Page 100 of Song of the Heart Scale
I cleared my throat. “I met with Lord Mercer.”
He furrowed his brows. “Didn’t I say I would feel him out first before we approached him?”
I nodded. “I know, but an opportunity arose and I couldn’t miss it.”
Uncle Bai closed his book and placed it on the desk. “Damien, you cannot make these rash decisions! We do not know who Lord Mercer is. He’s been stationed at the border for years. We don’t know where his alliances stand!”
“Haven’t they always been with my father?” I asked as if it was obvious.
Uncle Bai tilted his head. “Have they? We don’t know.”
“But the Nightwing was my father’s favorite unit—”
“Because they were the deadliest,” he interrupted. “But Lord Mercer wasn’t someone my brother could easily control, and he knew it. It was the main reason why he commanded him back to Dragon Valley.” Uncle Bai removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Lord Mercer is an unknown variable. We must be careful.”
“He asked me to meet him again tomorrow.” I ran a hand through my hair, suddenly anxious. “Do you think it’s a trap?”
Uncle Bai shrugged. “Possibly. The only way to find out is to go.”
“By the Immortals…” I sighed.
“What is it, Damien?”
“I told him about the fae,” I muttered. “I’d hoped it would be a selling point for him, but now I feel like I just gave away secret intel.”
Uncle Bai softly exhaled. “Let me come with you tomorrow night. I’ll talk to Lord Mercer. Let’s see what his true intentions are.”
The corridoroutside Uncle Bai's study was dim, with sconces flickering against the deep red and gold wallpaper like dying fireflies. I closed the door behind me and leaned my back against the wood, inhaling deeply as though I could breathe out the weight that was slowly tightening around my chest. The echo of hushed voices and the crackle of candlelight were the only sounds that followed me up the stairs.
I moved quietly, each step measured. At the top of the landing, I paused at the door to our bedroom. The door was cracked open an inch, and through that slim space, I caught sight of her.
Cat lay curled in the bed with the sheets tangled around her legs and one arm thrown carelessly above her head. A sliver of moonlight illuminated her face. Peaceful. Serene. Her chest rose and fell in a slow, even rhythm, and a soft sigh escaped her lips. I watched her for a long moment, my throat tightening with a surge of something too big to name.
Relief. Love. Awe.
She had a way of disarming me without even trying.
I quietly closed the door, the click muffled by the thick carpet beneath my feet. There was no sense in waking her. She needed rest. We both did.
Turning down the corridor, I made my way to the guest bath and nodded to the two servants stationed nearby. “Draw the tub. Hot. Oils, something floral and calming. I want the stench of The Gilded Serpent off me.”
They bowed in silence and quickly slipped into action. Within moments, I heard the gush of water, the clinking of glass as they poured in fragrant oils, and the faint rustle of dried petals being scattered across the surface.
I stepped inside once they’d finished and dismissed them with quiet thanks. Alone, I closed the door behind me.
The room was dim but warm, steam already fogging the mirror above the basin. The tub was massive, carved from polished black marble veined with silver. The water inside shimmered gold and rose in the light of the shimmering wall sconces. The scent of lavender, bergamot, and something deeper—myrrh, perhaps—rose with the steam.
I peeled away the layers of my clothes, wincing as I caught sight of a bruise blooming along my ribs. A souvenir from the altercation at Saltspire Wharf. Another mark in a long list of many.
Lowering my body into the water, I groaned softly at the heat seeping into my skin. It enveloped me like a living thing, drawing the ache from my muscles, the sting from my bones. Flower petals lazily floated around me, some catching in the ridges of my collarbones, others swirling past like driftwood.
For a while, I just sat there in silence, letting the water work its magic.
Then the thoughts came.
They always did.
Cat had asked me once if I ever thought about leaving Elaria. About going with her to her world. At the time, I hadn’t given her a straight answer. I didn’t really have one. But now, withthe chaos swirling all around us and the faint hope of toppling Thorne blooming on the horizon, it was time I started thinking.
