Page 20 of Within the Hollow Heart

The first thingNickolas had done upon returning to his rooms was lock his door. But shortly afterward, he’d written a note for Etta. Nickolas might have been rattled by his encounter with the prince, but though it was the first time he’d witnessed a fae, it was not the first time he’d witnessed foul magic. He understood Jules was in trouble. She had made a bargain with Nickolas because a curse had been laid upon her.

He had to help her break it.

And so, early the next morning, he was in the office of the marshal of Westrende. “Truly,” he said, standing in the center of a room that felt palatial and fighting the desire to make a slow spin, head tilted back to take it in. “All this for a marshal?”

The lady Ostwind gave him a level stare from where she sat behind her massive desk. “I’m the head of law and order for the entire kingdom, Nickolas. What did you expect?”

He shook his head. “A bit of modesty, I suppose. Could have at least tried putting some on.”

She leaned forward. “I have work to do. Perhaps you could muster sufficient nerve to tell me whatever it is you’re avoiding”—her finger tapped irritably on a stack of correspondence atop her desk—“and what it has to do with a late-night order that I send a half-dozen kingsmen to stand watch outside the chancery sleeping quarters.”

The chagrin that crossed his face was not put on. “Orderis a strong word.”

Etta shuffled through the stack, drawing out a single page. “… and therefore demand no less than fifteen armed men at all times posted as noted at each of the following locations throughout the chancery—”

“All right. I was under duress. I’d just had a shock.” Nickolas bit his lip. “You did send them, did you not?”

She sighed. “I did.”

He nodded. “Thank you. That means a great deal.”

“And the shock?”

“Right.” He settled heavily into the chair that sat opposite her desk. “I saw the prince.”

“The prince.” Her voice changed, gone as steady as a general. If there was a being who possessed all of the ire inside of Antonetta Ostwind, it was the prince of the Riven Court.

Nickolas leaned back to run a hand over his face. “Yes. That one.” Etta was very quiet, and when he finally looked at her again, he found her expression was as deadly as a general as well.

He owed her an apology, he knew. Etta had the sight. She had seen the prince when she’d been only a girl.

Nickolas had not believed her. Like everyone else, he’d thought Westrende was safe from the fae. “It was horrendous,” he said.

“Lady Brigham’s men have been sniffing around the chancery. You’ve asked that guards be placed there. Outside of Jules’s rooms,” she said.

A long breath fell from his lungs.

Etta nodded slowly. She hadn’t earned her position by being a fool. “At your warning, Gideon set his own kingsmen to watch. The chancery will be the safest place for her.” She leaned forward, not softly as she might have done as his friend but sharply, the posture of a marshal of Westrende. “What has this to do with your mother?”

Nickolas held back the wild sob that wanted to escape. What came out instead was sort of a helpless laugh. “Nothing at all. She merely wishes me to marry Lady Carvell.” To restore the family name.

“Who laid eyes on the prince? Who else has the sight?”

“My mother and her ruffians were turned away. So only me and Jules. But she… Well, Jules has evidently already met him.”

“Because of a curse.”

Nickolas slid a hand over the fabric covering his knee. “She can’t tell me. Each time she starts to speak of it, her words choke off.” Or she grabbed at whatever hung from a chain at her neck, he thought. “It’s that ridiculous bird of hers. That’s part of the curse. Her brother, she says. He’s trapped inside the creature. Hates me, by the way. Doesn’t spare a chance to let me know it.”

He threw up a hand. “And I don’t know what it means, how any of it is tied to her curse, or how to stop it. I’m only certain it must have been laid on her ages ago and that the prince and she were aware of one another before being in each other’s company yesterday. She needed to get out of a betrothal, so she bargained with me to gain access to places she could not go on her own. Introductions, you know. She wanted to break the curse. And she kept saying...” She had kept saying it would be over soon. He looked up at Etta. “Her time must be almost up.”

“The full moon,” Etta said. “It’s always ending on a full moon with this sort, fae rituals and all. Well, that explains why she’s working in the chancery office.” At Nickolas’s blank look, Etta explained, “To learn the laws of the kingdom so she can unhitch herself from… this other man, whoever he is.”

“Laws,” Nickolas said. “Books.”

Etta’s gaze narrowed on him. “Do you need a moment to gather your thoughts? Perhaps before you speak?”

He shook his head. “The library. We were at the Filmore library because she needed to find a book.” He went still at her reaction. “What?”

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