Page 59 of Kingdom of Dance

When the meal was over, everyone began to drift off to their various activities. Obsidian, however, remained in place, watching Zinnia with such silent intensity that she felt her heart picking up speed. She hardly knew if she wanted to be alone with him again. It might be a good opportunity to drop more clues, but last time she’d shown much more vulnerability than she planned.

“Zinnia.” Basil’s voice interrupted her reverie, and she jerked her head up. She hadn’t realized her brother was still in the room. “Can I have a word?”

Her heart sank, knowing she wouldn’t be able to satisfy his questions. But she rose anyway and followed him to his study, forcing herself not to look back at Obsidian as she left. As soon as the door was closed behind them, Basil spoke.

“That injury wasn’t self-inflicted, was it?” His expression was unusually stormy. “Who did it?”

Zinnia stared helplessly back at him.

Turning abruptly away from her, Basil paced up the room and back, looking as agitated as she’d ever seen him.

“Fine then,” he said curtly. “When did it happen? Surely you can answer that. The physician said it didn’t look like it happened today.”

“No, it was yesterday,” said Zinnia.

“Yesterday?” Basil pressed, watching her through narrowed eyes. “Or last night?”

Zinnia willed words to come, but they wouldn’t. Apparently confirming his guess would be too revealing. Probably because her guards would have reported to Basil that she hadn’t left her rooms all night.

“It’s just a scratch, Basil,” she said soothingly. “It’s really the last thing you need to worry about.”

The first thing being imminent dragon attack, she added internally. The second was probably the fugitive roaming the city. Doubt prickled at her. Should she tell Basil about that? But if he caught the man too soon, he’d only get the fugitive, not the trail leading to Idric. And the dragon could surely just find another criminally minded enchanter.

She thought back to the promise she’d extracted from Obsidian about his loyalty. She was inclined to think he’d been truthful, and it was a great comfort. The thought of Idric hunting him down was still horrifying, but now it was just because of the risk to Obsidian, rather than to the kingdom. How bitterly she wished she’d never said a word to Idric about the soldier.

Basil had been watching her silently, and all at once he abandoned his tense posture. Flopping into the chair behind his desk with a weary sigh, he waved her into another.

“Where did you and Lieutenant Obsidian disappear to this morning, anyway?” he asked, the tone one of casual interest now rather than interrogation.

Zinnia sat down gladly, still exhausted from her eventful night. “I took Obsidian down to see the caverns,” she said, covering a yawn.

Basil raised an eyebrow. “Obsidian, is it?”

She nodded. “It turns out he hates his title, and given I’d already told him to stop using mine every five seconds, I thought I may as well drop his.”

“Hates it, does he?” asked Basil, mildly curious. “Hopefully he doesn’t expect me to stop using it. I’m getting enough grief from the guild already, asking for help from a little-trained non-member, without making everyone think he’s my new best friend by dropping his title.”

“Oh, I’m sure he doesn’t expect you to drop his title,” said Zinnia comfortably. “Expectations of being king and all that.”

“Wait a minute.” Basil sat up, disregarding her words. “Did you say you took him into the caverns?”

Zinnia nodded.

“Did he use his magic down there?”

She frowned. “I think so. Not really intentionally—it’s not like he performed any enchantments—but I’m pretty sure he released some. Quite a lot, actually.”

“What does that mean?” Basil demanded, looking alarmed. “Zinnia, what did you do to the poor man?”

“Nothing terrible,” she said defensively. “I just gave him a much-needed little push.”

“Zinnia,” Basil said warningly.

She threw up her hands. “He desperately needed a release, Bas. You should’ve seen him! He was ready to put his fist through a window. I just encouraged him to let it build instead of tamping it down, then gave him a very helpful means of releasing it.”

Basil looked unimpressed. “So you needled him until he lost control. Zin, your own lack of self-preservation is one thing. But stripping away other people’s control, not to mention their inhibitions, is beyond the line. What if he’d hurt you with his magic? He clearly doesn’t have full mastery over it.”

Zinnia’s smile was a little bitter. “I’m not afraid of Obsidian, Basil. Not even the tiniest bit. He has his own demons, but I don’t think there’s any real malice in him.”

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