Page 30 of Song of the Heart Scale
Malachar shook his head. “No. I will stand guard by His Majesty and protect his body until you have pulled the curtain on his murderer. When you’ve done so, I’ll be here, waiting.”
I nodded. “At least tell me when the next thunderstorm will be so I can send Cat home. She needs to be safe from Thorne.”
Malachar laughed bitterly. “You still don’t get it, Damien. There will be no storm. As long as Thorne sits on the throne, Elaria will see no rain.”
8
CAT
The knock on my door came just as I was halfway through pacing a trench into the rug.
“My lady?”
Maeve's voice. Soft. Cautious.
I exhaled and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Come in.”
The door creaked open and she entered. Her hair was still damp from her bath and her expression was too carefully neutral. That alone told me something was wrong.
“You’ve been pacing for over an hour,” she said gently.
“That’s because I’m trying not to punch a hole through the wall.”
She gave a tight-lipped smile. “That would be frowned upon. Especially considering you're still technically betrothed to the emperor’s heir.”
“Former heir, now emperor,” I corrected, then grimaced. “I think? God, none of this makes sense.”
Maeve crossed the room, poured water into a glass with hands that only slightly trembled, and handed it to me. I took it but didn’t drink.
I hadn’t stopped thinking about Damien since last night, when he vanished into the night without a word, cloaked in shadows and worry. I’d heard nothing since. No whisper. No message. Not even a raven.
“Do you think he's alright?” I asked, finally voicing the question that had been gnawing at me. There’d been rumors around town that the third prince had left exile and gone to Dragon Valley for the first time in his life.
Maeve didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “I think if anyone can vanish into a palace full of enemies and walk back out breathing, it’s him.”
I nodded, but the knot in my stomach didn’t loosen.
The empire was unraveling, and here I was, stuck in a borrowed identity with enemies on every side. Lord Zacharia was watching me more closely than ever. Gianna was quiet—too quiet. And Jacob... poor Jacob still thought I was sister, Arya.
I hated lying to him the most.
“I need to get out of this room,” I said abruptly.
Maeve blinked. “Where do you plan to go?”
“Anywhere but here.” I crossed to the window and pushed the curtains aside. The sky was heavy with clouds, painting everything in a bruised gray tint. “Maybe the training yard. Or the stables.”
“The stables? You don’t even know how to ride a horse!”
“I just need to move.”
“Very well,” she said. “But let me fetch your cloak. If you’re going to storm off into the unknown, best do it warmly.”
I shot her a grateful look.
As she rummaged through the armoire, I allowed one last glance out over the courtyard, wondering where Damien was. Wondering if he’d found what he was looking for.
And wondering what would happen if he did.
