Page 72 of A Cage of Crystal

She frowned. “Princess Aveline hasn’t told you everything.”

Mention of Cora struck him with a hollow ache. He recalled her tears last night, how she’d begged him to leave her alone. Now he’d give anything to take it all back, to storm up those stairs and refuse to leave her. He’d tolerate her rage, her ire, if it meant preventing what was happening now. If only he’d remembered the crystal. Perhaps she’d have had some idea how to destroy it…

Or would that only have gotten her trapped in his place?

Emylia’s voice roused him from his thoughts. “Morkaiuscomes from the ancient fae language. It means High King of Magic. Morkai is not the sorcerer’s real name but a title he’s given himself. It means King of Magic. He intends to become Morkaius by ruling all three kingdoms of the land once known as Lela.”

“Why?” Teryn shifted his gaze back to Morkai, saw him securing the buttons of one of Teryn’s shirts, then donning a waistcoat.

“Ruling over Lela will allow Morkai to tap into an immense well of fae magic. That magic isn’t meant to be wielded by a single person, and if he does harness it, he’ll be able to do terrible things.”

Teryn shuddered. He remembered how Morkai had boasted that he’d one day be King of Lela—that Dimetreus would conquer the three kingdoms, and Morkai would inherit rule after the king’s passing. “If ruling over Lela has always been his goal, why did he even bother going through King Dimetreus and using him as a puppet?”

“To claim the magic,” Emylia explained, “he must first inherit the land. Not through conquest either. Specifically, the crown must begiven not taken, which suggests his best bet is to insert himself into the line of succession.”

Morkai finished dressing and assessed his reflection in the mirror beside the wardrobe. Outfitted in Teryn’s trousers, shirt, waistcoat, and jacket, no sign of the crystal or the leather strap could be seen. Seemingly satisfied with what Morkai saw in the mirror, he lifted Teryn’s lips in a smug grin that looked nothing like his own.

“Are you starting to understand why Morkai chose you?” Emylia asked.

“What do you mean hechoseme?”

“You were his target all along, which is why the crystal’s magic was so strong with you. Why you forgot its existence so easily. Why you were so drawn to look at it. While the crystal is enchanted to have some semblance of self-preservation, its magic works strongest around Morkai’s targets.”

Dread filled every inch of his ethera. “And he specifically wanted me so he could…” He couldn’t bring himself to finish, to even think it.

Emylia filled in the blanks for him. “He wanted your body so he could use your identity, your title, and your position to become Morkaius. To inherit the three kingdoms of Lela and control the magic of the ancient fae.”

He still didn’t understand the magic of the fae or even the full extent of what it meant to be Morkaius. The implications of Morkai’s intent were enough to occupy his thoughts. If the sorcerer intended to use Teryn’s body to accomplish his means, then his first step…

“It’s because of Cora, isn’t it?” His voice came out with a tremor, even though his words were no longer shaped with vocal cords. “It’s because I am betrothed to her, and she is Dimetreus’ heir. Through her, he could position himself as future King Consort of Khero.”

Emylia’s face fell with sympathy. “That is undoubtedly his first of many steps.”

Teryn felt that agonizing urge to move, to act, to fix. Morkai was going to try to marry Cora in Teryn’s stead. Surely she’d see through him! She had her magic, her ability to sense others’ emotions. She’d notice Teryn wasn’t who he appeared to be.

Wouldn’t she?

Or would she continue to sense Teryn’s soul as his own, oblivious to the fact that he was trapped in a crystal?

His only solace was that Cora and Teryn’s marriage wasn’t set for another year. If Morkai had the patience to play such a long game, Teryn could too. He’d strengthen his vitale, reclaim his cereba, and then—

A strange pulling sensation sent Teryn’s ethera surging forward. Morkai had left the mirror and was now exiting the room.

“You and I are bound to the crystal,” Emylia said, following after Morkai. “We are only able to project our etheras within the stone’s immediate surroundings. So when the crystal moves, so do we. If not willingly, then by force.”

Teryn caught up with the sensation pulling his ethera and measured his steps behind Morkai’s. Belatedly, he realized he probably didn’t need to walk at all. Surely the act of setting one foot before the other was only for show. An instinct belonging to the outer layer of his ethera, like how Emylia had explained about their means of communication. Should he want, he could probably float in Morkai’s wake.

The thought was as disturbing as speaking mind-to-mind had been. No matter what he was now—disembodied spirit or no—he would continue acting as alive as he could.

“Are you certain you wouldn’t rather rest your ethera?” Emylia asked as they trailed Morkai through the halls of the keep. “Since I have no ties to a mortal body, I don’t require rest the same way you and Morkai do now. I can keep watch and wake you if there’s anything I think you should see.”

He knew she was right, and he thought he could trust her. She was trapped, same as he. And yet, now that he knew what Morkai planned—that marrying Cora was his primary goal—he couldn’t stand the thought of not witnessing his every move.

“Just a little longer,” Teryn said. “I just want to see where he’s—”

All thoughts fled his mind as Morkai rounded the next corner…and froze. It seemed Teryn and Morkai were of the same mind, equally as unprepared to see the person who halted before them.

Teryn’s heart thundered in a chest that was no longer his own. He breathed her name in a voice she couldn’t hear. “Cora.”

---