I’m going to head upstairs,” I said, standing abruptly.
Fedrik stood as well. “Of course. I can come with you?”
My eyes widened.
“That’s obviously not what I—” Fedrik shook his head. “I’m exhausted as well. I just meant, if you don’t want to be alone—”
“Thanks, but I just need some sleep.” In the last twenty-four hours, I had been trapped in a cavern, tortured by a boy who used to kiss me, attacked by bandits, and I might have lost my closest friend in the world. I didn’t think I could take another moment of being awake.
I slipped from the bewitched living room, through the foyer, and up the maple staircase. Dark specters of night cloaked the hallway, but I could still make out elegant tapestries on the walls and vases of Onyx’s lush lavender and lilac tucked into shelves and placed atop ottomans. I walked until I reached one of the rooms Cori had made up for us.
Inside it was like a little forgotten dresser drawer. Cramped, dusty, and overflowing. A long-abandoned hearth at the foot of the patchwork bed still held coals. The room wasn’t small, but it seemed as much due to the sheer number of books that had been stacked, piled, and lodged inside its four walls. Rows and rows along the floor, on every shelf, filling a hand-painted ladder and open chest, piled in the corners, stacked in columns on a vanity—this must have been Briar’s makeshift library, though I doubted she could find anything in this maze of parchment and leather. Mari would have blown a gasket.
The one saving grace was the room’s balcony, where a propped-open door allowed for a cool breeze and the mild rhythm of cicadas to waft inside.
