Page 100 of Merciless Is My Crown

“Let’s say we manage to locate Ashbane and find the pendant.” I looked at Zephryn. “How do you plan to free your friend? Is there a spell or ritual to get him out?”

“Torin would know.”

“And where is Torin?” I asked. “She should be here; we need her input.”

“Conferring with the witches on a matter that does not concern you,” Zephryn muttered baldly.

I couldn’t help but be offended. “Oh, I see. She’s still keeping secrets while we lay everything out because we thought you were our allies. Good to see nothing’s changed.”

“Anaria…just…leave it,” Simon said, gently enough I blew out a breath. “This doesn’t affect you or your plans. She’s dealing with something…personal and that’s all I can say.”

“So even if we find the pendant, you’re not sure you can get Cosimo out?” I shook my head. “That changes things.” And makes those pages I spent the entire night copying pretty much worthless. I snatched the page back and tucked it away.

Zeph’s dark eyes slid over me, and I shivered as he folded his powerful arms over his chest. “I vote for Ashbane. Once we have the pendant, we will free Cosimo and you will have your answers.”

His gaze turned distant. “As a dragon flies, those cliffs are closer than Blackcastle from here. But it will take time to narrow down which hole or crevasse the Oracle chose to skulk inside.”

“When I was in Corvus’s cave, she had nothing but disgust for living rough,” I pointed out. “At the Citadelle, I would guess her apartments were every bit as fine as the king’s. Something tells me we’re looking for a building. Would that narrow down the search?”

“Considerably.” Zephryn threw his cloak over his shoulders then crouched down and drew a rudimentary map in the dirty snow, poking his finger in to make a deep hole. “Here we are.” Then he pointed to the map. “This is the Dearth, bordered by the Northern Crown, a ring of peaks that form the northernmost border of this territory, and the Ironheart Mountains to the south. These are the bluffs that overlook the Foundering Sea.”

Zeph stayed like that, quietly calculating before he drew a small circle at the far right-hand edge of the Dearth, on the bluffs where land met ocean. “Ashbane would be here.”

Right by the ocean where the gulls would flock. I pointed to the deep gash he’d drawn down the center of his map. “What is that?”

He didn’t spare it a glance. “Frost Lake. Runs due north–south. Frozen in the winter months, but when it thaws, one more reason nothing would ever reach those cliffs. The lake’s filled with foul creatures even bigger than my dragon.”

“Now that we’ve chosen the area, how long to get there and back?”

“The trip could be done in a day if the weather doesn’t turn on us.”

“And the weather always turns,” Dane muttered beneath his breath. “Always.”

“You’re such a ray of sunshine, Dane,” I teased, grinning at his bared teeth.

We spent an hour studying that crude, hand drawn map, all of us asking ourselves the same question. Was this another one of the Oracle’s traps, or our chance at finally gaining an advantage over her? Finally, Zephryn shoved to his feet.

“I choose who goes.” From the look on the dragon shifter’s face, I already knew he wasn’t picking me. Now I knew how Adele felt.

“Fine, you can choose your team. But I am making an executive decision. You can call it a suggestion, if you wish, doesn’t much matter to me.”

I practically smelled the testosterone flooding the air around us. “And what suggestion is that?” Tavion asked, bristling.

“We split up. Zephryn, Torin, and Simon take Tristan and head north, the rest of us head south like we’d planned. She’s waiting for our next move.” I smiled faintly. “Let’s not disappoint. And let’s keep her looking any direction except north.”

My eyes cut to Zephryn. “Once you have the pendant and Cosimo is freed, we meet in Solarys, and from there you will help us take the kingdom.”

“Agreed.” He angled his head. “Where should we meet?”

“Nightcairn is too obvious,” Tavion cut in, his throat bobbing. “I have no wish to bring my father into this, given the danger.”

“There is no one at my estate,” Tristan said casually, and my eyebrows went up. It was easy to forget Tristan was a High Lord of Solarys, that he had a title, and lands, and apparently…an estate.

“You’d be safe enough there since I keep to myself and nobody even remembers I exist. Tavion knows how to find Wingcrest and it’s not far from Blackcastle.” His eyes skated over us, as if he was counting. “Big enough for everyone.”

“Then it’s settled,” I said quietly. “We split up then regroup. A week?”

“Two days,” Zorander said firmly. “Raz and I will carry you and Tavion. Horses are too easily tracked; we’d be spotted reentering Solarys. If word gets back to the king, we’d end up in the dungeons before we get anywhere close to the Keep.”

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