Page 171 of A Queen's Game
Marietta pointed with her fork as she spoke. “Never.”
Chapter Sixty-Five
Valeriya
Valeriya felt jittery as she waited inside her bedroom. Over the past week, she managed to hold invisibility for ten minutes. It wasn’t long enough to get her outside the palace, but it was long enough for her to sneak past whatever mage followed her. At any moment, a servant would arrive and Valeriya would slip out behind them. No one would be the wiser.
She kept Marietta’s findings in her pocket. It had been so long since her last drop that she probably had additional information for her, or at least, she hoped. With the mage following her, she thought it would be best to distance herself. Better to not implicate either of them.
Checking the time, Valeriya reached for the aithyr, letting the energy flow up her invisible limbs, and pulled a sizable amount into her, just like she practiced. The aithyr flowed to every inch of her body, the sensation similar to submerging into frozen waters. The process already took its toll on her, threatening to break free at any moment.
She made her way through the common area and to the door to the hallways. As the door opened, the invisible Valeriya slipped past the servant and darted down the hall. Valeriya’s focus was on maintaining the encasing magic around her body, hurrying to the Central Garden. The longer she kept it up, the more exhausted she would be.
Down the stairs and out the door of the Royal’s Wing, Valeriya didn’t feel the sun warm her skin, only the unyielding icy presence of magic. Was it the magic making her cold? Or was it the sun’s heat not making contact with her invisible skin? Valeriya had to admit she didn’t know how magic worked at a distilled level. The time to ponder such questions was lost to her.
Valeriya’s grip on her invisibility began to slip, feeling the pull against her body. Her breathing turned ragged as she darted through the courtyards and into the garden. As she reached a dense patch of trees to conceal herself, her magic dropped, and she collapsed to the dirt, panting. Though exhausted already, she couldn’t help but smile. Conquering a new skill always brought a smile to her face.
However, she had little time to celebrate. There was no telling when the mage could show up, if they knew how to find her at all. That didn’t mean they couldn’t. It didn’t mean that there weren’t multiple mages trailing her.
Focusing, she stood and pulled at the aithyr around her once more. If she hurried, she could change into her servant’s visage, leave the palace, and return all before anyone realized she was gone. Digging deep within herself, she drew aithyr to her once more. When she opened her eyes, her body appeared as the familiar shape of a serving girl. She strode out onto the path and made her way to the gates and to the city beyond.
Satiros was bright in the summer sun, alive with people going about their business. Valeriya wished to live like them, meandering through the streets without a care in the world. Shehad never had that luxury, that freedom. She always had a goal or a plan to enact. No one made it into books by sitting around and enjoying themselves.
On the far side of the Halia River in Greening Juncture sat Birdsong Park, the decided drop location. The old oak that she searched for had a hollow facing away from the main path, nestled between two blooming hydrangea bushes.
With a glance to determine she was alone, Valeriya stepped off the path and hid behind the thick trunk of the oak tree. She pulled the papers out of her pocket and slid them into the opening. Her contact would be by soon to pick them up, and she wanted to be far away when they did.
Valeriya sighed in relief when she walked back towards the palace. She handed the information off, her part completed. Soon she wouldn’t need to sneak anymore. Wyltam would fall, and the crown would pass to her. It was time to end wars, and to make the pilinos equal citizens under the law. The information she handed off would help ensure that.
It didn’t take her long to return to the palace. In the garden, Valeriya dropped her disguise and took a deep breath. She was almost done. Just one last bout of magic and she could breathe. With a shaky pull at the aithyr, she filled herself with the energy and felt the magic shroud her body.
With a hurried pace, she made it to her suite door while shaking once more. If she had the stamina, she would wait to see if anyone came in or out; yet, she didn’t. She’d have to gamble that the mage (or mages) following her happened to not be in the hallway. Without another thought, she opened the door and stepped into the suit.
As soon as her invisibility dropped, she noticed Wyltam’s voice carrying from his office. Odd. Wyltam never yelled. Valeriya quietly approached the door, listening.
“—couldn’t pick up on her trail again?” Wyltam’s deep voice rumbled.
“Wyltam, I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware that she does that kind of magic, none of us realized—” Wyltam cut off the raspy voice. That must have been the mage following her. Strange that they didn’t use his title.
“She doesn’t have that level of magic. You messed up. To think I trained you myself.”
Valeriya’s heart stilled. Wyltam could do magic? How did he keep that hidden?
“I’m sorry, Wyl—”
“Enough. It’s too late for apologies.” Wyltam cut him off once more. “Don’t lose her again. Understood?” Wyltam’s voice was demanding, the most kingly Valeriya had ever heard him. Apparently, Wyltam did possess the ability to be a king, but only when it suited him.
Valeriya withdrew from the door, treading down the hall before retiring to her room. Wyltam knew magic. He trained the skilled mage who had been following her. How was she not aware of the threat her husband posed to her? Valeriya assumed Keyain would be the larger issue, but it was clear her husband was a force for which she was not prepared. Wyltam was too much of an unknown. If he sent a mage to trail her, then he had an idea she was doing something. But how much did he know?
Her plan could still work. She could still be queen. Instead of waiting in Satiros for Wyltam’s rein to fall, she’d have to take Mycaub and flee.
Chapter Sixty-Six
Elyse
Elyse took a calming breath, remembering the instructions from her studies.Inhale deeply through the nose and out through the mouth.She breathed deep, once, twice—over and over until she stood outside the palace gates with Marietta and Keyain. In her hand was a velvet pouch, a present she had Keyain buy on her behalf.
Asking Keyain for help had been embarrassing. He had made it clear he was always there to support Elyse in whatever she needed—he and Marietta both. Though she understood that, she felt guilty about borrowing the coin. Keyain made her promise not to worry about paying him back, but she wanted to be indebted to no one, especially after he paid for a tailor to make a dress for that evening.
