Page 27 of Power of Five
18
Leralynn
“What was that?” I ask, finding my voice.
Autumn grins like a fiend. “A shortcut. One of the folds in the Gloom. River and I invested a great deal of our childhood into ferreting ways out of this damn house. To call Father a paranoid power-hungry bastard is such an understatement, it renders the whole phrase meaningless.” Autumn hops onto her bed, letting her legs swing down. Now that I look closer, I can see the resemblance to River more clearly, from the gray eyes to the high, perfectly aligned cheekbones. What Autumn lacks in size, she makes up for in unabashed enthusiasm for... everything, it seems. “So? Tell me all.”
I look around for a place to sit. Everything in this room costs many times what I’m worth in the mortal world as an indentured servant, from the intricately carved four-poster bed to the diamond earring tossed atop a pair of discarded stockings. Four tall, arched windows span the far wall, letting in dazzling sunlight that glances off the rich green-gold carpet and silks draping off seemingly every surface. Finally spotting a stool with only a single priceless silk dress on it, I move the garment gently and sit down.
My mind scrolls through words in search of something to make me sound less pathetic, comes up empty, and settles on the plain truth. “I’m Leralynn—Lera—and until two days ago, I was an indentured servant on an estate near Mystwood. Then whatever magic creates quints made a mistake and accidentally bonded me with River, Shade, Tye, and Coal. Now we are headed to the Citadel to sever the tether so the males can have someone more suitable. So you won’t need to put up with me for too long.”
Autumn’s face darkens at my words, her gray eyes flashing with a sudden fury to match River’s. “A mistake? Sever the tether? Iwillfeed River’s ears to the pigs.” She pauses, her head cocking, listening to sounds my mortal body can’t hear. “And there is the culprit now,” she announces a moment before I hear a knock. “I warded my rooms,” she explains, glaring at the door.
The knock sounds again. Louder. More insistent.
Autumn sighs and waves her hand toward the door, which opens obediently onto a tousled River.
His gaze rushes around the room until it finds me, slowing upon touching my flesh. “Leralynn.” His voice is rough, with an undertone of urgency that I understand as little as my chest’s sudden tightness. We’ve been apart for only minutes, yet River’s presence is already filling a hole that began festering in our separation. My gaze drinks him in thirstily, the taut planes of his face, the broad daylight-blocking shoulders, the damn stick-straight back. His gray eyes brush mine, and the room heats around us, the air suddenly thick. Crackling. With what seems like physical effort, River breaks his gaze away from me and finds Autumn’s face. “I need to—”
Autumn is on her feet before he can finish, one slender finger poking River’s wide chest. “How dare you consider breaking Lera from the quint? Have you lost what passed for brains somewhere in Mystwood?”
River’s jaw tightens but he grabs Autumn’s wrist with careful gentleness. “Can we discuss what battling Mors’s trash would do to a mortal female later, please?” he asks. “I need to speak with Leralynn.”
“I imagine you had at least six hours to discuss things with Lera,” Autumn says, scoring a very good point. “Now it’s my turn. And you’ll be happy to know that Father is off making someone else’s life miserable for a change.”
“I didn’t imagine you’d bring Leralynn here otherwise,” says River.
“Exactly.” Autumn makes a shooing motion, but I can see a sharp intelligence beneath the bubbly exterior. “Go occupy yourself and we’ll see you for dinner. And if you must fret over something, I suggest wondering why my patrols are reporting that one of the Citadel elders is already at the edge of Slait Court and riding here full speed.”
Autumn’s patrols?
River shifts his weight, dismissing Autumn’s words with a brisk wave of his hand. “I am carrying a Mystwood key; of course they are concerned. If I were an elder, I’d not let it out of my sight for a minute more than I must.”
“You are the crown prince of Slait and lead the strongest quint in the whole of Lunos, bar the Elders Council itself, River.” Autumn’s hard voice resembles nothing of the bubbly girl she was a few minutes earlier. “You think no one was jealous of your power at its height? Secretly glad when Kai’s death made you wither? There are many who will little like seeing you complete again.”
Except they aren’t complete. They have me stuck on like a parasitic growth,I think—just before the rest of Autumn’s words penetrate. My head snaps toward River, my eyes widening. “Wait. Prince? You are the crown prince of Slait?”
River’s gaze catches mine and then drops to the floor.
Prince.The title echoes in my mind. Not just any immortal fae warrior, River is also the bloody prince of one of the three courts. His words and actions of the past few days reshuffle, clicking into place. The aura of unyielding command, the coin to spare, the certainties about Slait thrown about with no explanation. I knew River was concealing something—I just never imagined it would be this large. This vital. I realize Autumn is still talking only when River shushes her, his attention fully on me.
Commanding gray eyes flinch. Lower.
“River—” Autumn starts.
“Later.” The snap of command in River’s voice has me on my feet and backing toward the door.
Prince. Prince. Prince.That’s what he so carefully didn’t tell me. My mouth dries, the words weighing a hundred tons each. “Is this a palace?”
“Yes,” says River.
I nod. “And were you always intending to bring us here?”
“No.” River runs his fingers through his hair. “I had decided we wouldn’t come here at all. Autumn got the jump on me.”
I nod again. Slowly. Carefully. River lied. Because he thought he might get away with it. Because he felt he could lie to me. Because lying to a lowborn mortal girl is all right.
“You didn’t tell her?” Autumn’s hands are fisted at her hips. “Get out of my room, River.”
