Page 67 of Kingdom of Dance

“Youare not the one who needs to apologize,” said Basil crisply. “You’ve done everything I asked and more, and it’s thanks to you that my sister is alive.”

Zinnia’s eyes were on her hands in her lap. “I’m sorry, Basil,” she said, echoing their conversation in his study earlier that day. “Truly.”

Abruptly, Basil’s anger seemed to leave him. He strode over to her, kneeling on the floor and taking her hands in his. The unusually gentle gesture startled her, and she looked up into his eyes.

“Zinnia, what’s going on? Why would you take such a risk? What could be worth it, and why did you hide it from me?”

Zinnia opened her mouth, desperate to give the answers that would free her from her prison of isolation. But nothing would come. In the face of such direct questioning, nothing could get past Idric’s barrier.

She stood so suddenly that Basil rocked backward on his heels. Pulling away from him, she strode up and down the room, clenching and unclenching her fists in agitation. It was unendurable. How dare the dragon do this to her? To them all? What gave him the right to control her life this way, to reach out across a vast distance and wrap his talons around her very self, destroying all her relationships, endangering everyone she loved?

“Are you attached to this, Your Majesty?” The matter-of-fact question from Obsidian startled all three royals. Zinnia looked over, bewildered, to see Obsidian pointing to a vase on a nearby plinth.

“Am I…what?” Basil asked.

“Are you attached to this vase? Is it important?”

“Not at all,” said Basil blankly.

Without another word, Obsidian picked it up and held it out to Zinnia. For a moment, she just stared at it, then her eyes moved up to his face. He was raising his brows expectantly.

All at once, she grasped his meaning. Yanking the vase from his grip, she turned and threw it in one fluid motion, relishing the satisfying smash as it shattered against the stone wall. Basil and Wren both jumped, but there was the ghost of a smile in Obsidian’s eyes when Zinnia turned back to him.

“Better?” he asked softly.

She felt an answering smile growing on her own face. “Considerably,” she admitted.

The door flew open, two guards appearing in the doorway, alarm on their faces.

“It’s all right,” said the king, sounding faintly exasperated. “We’re just doing some redecorating.”

The guards looked unconvinced as their eyes passed over the shattered remains of the vase, but having satisfied themselves that their sovereign was in no immediate danger, they withdrew.

Ignoring the thoughtful way Wren was looking between her and Obsidian, Zinnia glanced back at the broken shards of porcelain. “Sorry about the mess.”

“I don’t care about the mess,” said Basil weakly. “I care about you. And you still haven’t given me any answers.”

She raised her arms in a helpless gesture, too weary to even try to find words when she knew none of them would be allowed to escape her mouth.

Obsidian cleared his throat. “Your Majesty, I am now fairly convinced that Princess Zinnia’s silence is compelled by magic in some way.”

“But I thought you couldn’t detect magic on her,” Basil said.

“I am standing right here, you know,” Zinnia reminded them.

Basil turned toward her, exasperated. “Then by all means, join the conversation, Zinnia.”

She subsided, raising her hands in surrender.

“I can’t detect any magic,” said Obsidian, as if she hadn’t spoken. “But every other indication points to that conclusion. I confess I’ve never come across magic strong enough to leave no trace whatsoever. But it might be possible for me to research that question.”

He glanced at Zinnia, and she hoped he could see the eagerness in her eyes, the sincerity with which she hoped his inquiries would succeed. His gaze turned thoughtful as it rested on her face.

“Anything is worth looking into, I suppose,” said Basil. He turned to Zinnia. “How long has this been going on?”

“You mean my nighttime excursions?” Zinnia asked, pleased that the words came out freely. “About a year.”

Basil groaned, running a hand through his hair. “And did you find what you were looking for?”

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