Page 104 of Crown of Briars
I waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. I couldn’t entirely blame her. She had already been more forthcomingthan I’d anticipated. Certainly more forthcoming than I would have been if our roles were reversed.
Assuming she wasn’t lying.
I crossed my arms. “Can you show me?”
Her brows lowered. “You want me to prove I’m telling the truth? Fine.” She wrapped her fingers around the topaz and closed her eyes. She slowly backed up until she was up against the stone wall.
The air around her rippled, and in an instant, her coloring had changed. I could still make out the shape of her against the wall, but she matched the stone precisely. It looked as if she were shrouded in a cloak made of stone.
My arms dropped, and my mouth fell open in surprise.
Sybelle stepped forward and broke the enchantment. She tossed the topaz at me. I caught it easily, then turned it over in my hands.
It was a simple stone. No magic emanated from it. That much I could tell.
“Satisfied?” she asked.
I ground my teeth together, incensed at the accusation in her tone. She had no right to be irritated withmeright now. She was lucky I didn’t toss her in the dungeon for lying to her king.
“You never answered my question,” I said slowly. “Did you come here to kill me?”
She was silent for a long moment. When she spoke, her voice was quiet. “I came here to infiltrate the Shadow Court and locate the source of the toxic shadows that are threatening my people. But, as I’ve come to learn, it isn’t quite that simple. My court was under the impressionyoucontrolled all the shadows. Now I understand that’s not true.”
“You think I would simply allow my shadows to poison your people?” I growled.
“Yes!” she shouted, waving her hands in the air. “Becauseyou’ve told usnothing, Varius. What other conclusion are we supposed to draw? You are the king of shadows, and shadows are attacking my court.”
“And you didn’t think toaskme or my court?”
She snorted and crossed her arms. “When were we supposed to ask? Between giving you human brides and fending off attacks from your soldiers, we were a bit too busy.”
My nostrils flared. “Your people haven’t been welcoming toward my kind, either, Sybelle. Unseelie fae are hunted by human soldiers daily because of their prejudices.”
She let her hands fall against her thighs. “I suppose both kingdoms are to blame for this, then.”
“I suppose so.”
A tense silence fell between us. Sybelle chewed on her lip, her gaze dropping to the floor. My wings curled inward, and myshadows thinned. Gradually, my anger ebbed, though irritation still prickled through me.
“For what it’s worth,” she said softly, “I’m sorry. For deceiving you. For not telling you the truth. I—I should have told you.”
I stared at her. She blinked back at me, her wide eyes full of sorrow and regret.
I swallowed hard. “Thank you. I apologize as well. You’re right; we both are to blame.”
She nodded, her mouth forming a thin line.
More silence followed, but this time it wasn’t as tense as before. I sensed something shift between us. Something that made it easier to breathe. Easier to look at her without anger.
“Do you still need my blood?” she asked suddenly.
I hesitated. “Yes.”
“Even though it contains fae blood as well?”
“Yes. I may need more of it to dilute the fae blood. But it should still work.”
She stepped closer to me. “And you still can’t tell me what you’ll do with this blood?”
