Page 35 of A Liar's Twisted Tongue

“It’s our fault you Eunoia are so weak?” Nyoka says with a flare of her fanged teeth.

“No, it’s your fault for not teaching your Nepenthe about peace.”

Nyoka practically hisses when Labyrinth pounds his staff against the ground, sending an echoing vibration through the room. “More keepers on all worlds in the districts with the highest saturation of corenth attacks would be a wise choice.” Chetan very visibly frowns, but he says nothing more. “However, killing the corenths will not be a sustainable solution.”

“It is about balance,” Queen Melody jumps in.

“Yes,” Labyrinth sighs. “It is about balance and a long-term solution.”

I believe that Desdemona and my treason could be the reason for the corenth attacks. Still, I cannot simply admit it in front of this room. Nor am I ready to admit it to Lusia and Labyrinth.

Two back-to-back visions flash through my mind. The first is a very unpleasant discussion with Lusia, and the other is of Kai disrupting me. I quickly release the thought and organize my own.

“What do you think, Lucian?” Kai says on cue.

“I think there are many plausible causes. For one, the peaceful relations between corenths and orphia haven’t been our normality for most of the documented history that we have. Perhaps this is just another resetting of sorts, a way for Zola to seek her balance.” I don’t give Kai the pointed look I would like to. In front of the worlds’ representatives, we must put up a united front. Appear as comrades.

“That is very wise counsel, Lucian, thank you,” Labyrinth says to me. I offer him a small bow of my head.

They go on to talk about the number of keepers they will send, and to where. Nyoka and Chetan argue in the background while I think about the Desdemona of it all. If I were to have been honest in my suspicions, I would have said I believe she roused some intrinsic part of our universe when she almost managed to step entirely through my projection. Portals are the only way to step from one place to another. I should have gone to Cynthia immediately.

Yet, I still believe the situation has to be handled with care.

A blade made of shadows comes right for my heart once the Royals and representatives have been excused from the great hall. Predictable, even without the power to see someone’s future moves. Still, with the speed and velocity of Labyrinth’s power, I only manage to stop the shadow a mere inch from my chest. With one small movement of my hand, I send it back to him, and it evaporates midway through the air.

“Good work, son,” he says. “It’s good to see you’re maintaining your wit.”

“Always, Father,” I say with a curt bow of my head. The words taste acidic on my tongue.

Lusia turns to me. “How are you, darling?”

“Very well, I appreciate you asking.” I give her the same bow of my head I gave to Labyrinth.

“Hm.” She looks at Labyrinth, and he only shakes his head. “Has a new student been enrolled in Visnatus?”

This is not the way I thought the conversation would go. I thought we would talk of Lilac and how Lusia could tranquilize her obvious despondency toward our marriages. That’s the thing with seeing the future—key details are often left out. I may see that a punch will be thrown from the front and miss the blade in my back.

I’m no liar when it comes to Lusia and Labyrinth, yet every part of me whispers to lie.

If I am right about this girl’s mother being taken by the Arcanes, then she has become an intrinsic player. And if she can step through to the void, then she can single-handedly take me further than I’ve ever gotten before.

Besides, if Lusia wants her, it is for no moral reason.

She wants her power.

Understandably so if I were as hungry for it as Lusia is, as Desdemona quite clearly has an overabundance of it.

I can’t let Lusia have her. Not yet. Not when she could be this important. A catalyst for my cause.

I’ve learned that Desdemona is also a relentless liar. Perhaps it is in her spirit that I find myself saying, “Not that I know of. Do you believe an individual could be related to the corenths?”

This could very well be my undoing.

Lying is a slippery slope. Once you slide, you can never stop.

My hands inch into my pocket, where I spin around my little silver wolf. It has a bite of cold thanks to Soma’s freezing temperatures.

“Oh, no, this has nothing to do with the attacks.” Her ice-blue eyes meet mine. First, my breathing slows, then my chest constricts and my body hangs low due to the sudden languor. “When you do find this new student, you will watch them for me, yes?”

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