Page 90 of The Curse of a Kingdom
Devon’s distant voice cooled the raging flames inside her, and she took another step forward, following his pull. If she could break eye contact with whatever magic had her locked with the king, she might be able to blend in the crowd.
“Close the doors.” A deep, masculine voice that felt like honey to her senses broke the murmurs in the crowd. Arkimedes’s voice had been all but collected, showing some traces of the tension Nava felt through their bond.
The words had the desired response since the king’s gaze had broken contact, which freed her from whatever she had been paralyzed under. It had felt too similar to the way she froze when the Dark Ones took Arkimedes from their home. Or the day she’d been frozen in the middle of the Northern Village by Devon a year ago. Mastering these sorts of spells should be at the forefront of her learning at this point.
She took a couple of quick breaths, filling her lungs with precious air as Devon pulled her into the multitude. People followed their retreating steps toward the back of the room, surprise reflected on their beautiful faces. Everyone was a fae in here, except for Devon and Nava. The two of them stood behind the crowd, illuminated by the light of the candelabra. The scent of incense and expensive perfume hung in the air. Nava allowed herself to release the panic that had her nerves tense and frantic.
Since this was not a dinner where she could talk to the king and maybe convince him to not kill her, she would gain nothing by standing like a lamb awaiting slaughter. She needed a plan A and B and C.
Inspecting every inch of the room to find a way out, she clutched Devon’s arm like a lifeline. Her enemy had become her savior tonight, and the realization wasn’t lost on her. She didn’t want the warmth that bloomed in her stomach, thawing the feelings she harbored toward this man.
But she was grateful for Devon’s help—even if it was to save his own life due to the life debt.
“Next time, maybe stick to the damn blue colors, yes?” Devon murmured close to her ear.
She glared at him. “You think? I did ask Fael multiple times to let me go back and change.”
“It would have helped if you weren’t so ignorant about the kingdoms. It’s known everywhere that black is the royal color inside this castle.”
But she didn’t know this, not when she had learned so little of the four kingdoms and their cultures. Her mother had always intended for her and Cameron to be sheltered. To live inside a non-magical island where no king could ever harm her, let alone kill her. “It wasn’t my choice to know so little about . . . the world,” she whispered. However, the words didn’t ring true. Her mother had been gone for years now. What excuse did Nava have to turn a blind eye to everybody outside the Grey Island for so long?
She avoided Devon’s gaze. Being vulnerable in front of this man was not her idea of a fun evening, but he had just saved her, and that left her a bit off-kilter.
Devon hummed, studying their surroundings. His sharp jaw caught the highlight of the candlelight like a blade. “The universe is intent on shoving you out into the outside world, despite Celeste’s attempts.”
Nava allowed her eyes to drift back to the man and her shoulders eased. The universe, the gods of this world, destiny. They all had picked their players in a game she and Arkimedes were forced to play—dragging this man alongside them.
She was a woman tied to a kingdom hell-bent on killing her, and she needed to find a way out.
There were three large doors around the circular room, each one closed with a couple of guards at each side. For a supposed dinner, this was suspicious. Were they expecting trouble?
If the worst came to pass, she could transfer out through one of the door crevices. Maybe if that happened, Arkimedes could save Devon and not have to worry about her. She reminded herself that the only person who knew she wasn’t helpless was her soulmate, and she trusted him with her life, even in their rocky circumstances.
Nava focused on Arkimedes, who rose from his seat as if called by her thoughts. His skin was clean of all the soot from earlier in the day, which meant he had been back in his room and had avoided seeing her. She would know, as she’d waited for him on the balcony after she returned from her walk.
His green eyes met hers across the multitude of fae around them, and the room went quiet at his solemn face. “The forest is burning,” he said, and murmurs erupted around. Nava could hear the angry inflections in their whispers.
“The humans are doing this.”
“It’s too close to the city.”
“Silence.” The king’s voice boomed over the room, and every whisper quieted in an instant.
“We have been using our best guards to locate the culprits. Following leads, as some of you suspected a local group from the village was responsible for the attacks. However, this is not the truth. The royal guard and I have been battling demons in our woods for the last week.”
Nava’s stomach dropped as she clasped her hand over her chest, feeling the bond toward this man, toward nature, ache. Murmurs of panic and alarm spread like an echo in a cave, and Arkimedes found her again. “Today we battled at least fifteen.”
Even Devon was quiet, though she felt his eyes burning on the side of her face.
“Be at ease, my people. It’s not the first time I have encountered the Zorren in my life.” The king stood from his throne, and for the first time since Nava had arrived at this castle, she could see his pale features through the mist of his power.
His almost translucent skin lacked the natural glow Arkimedes had, and for someone so beautiful and young in appearance, his jaded expression didn’t hide an ancient air about him. Fael had said he was the oldest fae he had ever met, and according to Leela, both she and Nava’s guard were pretty old themselves, to Nava’s twenty-six.
“I don’t believe it’s a coincidence my heir came back, led by his need to help his people. His magic, much like my own, feeds the castle you stand in tonight, the roads you drive and ride on. The grounds this very city is built upon. I have no doubt with our powers combined, we will have no problem finding and fighting this new foe knocking at our doorstep.”
He came back . . .
ShestudiedArkimedes’s features, the way the copper crown rested on top of his thick brown hair. He looked at peace with the king’s words.
