Page 91 of A Kingdom of Shadows

Like the sun.

Like the sun.

As I get ready, I can't stop repeating Arlayna's words inside my head. After she left this morning, I kept thinking about it. Faye had said the same last night.

That we practically glowed.

I did not think anything of it in the moment, yet now... something unknown digs into the pit of my stomach.

"Solaris incarnate," I whisper what I'd once heard in the Screaming Forests. "Protector of land and life alike." I stare at myself in the mirror. My hair cascades over my tunic, and dazed, I brush my fingers through it.

Until the door to my room slams shut, and Aias strolls inside, tapping his foot against the floor. "What was that last night with the ring?"

I should have gone to Aias and explained the ring situation long ago. "Nothing," I say, fixing the leather braces on my arms. "It's just—" There's a pause when I focus on him. Aias telling me how he'd also seen Darius outside flashes in my mind. "You saw Darius kiss Faye, too, didn't you?"

"Yes?" he says slowly, confused. "What does that have to do with the ring?"

That nothing ever makes sense anymore. "If I'm honest, I'm not entirely sure." I sigh. "Look, I do not trust the king, despite what he might say or how he acts." Given my past with royalty, I would say I'm not overreacting. Paranoid, perhaps, but I just have this foreboding sense that something will go wrong sooner or later.

Like the scales in Melwraith.

A balance.

At one point, that scale has to tip one way or the other.

"Do you think he could betray you if you let yourself trust him?"

I glance down at my hands. "Most have before," I admit quietly. "That has always been my downfall."

Ivarron.

The Queen.

Lorcan.

I sigh, not meaning to put Aias in such a downer when I soon have a task to do. "Listen, I need you to keep an eye on him," I say. "He seems fond of you. Perhaps you can try and get information out of him."

Aias doesn't look convinced. "That sounds like an impossible task—but since you helped me," he continues as he watches my expression go from disappointment to hope. "I want to do the same for you."

I say thank you, breathing out in relief as I walk over and squeeze him into a hug. His arms are stuck at each side, and I chuckle, wondering if this is too much for him. It likely is. Then again, everyone always mentioned my hugs were too tight.

"You should probably get going," he says, his voice high and strained. "You won't want to keep Darius waiting."

A laugh draws out of my lips as I release him. "I'm sure he will manage just fine. I can imagine him staring at himself in the mirror now and saying how handsome he is."

Aias nods, shying away. It makes my smile fall.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Nothing, it's just you remind me so much of—" he stops and shakes his head. Something I can't quite decipher washes over his eyes. "You know what? It doesn't matter, shall we?" He offers his arm, and I take it, deciding not to press on what he had wanted to say.

* * *

When Darius had taken me into the skies and landed in the woods outside of Olcar. I'd thought that they reminded me of ones near Emberwell, except now, with the change of climate and green foliage to browns and oranges, I see how different that is. Emberwell's nature never changed. Only the people around us did.

As I watch Darius take deliberate steps in front of me in the night, leaves crunch beneath my feet. We want to be as quiet as possible. I peel the hood of my tunic down to see better and steady my grip on my double-ended blade.

Darius soon stops, looks down at the ground, and kneels. He traces a finger over the set of footprints. Large... fresh.

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