Page 75 of Beyond Those Gilded Walls

“How long has it been since your bout with the plague, Odyssa?” he asked. “A year? Half a year? Less?”

“About five months, yes.”

“It took me decades to master my magic, and I was created with that as my sole purpose.”

The room began to spin slightly. “Oh.”

“So yes, you are infinitely more powerful than that sniveling child prince could ever dream of being, even with the perverse hold he has over that castle.”

“What control does he have over the castle? The Soulshades?” I asked. “That night you found me in the hallways, they came out of the walls, and the walls moved to block me from running away.”

He frowned, the furrow between his brows running deep. “I’ve never been able to figure it out, myself. Dark magic, certainly, but not any that would come from a being like me.”

“There are more like you?”

“The gods all need their servants, don’t they?”

“Is it another god then?” I asked. “That’s giving Eadric this power?”

He hummed. “Perhaps. Though I couldn’t begin to guess which, given that it gives Eadric control over the Soulshades and the castle itself. The Soulshades, at least, should be under Kalyx’s dominion.”

“How do you know it’s not Kalyx?” I asked. He seemed so certain it was not, but from the stories my mother had told me, there was little morality amongst the gods.

“It is not Kalyx. I’ve asked him. I sent him a letter through the Beyond when I first realized there was something else happening there.”

“And he would tell you the truth?”

“Absolutely.” He shook his head, reaching up to pinch between his brows. “It is not Kalyx, Odyssa. I promise. It could be Cethin, I suppose.”

“I never believed in the gods,” I admitted. “Who is that?”

“The god of shadows, darkness, night,” he explained. “He’s the only one that would make sense to be able to give Eadric that power.”

“And what do we do if he is in the castle helping Eadric?”

Tallon hesitated, looking up at the door for a moment. “Ideally, I’d want Kalyx to back us, but he is not here and we do not have time for me to search for him.”

“How do you know he’s not here?”

“I can sense him.”

“Oh.”

“If it is a god—if it is Cethin—I will get you out of there immediately and bring you back here. And we will wait until Kalyx returns, treatment for your brother be damned.” He pressed a finger against my lips to stop my outraged cry. “I cannot protect you against a god, Odyssa, try as I might. I need you safe. Please don’t argue on this.”

My anger still simmered, but I deflated slightly at the panicked plea in his eye and nodded my agreement. The finger that was pressed against my lips traced over my cheek, and I reached up to hold it. “And if Cethin is not there?”

“Then we will kill Eadric and finish this for good.”

“Can we kill him? If he’s protected by Cethin?”

“Of course. It would only be more difficult if Cethin is there. Butmygod controls Death and the dead; no one can stop him forever.”

I did not answer, instead settling into the knowledge that he’d shared. I sat, here in the palace of a god in a realm that was not my own, and we were to be facing down the prince and possibly another god.

“I never believed in the gods,” I repeated, shaking my head slightly. They had been a children’s story for me, nothing more. Something to dream about when I was sitting alone in my room at night, listening to my brothers play. I twisted my fingers in my lap, wondering what Tallon thought of the admission, given his place at Kalyx’s side.

“You should. At least one of them certainly believes in you.”

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