Page 88 of A Legacy of Storms and Starlight

This was it. No more running. No more hiding. Zylah willed her racing heart to be still.

“You grow sun lilies and you come dressed as the moon,” Arnir said, his jowls vibrating even more than Zylah had remembered.

She held her head high, praying to all seven gods he wouldn’t recognise her with Saphi’s deceits. The slight with the dress might have been a step too far. “What better tribute to the sun than the moon herself?”

Arnir’s shoulders shook as he laughed silently. He held a heavily jewelled hand to his chin and held her gaze. “Is that so?”

Shit.Zylah bowed her head. “One cannot exist without the other, Your Majesty.”

Arnir laughed, a short bark this time. “Let me look upon you. Bring your friend, I mean no harm.”

Zylah looked up, and her eyes met with Zack’s, standing beside the king. His eyes widened, but Raif had already threaded her arm through his, easing her up the steps beside him, gently tugging her to the stone steps to kneel before the king.

Zylah didn’t dare look up again as her knees touched the cold stone.

Arnir leaned forwards, and the purple fabric slid to one side to reveal the polished black stone of the throne he sat on. Vanquicite.In Pallia’s name. Raif’s power wouldn’t work. They’d be exposed, they’d—

“Your Majesty!”

Zylah closed her eyes, silently praying over and over.

“I do apologise, Your Majesty.” It was Marcus, which could only have meant one thing. A pair of feet came into view in front of them. “He was discovered in my quarters, Your Majesty, he attempted to take my life with this.”

Zylah couldn’t look up, couldn’t risk exposing them all. She’d poisoned all of Asha’s blades herself. Something heavy fell onto the stone steps nearby and Zylah swallowed. Asha.

If Marcus recognised his son kneeling on the steps before him, he didn’t let it show. Raif needed to be close enough to touch Arnir for his power to work, but if he hadn’t noticed the vanquicite, it was too late to warn him. And her brother was right beside the king. Holt had promised he’d be safe, but things had already gone wrong so very quickly.

She was certain Marcus could hear her heartbeat. Certain every Fae nearby could hear it. Her hands were clasped together at her front—she could reach for her dagger, just one cut of the king’s flesh… but then that left Marcus to deal with. And Asha. Only the sound of his ragged breathing told her the Fae was still alive.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the whore. What gifts has she bestowed upon you this evening, Your Majesty, or is she a gift for later?” Marcus’s voice was almost sing-song in his mockery.

Zylah held her breath. Marcus had recognised her. Zack still hadn’t said anything. She focused on the sound of Asha’s breathing, vanilla perfume carrying to her from somewhere over her shoulder. Saphi. Followed by acani berries. Holt.

Arnir’s feet shifted in front of them, covering the vanquicite in another fold of fabric. “She grew the sun lilies. You know her?”

If he had been any other Fae, Zylah knew he wouldn’t have risked exposing his son. But this was Marcus. “Look at your king,” he instructed.

Zylah raised her chin slowly, first looking through her lashes until she was holding her head high before Arnir. His eyes widened and then narrowed.

Several things happened at once. Raif lunged for Arnir. Zylah reached for her blade with one hand and Raif with the other. Arnir was shouting, and as Zylah pulled her blade from its sheath, a hand clamped around her wrist.

She looked up to meet her brother’s eyes just as she evanesced her and Raif away.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Zylah vaguely registered the wards as she took them to the reception area of the safe house and fell to her knees. Zack had stopped her. She blinked at her wrist where her brother had held it, her blade still in her hand. She let it clatter to the floor.

“What just happened?” Raif asked, kneeling in front of her.

Zylah didn’t look up to see if he was angry or concerned.Asha.Marcus wouldn’t spare him; he would torture him, just like she’d seen him torture Holt. She pressed a hand to her stomach, the other bracing herself against the floor.

“Liss. What happened? I had him.”

“Vanquicite,” Zylah whispered. The weight of that throne… Zylah could well imagine how a man like Arnir wouldn’t go anywhere without it, coward that he was. How he would make his servants suffer carrying it, no matter the distance. And he’d concealed it on purpose, to lure out any Fae at the festival. Could it lift deceits? Asha had looked human when they left, but if the vanquicite dampened magic… “Shit,” she said under her breath.

“Liss, look at me. What was Asha doing there?” Raif placed a hand on Zylah’s arm, and she finally looked up to meet his gaze. His eyes blazed.

“You’re angry,” Zylah rasped. She’d ruined their plans, messed up everything. He had every right to be angry.

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