Page 42 of Promise of Darkness
“It’s said there was only one way onto the island,” Thiago murmurs, crouching behind a rocky outlook to peer down at the ruins. “What do you see?”
I squat beside him, surprised to realize he’s actually curious about my opinion. I’m an accessory in my mother’s court, hungry for more responsibility, chafing at my reins, and yet denied attending the most basic of councils.
It’s strange to realize that it’s only here, with the Prince of Evernight, that I’m being treated as an equal.
Movement shifts near the other side of the bridge; merely the faintest ripple of a guard prowling the shadows there. If I wasn’t looking for it, I don’t think I’d have even noticed. “A guard,” I murmur. “There’s someone guarding the other side of the bridge.”
Which is highly unusual, considering the entire place is supposed to be abandoned.
“Something,” he corrects, slipping between rocks and ghosting along the ridge. “Angharad’s brought her pets.”
Banes.
She’s the only queen in the territories with the ability to curse-twist a fae into one of the monstrous creatures and then bind it to her will. Most of them can cast the curse, but reining in such brutal beasts is near impossible.
I trail behind Thiago with my hand on the hilt of my knife. The enormous brindle-backed banes that Angharad wields have been bred to tear fae apart, their teeth capped with iron tips. One bite would burn like poison.
It’s a breathless feeling to know Thiago’s Unseelie spy is correct: Angharad is up to something.
Which means the prince wasn’t lying.
I don’t know how to twist that into my mother’s narrative that he’s working with the Unseelie, when he’s clearly trying to stop their queen.
“What now?” I murmur, trailing him through the rocky crags overlooking the ruins and the lake.
“I need to get closer to the city.”
Excellent. “How do we do that if she’s got the bridge watched?”
Thiago leads me into a narrow ravine choked with brambles. He pauses at the end of it, which leads right into a thicket of thorns. “The truth is, there was always more than one way into the city. When the witch king led his war host south, the Queen of Mistmere evacuated the city of its women and children through this tunnel.”
“I thought nobody survived the witch king’s attack. And what tunnel?”
“They didn’t.” Thiago sweeps a curtain of thorns aside, revealing the gaping mouth of a cave. “The witch king’s scouts were roaming the hills. The evacuated only made it thirteen miles before they were all slaughtered by a roaming host of banes.”
“Then how did you know there’s a tunnel?” I stare into the darkness.
“Because I was here to lead them out.” His voice turns hard. “Nobody fromMistmeresurvived.”
I look at him sharply.
The Wars of Light and Shadow were over five hundred years ago. I knew he was older than that, but it couldn’t have been by much.
“My queen sent me to Mistmere to serve Queen Abalonia as a warrior. I was there when the city was attacked, though Queen Abalonia sent me with the evacuees, to try and bring help. Unfortunately, by the time I reached my queen, it was too late.”
This would be Queen Araya, whom he later overthrew.
“Come on.” He pushes me in the back. “We need to start moving quickly, and we need to be quiet.”
“I’m not the one speaking loudly enough to be overheard in Valerian.”
His eyes narrow. “Lead on, Princess. Unless you’re scared of the dark.”
“I have nerves of iron,” I shoot back, stalking into the tunnel. “I just thought you’d prefer to lead, considering you’re the big, bad Prince of Darkness, with balls of pure steel.”
“It’s got little to do with my balls. I just prefer the view from back here.”
I try to shoot a withering glare over my shoulder, but Thiago lets the drape of thorns go, plunging us into darkness. My heart rabbits in my chest. Fear is a weakness and thus something to be overcome, but I can’t help wondering if there’s anything else in here, watching me.
