Page 120 of A Kingdom of Shadows

"Well, one must assume he grew tired of serving her," Aias says with a chuckle, and I glance at him, confused as to why he would say that. He's swirling a spoon in his tea when he looks up. "Sorry." he waves a hand. "I just thought of Renward. I'm sure Kirian had his reasons, that is all."

"Still," Arlayna says, her lips thinning. "Kirian Tryskalyn deems himself too worthy of Terranos. Who knows what he will do next." Her laugh comes out dry as she leans back and crosses her leg over the other. "I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to make a deal with you, uncle. I heard he loves doing those."

Deals.

It is outright embarrassing with the amount I've made to get to where I am now.

Dusan looks as if he is about to say something when one of the sentinels opens the doors for Thallan. I grow cold as his eyes swerve in my direction, and a grumble of dissatisfaction leaves his lips as he makes his way toward the king. He whispers something into his ear while Darius presses a hand to my knee under the table, relaxing me with a simple action.

Turning to him, he inclines his head at me, and I look at him from this angle. With how his short hair recklessly falls across his forehead and the unique nature of his beauty, I can genuinely imagine why he would be Crello.

The moon lights the magic of the night.

And he is exactly that. He always was.

"Nara?" Dusan's voice flickers across the table, and I blink, whirling my head toward him. His face is grave as Thallan stands back. "May I speak with you?"

Something sharp twists inside my stomach over what it might be that he feels he needs to speak to me. I look from Thallan to Dusan and find it hard to form the right words. So, I nod.

Dusan excuses himself from the table. Everyone's eyes are on me as I rise from my chair, and Darius doesn't waste any minute doing precisely the same. We lock eyes, and I'm ready to tell him to stay here, but he shoots me a look that tells me no matter what I say, he will accompany me whether I like it or not.

I exhale sharply, spinning on my heel as I follow the king and Thallan out of the dining hall and into Dusan's study. One of the guards closes the door behind us as Dusan makes his way around his desk. I'm standing by the threshold, my fingers digging into the side of my leg before Darius slides a hand across my back, bringing me to his side. I wish to close my eyes and live last night again with him instead of waiting here in this room for likely news I do not want.

My patience deteriorates once Dusan purses his thin lips and taps his fingers on the wooden desk. "Is there something I should be concerned about?"

His head darts up, silvery blonde locks spilling over his shoulder. "We've received word from Emberwell."

Dread squeezes my throat.

Emberwell.

The Queen.

My brothers, Freya, Link, Rydan... the dragons— "How—I—I thought you'd shunned away from any news or gossip Emberwell had over the last three centuries—"

"Sometimes it is hard not to, Nara." His face is tight, his expression a fit of unidentifiable anger, possibly remembering his tragic love with Sarilyn. "Thallan," he calls, and Thallan walks over, handing him a crumpled piece of paper. "This came through today. It wasn't addressed to anyone until Thallan read what was inside." He extends it out toward me.

I look at it as if it will come alive and bite me. Slowly walking up to him, I snatch it out of his grip, keeping my eyes on him as I unfold the stained parchment. When my gaze drops down, a thousand knives jab at my heart.

Nara,

As Iker writes this out for me, I want to tell you how much we miss you dearly. Idris, most of all. He is going insane in this den, and even Freya's rambling does not calm him as it did at the beginning. Food rations are getting smaller by the day here, shifters are weakening while the dragons have become restless. We know that you would not wish to hear this news, but it is best that you know from us that no human turned rümen survived after their release from the dungeons.

I grip the letter even harder.

This means that Adriel is no longer alive, that what I had hoped would give freedom to those turned by Lorcan and Erion failed.

We are not sure how long it will be until the queen's venators figure out where we are, and though we don't want to get our hopes up, Gus might have found a way for us to be safe and if all else is to fail—

The words trail off in black sludges of ink, and my chest seizes. I reread each sentence as if it would magically manifest the remaining parts of the letter.

"We believe Sarilyn's army must have attacked before your brother could finish," Thallan says, but my eyes are stuck to the parchment, the curves of Iker's writing, and the ink sliding off the page.

I shake my head. "They said they might have found a way to be safe—" Breathe. "This was just a mistake I—"

"Nara, we beg of you to calm down—"

My gaze shoots up at Dusan. I'm panting and scrunching the parchment in my hands.

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