Page 40 of A Court of Masks and Roses
Violet bit her lip. Wil was not ready to welcome the Goddess into his heart, but the thought of her brother falling to the Dark God’s clutches filled Violet with horrid grief. For all his mischief and self-importance, Wil was made for carrying light, not darkness.
The challenge was to get past the Dark God’s wiles.
“I’ve taken up embroidering handkerchiefs with the Children of the Goddess girls. We sell them and use the money to help war orphans. Since Father refuses to allow any additional donation to the cause, I am doing what I can myself.” She tilted her head, smiling at her brother. “Perhaps you would buy a batch?”
“Eh, sure.” Wil scratched the back of his neck.
“That’s wonderful, Wil,” Violet exclaimed, throwing her arms around her brother, though she knew he little understood the importance of what had just happened. Wil’s moneywould support the Messenger’s work, and when the Goddess’s forces triumphed, Wil would get full credit for his contribution. The sisters called the method “divine deception” and promised it worked wonders to keep the Dark God from interfering in the Children’s work.
And they were right. One day, all too soon, Wil would look back on this afternoon and feel the joy of having been a part of the Goddess’s victory. Violet squeezed her brother’s hand and resumed her path to the temple.
“Vi! Wait!”
She hesitated. “I need to go, Wil. I’ll send someone with the embroidery batch to you soon.”
He grabbed her wrist. “Are you all right, Vi?” He blurted, his eyes narrowing on hers. “You’ve been acting odd, and with the attack on Raza and patrols of every color roving around like cockroaches... Master Tril said you’ve not attended one lesson the whole week.”
Violet winced at Wil’s ignorance, his focus on all the wrong things. There was a war brewing, climbing to its inevitable apex. Not the silly squabble of Dansil and Everett, but one with truly high stakes.
Wil drew a breath and spoke again. “What I’m trying to say, Vi, is that with Mother keeping the Goddess company now, I thought you might want to talk.”
Violet’s chest tightened. What Wil meant was thathewanted to talk. For all the grandness of being the crown prince, there were sides of her brother that only Violet had ever gotten to see. The Wil who’d sobbed beside her the night of their mother’s death, the one who stole Violet’s favorite sweets from the kitchen and brought them to her, the one who’d confessed to breaking a vase that Violet had shattered, and taken her punishment without complaint.
Violet’s heart broke for that Wil. Truly and deeply. Butthings were different now. Violet was a soldier in the Goddess’s army, not a silly little girl. And she was a target. The Dark God worked through the people one loved, and Violet could not let his evil pour into her through her brother’s voice.
“Let’s go to the kitchens,” said Wil, his slender fingers still on her wrist. “We’ll take some sweetcakes. Tea.” His eyes turned with that familiar mischief. “Or ale.”
Sadness spilled from every chamber of Violet’s heart, but her eyes saw through the deception that the Dark God was spreading. She pulled her arm free. “I’m busy, Wil,” she said briskly, and hurried away.
“Violet!” Wil called after her. “Vi, wait!”
She kept going. For both their sakes.
23
KALI
“You are going out alone? When you could be not going out at all?” Leaf draws her knees into her arms. “I thought you were done with this lone huntress act.”
“I’m a scout, Leaf. And I’m bloody close to something, whether or not Firehorn or Trace or anyone else believes me. I can’t just tuck my tail between my legs.” I pull on a foliage-painted tunic and breeches and review my gear. Calvin’s prisoner might know nothing about the origin of his orders, but he sure as hells knows where he met up with his cadre prior to the attack. It’s a start. “Viva Sylthia targeted Lady Lianna, which might mean I saw or know something that I don’t yet realize is important. Following up on the prisoner’s information through woods and shadows, that’s what I’m good at—not this dress-up-doll routine.” I force a smile to my face. “Stop worrying, this is hardly my first track.”
With a resigned sigh, Leaf slides off the bed and pulls a hand-sized pouch from her trunk. She tosses the pouch to me.It’s heavier than it looked from afar, with clever straps to attach it to my belt and thigh. “What is it?”
“It’s whatIdo,” says Leaf. “Your new survival kit.”
My fingers prickle as I pull open the laces. I yelp and pull back for a moment before gritting my teeth and pulling the cloth flap all the way open. Three polished crystals sparkle at me from their holsters.
Leaf points into the pouch. “These first two, you’ve used before: light and heat. Should stay in tune for up to twenty hours of use once triggered. They are tuned to your blood, so just wrap your fingers around the crystal and the proximity of your blood to the crystal will activate the magic.”
My eyes widen. Three times longer than any Leaf has managed before. “And the last one?” I brush my finger down a crystal with a complicated red weave that pulses slightly.
“That is a love stone.”
“In case I meet a soulmate I think I’ll die without?”
“Love stones—which you would know about if you paid attention—are mated pairs of crystals.” She shows me a similar crystal hanging on a thong around her neck, beside the blue healing one. “Hold yours in your hand and close your eyes.” I obey, feeling a tiny heartbeat-like vibration on the right side of the crystal. “Move in the direction of the beat,” Leaf instructs.
I step right.
