Page 94 of Sonnets and Serpents
Eliza should have found humor in his reaction, but she couldn’t. Rather than trying to hold herself upright, she sank to the floor, bracing her palms on the wood. She thought of that long-ago morning with Silas, when she’d fallen into his bed, elbowing him in the stomach. When he’d looked at her with irritated eyes and disheveled hair and asked,What is the matter with you?
Therewassomething the matter with her. She could not banish a snake from her mind.
Silas was clever and softhearted as well as irritating and abrasive. He wasn’t like any of the men in the romantic stories that had filled her dreams. Silas would never go charging on a stallion to save a lady. He would quote an essay about why she didn’t need saving at all because, contrary to popular opinion, ladies preferred to save themselves, and so the best course of action would be to send the stallion along as a gift, along with any supplies that might aid the lady in question. Meanwhile, he’d be reading his book in the corner.
The world rumbled around her, and the shaking reached all the way to her core with a dreadful, waking truth.
Eliza was in dangerous territory. If she did not separate herself from Silasright now, she risked something terrible, something that would end in heartbreak.
How else could loving someone who didn’t believe in love end?
Her reunion with Henry was not as she’d pictured, but Henry was aknight. He believed in romantic gestures like flowersand dances. She could be happy with him eternally. He would never shatter her heart. Besides that, if she allowed herself to feel things for Silas, if she allowed the object of her affections to change, she would become everything her father had always claimed she was. A girl of romantic whims. Perhaps she’d move right on from Silas to another boy on campus, or a sailor, or whoever next managed to catch her eye. Perhaps it would never end, and she’d be drifting forever.
She had to be steady. If she could not control the swells and tides of the storm inside, she could at least control those of her heart.
With a desperation she’d never felt before, Eliza stumbled to her feet, clinging to the wall as it bucked beneath her hands. She walked slowly, tripping once without falling, until she slammed her hands against Silas’s door. She pounded loudly enough to wake the dead—necessary for the way he slept through the tremors.
“Silas, get up!” she shouted. “We have to see Yvette!”
She could not live another day with the Cast in place. She had to be free of it. Free ofhim, with all his contradictions and irritating charms.
Before it was too late.
Silas told himself this was just one more duty to complete, just the next item on a work list. As soon as it was done, he could find Kerem and see how things had turned out with Ceyda. He could experiment with the Artifact. He could move on.
He knocked with purpose at Yvette’s door, and the Stone Caster opened it to admit them.
“This must be Henry,” she said, raising her eyebrows as she evaluated the knight like she was fitting him for his next suit of armor.
Henry startled at the sound of his name and gave a hurried bow.
“He doesn’t speak Pravish,” Silas said.
Smoothly, she switched to Loegrian. “Pleasure to meet you at last.”
Henry grabbed her hand in an enthusiastic handshake, grinning all the while.
Yvette gave an indulgent laugh before freeing her hand. Then she glanced at Eliza. “You must be relieved.”
“I am.” Eliza looped her arm through Henry’s.
Silas stepped into the office first. He tapped his bracelet. “I finished my homework. I’d appreciate the grade.”
Yvette gave a sly grin. “Not so fast. What did you learn?”
“You were right.”
“Ooh, flattery. I love it. Tell me more, and then tell me the real answer.”
She gestured them into her seating area, and then she handed Henry a bowl of roasted, shelledhirknuts, as if warning him to settle in. He thanked her and tucked in with delight. Silas shook his head. He’d find the pepper flakes soon enough.
Yvette settled on a cushion between Eliza and Silas, arranging the ends of her red scarf in her lap and then placing her hands on her knees. “Second try. What did you learn?”
“I wasn’t warned there’d be a test,” he drawled.
“Ah, but I trust you studied anyway.”
Eliza watched smugly, as if enjoying his torture. She didn’t realize it would be her turn soon enough. Yvette was never one to let an evaluation slide.
