Page 73 of Her Dark Reflection

‘Though how that’ll—’

‘Cotus,’ I snapped. ‘You’re questioning menow? Don’t you think we are a little too far into this plan for you to begin doubting me?’ By the fall, I could practically smell his fear. He was hesitating to take Gwinellyn from me now, to lift her into the wagon and ride away with her, and the longer we were stuck waiting here, the higher the likelihood we would be caught. ‘Remember why we are doing this,’ I urged. ‘We are trying to keep her safe. Follow the plan, and when you come back, you’ll have your new position here at the palace to return to and I’ll send you back into the Yawn to check up on her in a few weeks. Now,hurry.’

He finally thawed and took the limp Gwinellyn from my arms. With some manoeuvring, we managed to settle her in the wagon beneath a rug, and she stirred enough to mindlessly stroke the fabric and begin babbling about how bright the stars were before she settled and seemed to slip back into a stupor. We shuffled sacks of grain and flour around until she was hidden from sight. Cotus had driven through the gates under the pretence of an extra delivery of food for the Aetherdi feast, and with the token I had given him to demonstrate his legitimacy, he’d sneak right back out without anyone giving him a second glance.

‘Right. I’ll be getting on,’ he rumbled, looking down at me hopefully. I took a step away, but even in the dark I could see he was disappointed when I did, so I blew him a kiss. Best to keep him buttered up as much as possible.

‘Ride fast. Don’t get caught. And hurry back,’ I said as he climbed onto the wagon. He flicked the reins and the nervous horse lurched forward to trot down the winding road that would take them back through the palace grounds and out the gates into the city. I watched until they turned a corner and dropped out of sight, whispering ‘be safe’ and sending up a silent prayer to Aether and Medeia.

As I snuck back through the doors of my old rooms, I heard the bells of Taveum’s spire chiming the hour, marking the end of my three days grace. Closing the doors, the hairs on the back of my neck prickled with premonition.

Leelawaswaitingtoready me for bed when I returned to my suite. If she wondered where I had been, she didn’t ask. Once she left, I didn’t sleep. I couldn’t settle. I read for a while, but my mind slipped off the pages like they were greased with butter, and I ended up pacing the room, my fingers fidgeting with my silk robe and my stomach full of jitters. The fire died down to embers. I checked my appearance in the mirror on the dressing table, fussing with my hair and considering changing my robe and dabbing rouge on my cheeks, before moving to stand by the window with my arms hugged around me. I stared out at the flickering torches in the gardens below, guttering points of yellow in the black of the night, and an awareness slipped over me. I knew he was in the room, even though the latch had not clicked, even though he hadn’t made a sound. The air stirred with the smell of smoke.

‘How does your magic work?’ I asked without turning away from the window. ‘Do you step through the world from one shadow to another? Do you travel through the dark realm?’

He chuckled quietly, the sound closer than I had expected it to be as it curled across my skin. ‘Nothing as dramatic as that.’

‘Then what?’

A beat of silence. ‘What would you do with such a secret if I gave it to you?’

What would I do? Use it to fill in a tiny piece of the gaping abyss of what I knew about him, this dark man, my partner in murder and treason, who I was so entangled with that I couldn’t get free of him without cutting him out. I turned and picked out the shape of him in the gloom, the glint of firelight in his eyes. ‘If we are to marry, I think I deserve to know more about you.’

There was always something catlike in the way he moved, and never more so than when he approached me now, his steps deliberate and smooth. Being within an arm’s reach of him colonised my skin with goosebumps. ‘Does this mean you’ve made your decision?’

I took a deep breath, dwelling in the pause, wondering yet again whether I would come to regret what I was going to do next, whether I’d look back to this moment and rail against my stupidity. ‘Princess Gwinellyn is dead.’

His gaze was unwavering as he studied me. ‘Already? I haven’t given you the apple.’

‘I wanted it done. So, I paid someone to do it.’

‘A loose end,’ he said. ‘What if this someone decides to turn on you?’

‘You never specified how she should wind up dead,’ I replied, hoping the flash of irritation would hide the lie. ‘Let me worry about loose ends. I’d have hoped you’d know by now that I can handle myself. You may have given me the tools to get myself here, but I wielded them.’

He ran his fingertips, feather-light, up the bare skin of my arms. ‘I’ve noticed.’

‘Why do you want to be king so badly?’ I asked, trying to ignore the fluttering of my heart.

‘You’re full of questions tonight.’ His pewter eyes looked black in the dim light, like gaping pits I would tumble into, ever falling into bottomless dark.

I drew away from him, moving to sit in one of the armchairs by the fireplace. I crossed my legs, folded my arms, and pinned him with a stare. ‘I know next to nothing about you. You need to answer my questions if you expect me to make you king.’

A flicker of amusement crossed his face. ‘Imposing retrospective caveats on a deal we’ve already agreed on is cheating.’

I didn’t respond, letting the silence stretch taut between us.

He smiled as he prowled towards me. ‘What’s wrong, Rhiandra? It almost seems like you still don’t trust me.’

‘That’s because I still don’t,’ I said immediately.

‘After all we’ve been through together? Why, that hurts my feelings.’

‘I’m almost certain you don’thavefeelings.’

Cocking his head, he sank down into a crouch by my chair, brushing his hand across my knee in a gesture that seemed so casual but that sent a shiver through me, raising the hairs on my arms and pinching my nipples into hard peaks. He held my gaze. ‘What do you know about feelings?’

‘Why do you want to be king, Draven?’ I repeated. He took my hand.

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