Page 45 of Tower of Tempest
“Anything about the survivors of the Shadow War, anything of significance that happened during the Shadow War that we can trace back to your gran.” He leaned forward. “We have to know who’s after you and why, and it all must lead back to your gran, to something she did during the Shadow War.”
“Maybe my gran is the only one who can answer that.” I leaned back in my chair with a sigh.
“Unless you die first, then we don’t get any answers,” Driscoll said.
Leoni and Prince Lochlan turned to stare at him.
He raised his hands. “You all are testy today.”
“No one’s dying,” Leoni whispered from next to me, her hand hovering over the sword sheathed at her side.
“I agree,” the prince said, an edge to his voice that made Driscoll wince.
I wasn’t used to this serious side of Prince Lochlan, but ever since he’d seen my ransacked room yesterday, he’d been somber. The teasing, the flirting, gone. I missed it.
I sighed. “I’m not planning on dying anytime soon, Driscoll.”
“Well, no oneplanson dying,” Driscoll retorted, grabbing a book and flipping through it. “Obviously.”
“Canwe stop talking about dying?” the prince asked, and Leoni and Driscoll shot each other knowing glances that I couldn’t interpret.
Leoni grabbed a book from the stack as well. “Can you tell us anything else about your gran? Anything she revealed to you, maybe by accident? Or times when you mentioned something that set her off? Made her angry? We need more to work with here.”
I shrugged helplessly, my wings bunching with the movement. “I’ve told you everything I know. She was secretive about this enemy, said the less I knew about him the better.”
“It has to be the shadow king,” the prince said. He stroked his jaw. “I wish I’d thought to learn more about him when I was trapped on that island. Mal and I should’ve worked harder to infiltrate his home.”
“Well, we know he rose up after the Shadow War,” Leoni said. “Goji revealed that much.”
“Goji?” I asked, my nose wrinkling.
“Someone we met on our journey to the shadow court,” Driscoll said. “A pixie who worked for the shadow king.”
I folded my arms on the table. “But why would this shadow king dislike Gran? Shouldn’t they have been on the same side?”
A thoughtful expression crossed Prince Lochlan’s face. “Unless your gran didn’t agree with the shadow king, with him rising up and taking over. The king and queen of Sorrengard died during the Shadow War, their sole heir killed. Maybe your gran had been loyal to them, to the point where she’d contest some random person rising up and taking over.”
Driscoll gasped. “What if their heir didn’t die and your gran was the baby? She grew up and had to go into hiding so the shadow king wouldn’t kill her. I mean, if she’s the true heir, that would be motivation for the shadow king to want her dead.”
I chewed at my lip. “No, that doesn’t make sense. Gran was twenty years old when the Shadow War happened. The king and queen’s heir was just a baby.”
Driscoll sighed. “Well, that was my only theory.”
“Huh,” Leoni stared down at a page she was reading.
We all straightened.
“Well?” Driscoll snapped his fingers. “What did you find?”
Leoni traced a few lines with her finger. “Oh, never mind. I thought I foundsomething about survivors of the war, but it’s not talking about shadow elementals who survived—it’s about survivors from the other courts.”
My shoulders slumped. At this rate, we weren’t going to find anything about Gran. “Maybe we need to depart for the shadow court sooner,” I said. “If someone is after me because of Gran, all the more reason to get out of Valoris.”
Prince Lochlan stiffened. “No, we need to gather information before leaving.” He leaned forward. “I don’t think you understand how dangerous Sorrengard is. How dangerous this shadow king is. If he wants your gran, what if he wants you too? You don’t know what it’s like to get your shadow ripped from you, to be missing a piece of yourself.” He swallowed.
“Well, what else are we supposed to do?” I threw up my arms. “I left my tower to save my gran, to finally get some answers about everything she’s kept from me.”
“And now you’ll be at risk of being trapped again,” the prince argued.
