Page 95 of Daughter Of The Ninth Line
“Maybe it means something. Maybe it doesn’t,” Vox answered, and I realized I’d been speaking out loud. “I don’t think it’s any secret that the Ninth Line doesn’t have this level of precognition now.”
Avalon snorted. “Not even close.”
It continued to niggle at the back of my mind, but I finished flicking through the book. When I got to the paragraph on the death of Avalon’s mother, she halted my hand. There was a portrait there, and I realized that Malina Halhed had looked almost exactly like Avalon, except where Malina had been blonde, Avalon had the deep brunette tresses of the Halheds.
The scent of her distress burned my nostrils, and I held her closer. Avalon ran her fingers over the image. “I look like her. I’ve never seen a picture before…”
I hated her father more than ever at that moment. Roman Halhed was living on borrowed oxygen. “She’s beautiful,” I whispered into her hair, and Vox reached over, gripping her fingers and twining them with his own.
“We’ll remember her now. She won’t be erased,” he told her solemnly, and our gazes clashed over the top of Avalon’s head. I knew our thoughts on the Baron of the Ninth Line were in sync. His time as Baron was coming to a very sudden, very bloody end.
Any doubts I had about this little arrangement with Vox were erased. Avalon deserved the whole world and all the love I could give her, even if it was his.
chapter fifty-eight
Avalon
Our research—aswell as, uh, other plans—halted as both Vox and Hayle got called to Fortaare for a Conclave, which was basically a meeting of the Barons and their non-sitting Heirs. Father would be there, as well as my middle brother, Bach. I missed my siblings, more than I’d thought I would. I’d thought that being away from Rewill would feel like such a relief, that I wouldn’t miss any part of my life there.
But I missed my brothers, and the hunting dogs, and the cooks. Despite it being filled with bad memories, the Keep had been my home since forever.
“You’re fully addicted to Hayle Taeme’s cock. You’ve been useless for the last three days,” Acacia told me sternly. “I mean, I don’t blame you. I’ve heard rumors about his magic stick, but girl, snap out of it. No dicking is that good.”
Viana bumped my shoulder with hers. “You just haven’t gotten laid in a long time, Cace. Jealousy’s turning your hair green,” she teased, pointing to Acacia’s flaming red hair. “I can say that if I’d been subject to those Third Linecharmson a regular basis, I might also be looking longingly at the sea, waiting for him to return.”
I flushed, realizing I had indeed been looking toward the port.Awkward.“Let’s go back to training. Besides, I haven’t been subject to any Third Line charms or whatever.”
“I can remedy that,” a voice said, and Lucio appeared beside me.
I’d met him a couple of times now, mostly in passing, and he always watched me with an expression somewhere between awe and suspicion, which led me to believe that Hayle had told him about the Soul Tie thing. If my brother told me he had a magical connection with a random woman from a different Line, I’d probably be suspicious too.
I was trying to think of a polite way to sayno, thank you,when Shay appeared and slapped the back of Lucio’s head. “Not if you want to survive the day, fleabag.” She looked at me. “Taeme won’t be back for another four days, so I have to agree with the Twelfth—grow some ladyballs and stop pining.”
Looking between the four people around me, I frowned. I doubted Boellium had ever seen a more mismatched group of people standing together without bloodshed. “One, I wasn’t staring at the ocean,” I lied. “Two, what is happening right now?”
Lucio gave me a crooked smile. “As the Third Line’s second-in-command, I’ve been ordered to keep an eye on you. Well, me and Quarry.” He nodded toward the raven who sat perched on the gate post, just watching.
Shay didn’t say anything, because it was a secret that Vox and I were seeing each other, even from his own Line.
Acacia was watching the woman with suspicion. Her eyes flicked from me to Shay, to Lucio, then back to me. I saw the moment when she added two and two together, and I gave her a tiny shake of my head. I’d explain later, somewhere with no ears or eyes. She stared at me a little longer, before lifting her chin slightly in agreement.
The Twelfth Line might be low in magic, but that didn’t make them stupid.
I pasted a smile on my face. “Thank you, but it’s really unnecessary. No one cares about me within the walls of Boellium.”
Shay snorted. “You aren’t that stupid.”
I flinched back. Acacia and Viana stepped in front of me—ready to defend my intellect, I guess—but I reached my hands out to stop them. They didn’t need to be on the First Line’s radar. “What do you mean?” I asked lightly.
Shay raised a taunting eyebrow at my friends, as if challenging them to continue. “You are openly fucking the Third Line Heir. He’s committed to you in a way he hasn’t ever committed to a person at Boellium, in all the time he’s been here. One of his hounds follows you around at all times, and if they aren’t here, you have his eyes and ears.” She tilted her head at Quarry. “And the somewhat dull wit of his most trusted friend.”
She stared at me, her eyes seeing far too much. “You’re a target now. Any chance you had at being anonymous is gone, Avalon Halhed, and the more prepared you are for that, the better. If that isn’t something you wanted, then I suggest you end your little affair now, because you’ve been thrust into the world of backstabbing and politics, whether you want to be there or not.” She shook her head derisively, something like pity in her expression. “You’re a fucking lamb, alone and unprotected, being led to the slaughter.”
Blinking dumbly at her, I had no pithy retort as her words rolled over and over in my brain. What she’d said was painfully true.
Acacia stepped forward. “She isn’t alone.” She stood toe to toe with this woman who was so far above her station; to someone as powerful as Shay, killing Acacia would be little more taxing than swatting an annoying gnat. “She has the TwelfthLine. We don’t forsake our friends.” There was an underlying taunt in there, and I reached out, gripping her elbow before she got herself frozen into an ice statue on my behalf.
Shay continued to stare Acacia down, until to my surprise, she smiled. Shay Vylansmiled.It was a disconcerting expression. “Loyalty is something she’ll need,” Vox’s cousin—and the second most powerful person at Boellium—said softly.
