Page 27 of Cursed Evermore
I stared ahead, mulling over everything that had happened so far.
Everything seemed like a fucking mystery designed to screw with me. But at least I had a lead. It didn’t need to make sense right now. A lead was a lead.
I was here for the ring. To get that, I needed Elariya.
I’d already searched her home and found no trace of it. Nor any residual magic to track. That left me with only one option.Taking her.
Taking hertonightand making sure she told me, by whatever means necessary, where my ring was. Then I’d deal with heraccordingly. And she’d learn what happened to those who crossed me.
I just had to be careful and clever about the way I did it. Stealing her away with brute force and powerful binding magic was not an option without alerting the people here or in the magical realm.
The Accords forbade taking captives from the mortal realm. Those who had wronged you were to be dealt with in a manner pleasing to the law. I wasn’t above that law, but this was an extenuating circumstance that needed to be handled off the grid.
If Dreynthor learned of my plans here, he’d find a way to thwart them. Or question the evidence that linked Elariya to the ring’s disappearance. That would slow me down or stop me.
That fucker loved the power of having the kingdom and its subjects at his fingertips far too much to risk it being taken away.
Though he’d always claimed to love me and my father, playing the role of the devoted uncle and brother still searching for my father’s killer, I never once believed he wanted me to find the ring. Or reclaim the kingdom.
He’d never said so. At least not that I knew of. But only a blind fool would believe otherwise.
My father’s death handed my uncle an opportunity no other Nightblade had ever received. Not even Alaric had the option to be king because if Dreynthor died, his son would become ruler under the Laws of Succession. Although neither would be king, that didn’t matter. The benefits outweighed having the crown on their head.
So where this mission was concerned, Dreynthor needed to stay the fuck away. I was going to take the evidence I had at face value and follow the lead.
Reclaiming the kingdom was the solution to all our problems. Not marrying some damn princess and being a pawn with his hands tied behind his back. I would never give my unclethe satisfaction of having even more control over me. I wasn’t wired that way. I was a born leader and fate had just given me the breakthrough I’d been desperately searching for.
I waited for Elariya, motionless in the obscura, as patrons stumbled from the tavern into the night. An hour passed before she emerged again with her cousin and their guard, who kept a protective hand hovering near the sheath of his sword.
They’d hardly stepped outside before Elariya started looking for me again.
Her cousin, Emabelle, linked arms with her. “I swear, you've been distracted since you went for air.” Her voice was light and cheerful. “If I didn’t know better, I’d believe some mystery man got you hooked on him.”
Elariya grinned back at her, though her nerves were visible even in the moonlight. “I’m fine. Just looking around.”
“My Lady, I would urge you to call for me next time you want air,” the guard said gruffly, his thick western accent roughened by the night chill. “There’s always talk of strange folk abroad in these parts.”
“Yes, Borsai. I promise to call for you next time.”Elariya nodded, though her gaze flickered toward the alleyway.
She hesitated for a moment before continuing down the cobbled street with the others.
I followed. Silently. Unseen.
Elariya climbed into the carriage with her cousin and the guard, and the horses carried them away.
I moved swiftly, folding the Obscura around me like a fog of silk, threading myself from one darkened space to the next. Before long, the manor appeared, rising from the mist like a specter.
The intel I’d harvested from the residual echoes lingering within the walls of the manor told me Elariya lived here with her parents, grandmother, and cousin.
Her mother and grandmother were mages from the Ravenwood Realm. She was also engaged to marry a knight from Zyvaris.
Lord Jonathan Grayson, her father, was the Warden of the South. He’d served as an ambassador of realms for King Varis, ruler of the seven mortal kingdoms in Nelkaraad.
Lord Grayson wasn’t around, but I didn’t know why.
His absence had caused conflict with the councilor of Stormfell, who wanted his position.
The only other thing the resonant energy was able to tell me was that Elariya’s mother and grandmother hoped her marriage and moving away would protect her from the wraith.
