Page 136 of A Game of Monsters

My heart lodged in my throat as I recognised the frayed yellow parchment that Seraphine had carried in her breast pocket. Unravelling it I knew what I’d find, but seeing it still took my breath away.

It was the sketch of her family, her found family.

My eyes caught on something the parchment had been hiding. Beneath it was a single vial, so small that I held it pinched between my forefinger and thumb. Inside, sloshing with my movement, was a liquid of pure gold.

Poison. The same she’d used on the ship to Irobel. My ears echoed with the sound of crunched glass, from when I stood over the broken vial.

Seraphine had said she only one of these left, and she’d given it tome.

I dropped it back in the box, disgusted and confused, then closed it. I held my breath until it was pocketed in my jacket, the weight of the poison and the picture of her family too heavy to bear. There was only one reason she gave me this vial of poison.

Because she knew a time would come when I’d need to use it. The question was, when?

“I didn’t know about her family,” Eroan said. “If I did, I would’ve refused her request. I believed Seraphine was the only one with nothing to lose, but I was wrong and I will regret that for the rest of my days.”

“Seraphine is a woman of action, rather than her word,” I said. “She would’ve done this, no matter what you said. She is, if anything, determined. I believe wholeheartedly that this outcome would’ve always been the same.”

“What are you going to do, Robin?” Eroan asked, fear creasing his brow, and narrowing his eyes.

The answer was simple. “I’m going to continue playing this game of chase with her. Just as she wants. What she has left for me, she will want returned. That sketch is as important to her as the people made from the strokes of her pen.”

Eroan swallowed a sob. I could see his desire to tell me not to go, but he knew that it would be wasted. “If that is what must be done, then so be it. But you must promise meyouwill be safe, Robin. It is important you come back. Icethorn needs you, and I need you. These days believing you died in the crossfire with the Nephilim have been some of the darkest. Your return has sparked a light in me, and I don’t wish to see it extinguished.”

I laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Kindle that light, Eroan for it is hope. Not of my return, but the reminder we have a chance to fix this. You’re the best advisor in all the realms, remember that.”

He scoffed, recognising the goodbye in my tone. Tears filled his eyes. “As if you’ve ever let me advise you, Robin. Like mother like son. She would’ve been so proud of you.”

“I don’t think so,” I said, fighting the tears, understanding the possibility that this could be the last time I saw Eroan.

“Believe me, she would. And I am proud of you too.”

“I haven’t done anything yet.”

Eroan refused to look away from me, his gaze fixing me to the spot. “You will. I know you will.”

I almost turned to go when someone flooded my mind. “Jesibel, would you please see that she is safe. No matter what happens, I leave her for you to care for just as you have with me.”

A single tear rolled down Eroan’s cheek. “I will take that on board, even though you will be coming back, and you will see her yourself. Anyway…” he drew his loose sleeve across his face, drying his cheeks. “Jesi has something to show you upon her return. If that is enough to bring you back, then hold onto that.”

I nodded, unable to say another word because of the lump of emotion clogging my throat.

It was difficult to leave Eroan. But as I turned, my limbs heavy as stone, I almost longed for him to call after me. But he didn’t. Eroan didn’t chase after me as I left the tent. My focus was strong – the need to find Erix the only thing that mattered. He had left a handful of gryvern behind to monitor my movements, which came in handy in a moment like now.

“I need to be taken to Erix,immediately.” I made sure to remember my manners, even if my entire body was seconds from combusting. “Please.”

The gryvern encased me in seconds, and I was airborne. I looked back in time to find Eroan – standing just beyond the tent, looking skywards, waving – who faded into the distance.

Erix took his time to dress me. I bit down on my tongue, choosing not to tell him about the vial of poison concealed within the wrappings of Seraphine’s sketch. If he knew about it, there was a chance he’d try and stop me from going after Seraphine. Especially because I’d petitioned against that.

I hoped the gryvern would reach them first, and the poison and the sketch would be passed back into Seraphine’s ownership. I couldn’t risk this being the catalyst of a war.

I locked eyes with Erix in the reflection of the mirror. It had been propped up against the tent’s main pole, large enough that I could see my entire body and Erix’s every movement.

“You are going to be needing this,” Erix said, brushing the hairs away from my forehead, flattening the strands of obsidian down. “Cassial will see you wearing your crown as a means to taunt him. Remind him who stands against him, not just the fey, but their protectors.”

“I’ll wear it with pride,” I replied, cringing as the cool metal fell upon my brow. “Especially if it makes him sour at the sight of me.”

A shiver passed over me, lingering across my skin which was currently hidden beneath layers of leather and armour. In the minimal light of late afternoon, it caught across the hard edges of armour, giving me the impression that I glowed. Every second that passed without news of Gyah and Seraphine’s return was killing me from the inside.

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