Page 76 of Fate Unchained

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The couple sitting near her chatted, the woman’s high-pitched laugh sounding a bit like a squawking bird. A tiny male brownie darted in and walked toward the table where Lilah sat. He wore a tunic of white and yellow with the king’s crest on the right chest. What was one of the palace brownies doing here?

Beside her table, he drew himself up as tall as his four-foot height allowed, then pulled a small card from his pocket. “I’m issuing an invitation.” He said issue with a hard S as if he were hissing the word.

Lilah glanced out the window at Hazel. The spellcaster stood rigid, no longer trying to pretend she was shopping.

Lilah raised a brow. “An invitation to go where?”

The brownie bowed slightly and held the card up flat on his palm. An overly elaborate script in blood-red ink scrawled across the paper. The paper was the expensive kind, so thick she could throw it at someone and take an eye out with one of the corners.

In her periphery, she could see Hazel shaking her head vigorously.

Lilah froze. What was she saying no to? She couldn’t know what the card said. Lilah leaned forward and read the invitation.

Dear Lilah Cherkassy,

Or should I address you as Cousin Lilah? Thank you for all your help with the vulk. Come now to my wing of the palace.

Morana.

Lilah’s mouth dropped open. Ice slid down her spine, and she became rooted to her chair. Cousin? How? If Morana was Herskala’s daughter … There might be a possibility, but Morana couldn’t know that.

The brownie fluttered his hands. “Are you accepting the invitation?”

She really wanted to know, but Lilah shook her head. “Absolutely not.”

The brownie sighed. “My lady said you’d probably refuse.” He shook his head. “You know, she always gets her way. It’s easier to come and meet with her without a fuss.”

A scuffle formed at the front door, with raised voices, one of them Hazel’s. The spellcaster shouldered past the host and made a young man trip and crash into a nearby table, shattering the plates. Hazel pointed at the brownie. “What does he want?”

“He has an invitation asking me to visit Morana.” Lilah tried to shift so Hazel couldn’t read the card.

“Her Ladyship Morana,” the brownie said.

A few people at nearby tables gasped. The host, his chest puffed up like a bloated pigeon, charged up to Hazel. “I must insist you leave. Immediately.”

“My friend comes with me.” Hazel’s gaze dropped to the invitation, and her mouth fell open. “Cousin?” Hazel’s expression turned dark. “What does she mean thank you for your help with the vulk?”

The entire shop was silent, the other patrons frozen, watching them. A woman in the back squeaked, “Did she say vulk?”

“I can’t explain here. And I told you about what happened with Kyril in the cave.” She’d told Hazel about trapping Kyril because Boris was blackmailing her.

Hazel’s brow furrowed. “Do you know what Mor—” Hazel’s gaze darted to the other patrons. “Do you know what your cousin was an expert at? Lying. She’s a powerful enchanter, something other magicwielders dismiss, but she could make you think and do things with only her words.”

“I can’t do anything like that. I have no magic. You know that.”

“She controlled me with her words for decades.” Hazel was shaking. “I have no skill to know whether someone is lying or not.”

The host coughed. “Well, how about I usher you both outside, and you can continue this little chat, yes?”

If she told Hazel, here in public, the truth about what she suspected regarding her father’s bloodline, she wouldn’t be able to stay in Coromesto. She’d never be able to return to her library. The magicwielders still remained loyal to Herskala and the laws he’d put in place, laws which made sure to destroy anyone linked to Nihova.

Hazel wasn’t there when they’d found the link to Morana possibly being Herskala’s child, but they’d told her later. “Nihova …” Lilah’s heart pounded. Wait, Hazel had read the chronicles enough times to remember entire passages.

Lilah gulped. “Do you remember the second volume, chapter thirty-five?” Hazel’s brow furrowed, but Lilah charged on anyway. “‘My flowers are not dead. They will continue to grow because they bask in the light of the moons.’”

When Lilah read that line, she’d thought Nihova was saying his children hadn’t all died, and she’d started her search for her bloodline. With that one clue, she felt her lightwielding ability might come from Nihova himself. Which technically could make her, very distantly, Morana’s cousin.

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