Page 68 of A Legacy of Poison and Lies

Malok called out to his children from the dining room, and Kej rolled his eyes, looping his arm through his sister’s. He glanced back over his shoulder with a wink as he left the balcony. “You two have interconnecting rooms, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

In Pallia’s name, he was relentless.

Rin pulled her with them, and Holt followed them all back to the dining room, the mood sobering the moment Arlan’s attention settled on Rin.

“Your father and I have reached a stalemate over the… agreement between our two courts.” His eyes remained on Rin as he spoke, his expression giving nothing away despite the bite in his tone. It seemed like the idea repulsed him, not Rin, Zylah suspected. But the idea of an arranged marriage. “Zylah, I wish you well in retrieving the key. Perhaps Malok will be more forthcoming knowing this court is protected. A luxury the rest of Astaria do not have.” His gaze slid back to Rin for a heartbeat. “Goodnight.”

Malok scowled at the dismissal, but he said nothing, taking his glass from the table and heading for the small adjoining room.

“Why do I get the feeling that if you don’t find the key, we’re all completely fucked?” Kej said quietly.

“Because our father likes to play god,” Rin muttered, shrugging out of her brother’s reach and heading for the door after Arlan.

“I’m happy to swap this one in as our third,” Kej said with a wink at Zylah, flicking his chin in Holt’s direction.

She knew he was trying to lighten the mood, but he couldn’t have known he’d hit a nerve. “Goodnight,” she murmured, exhaustion wrapping around her.

Zylah left her friends without waiting for a response, her thoughts darkening with every step closer to her room.

Chapter Twenty-Three

RinandKejwerehiding something.

A few days had passed since the dinner with Malok and the others when Zylah realised the twins were only turning up to training every morning for people to notice their presence. To make it known.

Kej would leave first, usually under the pretence of running after his guard, Rin shortly after. And though Zylah knew it was none of her business, on the third morning she’d caught them arguing, catching a few words that had her silently following them deep into the court, further than she’d yet ventured. Kopi joined her soon after her pursuit began, finding her from the gods knew where since she’d left him in her room that morning.

She kept her distance from the twins, hanging back as far as she could, occasionally losing them through a doorway or another corridor. An ocean breeze teased wisps of hair around her face, and Zylah marvelled at the magic of this place. Nye had explained during training how it was spelled to keep out the worst of the cold, how the wards on the boundaries also meant any magic within couldn’t be detected from the outside, but Zylah still couldn’t quite adjust to feeling the wind against her skin but not the bite of the cold air.

A wrong turn had her pausing, holding her breath to listen for any sign of the twins. This end of the court was deserted, and at first, Zylah had wondered if she was merely following them to their chambers. She tracked their hushed conversation, gaining sight of them again at the end of a long passage lined with columns, more of those glassless windows facing out to the sea. She paused in the shadows, watching them as they slipped through a doorway halfway down, voices sounding from within.

Movement at the other end of the corridor caught her attention, and instinctively she hid behind a column, but then a flare of power pressed at her skin as if alerting her to his presence. Holt evanesced beside her, pressing a finger to his lips.

Zylah tracked the movement, her eyes lingering for a moment before darting up to meet his. He tilted his head to one side, and Zylah followed his silent instruction to listen.

Children laughed beyond the door Rin and Kej had disappeared through. Then a rumble of amusement from Kej, followed by something that sounded an awful lot like a scolding from Rin.

Zylah looked at Holt, one eyebrow raised.

“I think they’re human,” he murmured.

Humans couldn’t pass through the wards, Nye had said when they’d first arrived. And Malok loathed humans. Which meant…

“They’re hiding them,” Zylah said quietly, making no attempt to hide her surprise. Not just hiding… Rin and Kej had somehow ferried the children inside the court, undetected.

Holt nodded, leading the way to the door, and then paused. Kopi rustled his feathers at Zylah’s shoulders, ocean waves breaking on the cliffs beyond the court, and still, Holt waited.

Zylah rested a hand on his arm. “Malok will never give you his army if he finds out.”

“Then he won’t,” he said, his attention shifting to where her fingertips touched his scar. “But that’s not why I hesitated.” More laughter rang out. The children were young, if Zylah had to guess, no more than five. “I don’t want to frighten them.”

Zylah couldn’t help her small smile. She slipped past him, easing the door open a crack to slip through. A cluster of children climbed over Kej, laughing as he tried to gently wrestle them off him. Rin rose to her feet as soon as she saw Zylah, and at once a hush fell over the children.

“She’s like us,” a boy whispered, pointing from his place on Kej’s shoulders.

Zylah knew from their worried glances that the twins had no idea which way this was going to go. Could imagine what they must be thinking—anyone would—that she might use this to gain favour with Malok. To help Holt secure the army.

“Sort of,” Zylah said, turning her attention to the little boy with a small smile. “But my friend is like them,” she added, waving a hand between the door and Rin and Kej. “Can he come in?”

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