Page 83 of Vicious Is My Throne

“Torin is seriously going to kick my arse when she finds out what we’ve done.”

Didn’t I know it.

Anaria would kick mine if she were here.

If she wasn’t halfway across the realms. If she wasn’t out there fighting for us in that idealistic, bullheaded way that might get her killed. Ice flooded my veins at the mere thought.

I had to trust the others were keeping her safe. That she’d been smart enough to avoid the Oracle instead of confronting her. I scrubbed my face and instantly regretted it when my entire back screamed in agony.

I would have rather had my princess here, scolding me up and down for being reckless, than worrying about all the what-ifs. I tipped my head back against the wall and closed my eyes, imagining what she’d say, how she’d fuss over me, after chewing me out for being careless, of course.

“From that smile, you must be thinking of Anaria,” Coz said through grit teeth. “She’s clever, Zor. Far more clever than anyone gives her credit for. She’ll be okay. Probably getting the better of whoever’s foolish enough to go up against her.”

“Gods, I hope she kept her head down and found someplace safe to hide.”

“That doesn’t sound at all like your girl.”

No, that really didn’t, and that’s what worried me.

35

ANARIA

The sleeting rain turned Ravenshade into a diminished, broken-down hulk of what the grand castle had once been, or perhaps I was finally seeing this place for what it truly was.

A pale imitation of greatness.

Like the watered-down world around us, our magic had fizzled the moment we’d passed through the ward, Raziel and I retaining enough of our powers for basic shielding and defense, though Tavion and Tristan doubted they could shift quickly, except under dire circumstances.

Oddly enough, that deep pool at my center simmered with power like a boiling pot left on the fire overnight, waiting to explode from the pressure. I didn’t know what to make of that growing strain, that something was about to combust.

“How did you stand this?” Tavion grumbled, water dripping from his soaked hair. “All my strength is gone. I can barely lift my feet.”

“I never knew anything else,” I told him honestly, hopping over a puddle, only to land in the mud. “Until I set foot in Caladrius, I didn’t know what real power felt like.”

Bexley was the only one of us whose magic seemed undimmed, something I pondered during our trip from the forest to the outer edge of Ravenshade’s once-sculptured gardens.

They were overgrown from a hard winter, the long grass matted and brown, the paths already softened by moss and weeds. No sign of the faelights and uniformed butlers and silk-draped party goers that had last trodden these paths.

I swallowed, staring down at my boots outlined by that fine, gray gravel.

The last time I’d been here…No, I wasn’t doing this. I wouldn’t get caught up in the past and everything that had happened to Berenger and Estienne, and besides, they’d fucking deserved everything they’d gotten.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to calm my panicked breaths and racing heart.

“Anaria…are you alright?” Raz skimmed his hand up the back of my arm, putting his lips to my ear. “Your scent changed just now, and…”

“I never thought I’d see this place again.” The miserable, pathetic words slipped out before I could stop them, Raziel’s hand bracing against the small of my back, Tavion and Tristan closing in on either side of me, heavy boots and bare feet crunching on the wet gravel.

“We should get under roof,” I told a shivering Tristan, his skin so pale I saw the blue veins underneath. We’d brought the ill-fitting clothes from the palace and Tavion’s soaking wet cloak which barely covered his bare legs. There hadn’t been a single pair of boots to be found.

“The duke was about your size and he loved clothes. There will be plenty to choose from in his chambers if this place hasn’t been ransacked.”

But from the look of the outside, no one had set foot here since the night Solok came.

A lifetime ago.

Several lifetimes ago, considering everything I’d been through since that night. If only Ember could see me now, I started to think, then I shut that thought down fast, locked into a box in the deepest part of my heart.

---