Page 99 of The Curse of a Kingdom
Wait. Arkimedes hadn’t been trying to lead Fael to this point, right? He would never be okay with letting an innocent man sacrifice his freedom and possible life for his own neck.
“I will go with you to the king’s room, in case there are any spells that might delay it or harm you in any way.”
“What about them?”
“They will wait for us here in the room.” Arkimedes’s gaze flashed to Devon, so quick she might have imagined it.
“Ark,” she started, but Devon’s fervent headshake distracted her long enough to miss stopping this madness from happening. Fael was already crossing the threshold and out of the room. Arkimedes walked behind the guard, buttoning his new shirt and avoiding her gaze. She grasped his arm, stopping him from going any farther. “You can't seriously consider letting Fael throw himself to certain death when the king learns he betrayed him,” she whispered.
His gaze was distant when it landed on her, but he couldn’t fool her. His gut churned with building dread, tasting bitter in the back of her throat. He wasn’t thrilled to do this. “It will buy us time to get you two out of here.” His eyes bore into her before dropping to her lips, and his yearning exploded in her so strong her lips parted on a gasp. Then he stepped away, and the warm dizzying sensation was replaced by cool dread that pooled in her stomach.
“But you—you wouldn’t let an innocent man get hurt like that,” she pleaded, and that had him turning to her, his jaw clenching.
“The Arkimedes you remember wouldn’t, but that’s not me, Nava. It’s about time you accept that.” He paused, swallowing deeply, then whispered, “Become dust and leave.”
She followed his retreating shape, her words getting caught on the knot forming in her throat, but he left the room without looking back. Then the door clicked shut right in front of her face, leaving Devon and her inside.
Nava gripped the door handle, which didn’t move or budge, and she pounded on the wood as heat bubbled in her gut. “You asshole!” She was going to murder him, not only for locking her insideagain, but for being such a dickhead. “I hate this new you!”
She turned in a whirlwind and ran to the balcony door. She had promised herself she wouldn’t be a prisoner in one of these rooms again. The balcony door didn’t move an inch, even though she shook it and pulled at it with all her strength. Bees crawled out of her skin as her magic awakened with her building panic.
Nava couldn’t breathe. She didn’t want to be responsible for Fael’s death in the wake of his sacrifice. The king would kill him for it. Glancing at the glass of the door, she swallowed a second before she slammed her fist onto it. Pain extended past her knuckles and fingers, down her arm; however, the glass didn’t crack, nor did it even shake.
“What . . . ?” Her clothes were too tight. She was going to combust with anger and desperation.
“This is very entertaining, but you should stop before you break your hand. I’m afraid neither of us can help you heal, and we will be running soon enough.”
“I can’t believe you are fine with this. Actually, never mind, of course you are. But Arkimedes . . . he is so ready to throw that man into certain death just to save our skin.” Her throat thickened, and soon tears welled in her eyes.
“Calm down, cat. Even the Arkimedes I knew from a decade ago wouldn’t do that—unless there was something else brewing beneath the surface.”
She paused her movements at once, blinking as her heartbeat slowed down. He had been very calm, acting angry even though he hadn’t felt it. “Do you think . . . he doesn’t trust Fael?” she ventured.
Devon, who had been standing in the same spot as when Fael had been here, walked to where Arkimedes kept his armor hanging by the wall. So similar to how he had displayed his swords back in his cabin. The Crow picked the long sword, the moonlight shining over the blade’s sharp edge.
Her bees flew around her with a warning—something was off. Ark’s words before he parted rang in her head. They would make sense to no one but the two of them. Only Arkimedes knew she was a Beekeeper, capable of becoming dust. He had told her to leave.
“I think he realized he was being betrayed and tried to take the threat away from here.”
“What are you doing?” Nava took a step back; her skin turned yellow as her power raised to her call. Was Devon going to attack her?
“He locked us here for protection, meaning he believes there is a chance we won’t be alone for long. I can’t open a portal and get us out of here. Do you have any better ideas?”
So he wasn’t locking them in, but locking people out. “But we saw the king and the guards leave. Do you think it was a setup? It looked convincing. The fire . . .”
Oh, she hoped Aristaeus wasn’t fighting this mess alone.
The pieces of the puzzle that Arkimedes had solved clicked for her all at once. He had been acting all along while Fael was here. Nava looked into Devon’s eyes and knew she could leave him now, like Ark had told her to. Transfer out of this room under the crevices of that door and save herself.
He had been her enemy a year ago, but he wasn’t that anymore. The realization hit her in the gut, along with acceptance. She couldn’t leave Devon to fend off a group of Dark Ones when he was here because of her and couldn’t use his magic.
“How long do you think we have?” Bees crawled over her body, and her stomach churned with anticipation.
Devon’s eyes widened over her. “Believe it or not, cat, I’m not a soothsayer.” She glared at the Crow and reconsidered her previous line of thought. “But probably not long. I’m guessing the king left guards behind just in case the prince decided to do this. If I were the mastermind behind this, I would have left enough of them to restrain him.”
“You mean like you did with Mortimer when you had him stabbed?” she hissed, and her bees buzzed closer to Devon. Now real ones crawled down the crevices of the door, coming to her call.
“I asked him torestrainArkimedes.” Devon’s face turned red, a vein popping on his forehead. “With magic, not with a physical injury that could have killed him.”
