Page 6 of Curse of Darkness
For a second, I can’t breathe.
“You turned the tides when your mother attacked the city,” Finn tells me, belief blazing in his eyes. “I was there, Vi. I saw what you did. You have the power to tear an entire army of goblins from the field if you so choose—”
“If they attack, then they will come from the north,” Eris points out, “and the queen’s stronghold is in the south.” She hesitates. “The curse that afflicts the north—”
“Smothers my power.” I breathe out slowly. I can feel the kingdom in my veins if I concentrate. Every stretch of land. Every tree. Every rock and stone. Every foot that falls upon the earth. But that knowledge ends at Urival, where the skies slowly fall into twilight and, from there, into a constant never-ending midnight that settles over the north of the kingdom. They call those fields the Edge of Twilight and I have no power beyond them. “And I don’t know… I don’t know if I can entirely control myself right now.”
“You have the Crown of Shadows,” Thalia says. “With it—”
“I amnotwearing that cursed thing.” It makes my skin crawl. I can feel its presence in the castle, even locked as it is in the highest tower of Ceres.
“It has the power to break the curse that traps the north of Evernight in perpetual darkness,” she says quietly. “It has the power to break entire armies. It has the power to save us—”
“Iknow.” She doesn’t understand. I know she can’t feel it—none of them can—but it’s watching my dreams. Every night I sense it lurking in the dark recesses of my mind as if searching for a way inside me. “It drove my mother mad.”
“It took a thousand years to do so, Vi.”
I wrap my arms around myself. I can’t even explain what it feels like to have thatthinginside the castle. To put it on…. To use it, just once…. What if that’s all it needs to start twisting its way through my head?
“I’ll… consider it,” I tell them, because I can see the fear in their eyes. “But only as a last effort. Only if Evernight is on the verge of falling. And only if I can work out how towieldthat power.”
Turning away from them, I consider the knife at my back.
Edain watches the byplay with cunning eyes. I haven’t forgotten him. Nor have I forgotten the fact my mother is a dangerous adversary. If she wanted the crown back, would she have sent him? Could they have conjured this story between them?
I’ve seen his face when Andraste is in the room. It took me a long time to realize the way he locks his expression down tight until nothing escapes was merely a mask. His eyes always lingered on her. And a month ago, when a cursed bane tried to kill my sister, he threw himself between them to protect her.
He hates my mother.
He loves my sister.
But my motherownshis soul.
If he’s broken free of the oath she used to bind him to her, thenmaybehe can be trusted.
“Stop looking at me like that,” he tells me, a hint of his old arrogance rising. “I’m not here to play games, Vi. I’m finally free of that bitch—”
“I find it difficult to believe my mother simply cast you aside.” Without a tether, he’s a dangerous weapon.
“She didn’t simply set me free. But….”
“What?”
A muscle in his jaw ticks. “She gave me one last twisted little gift. Besides, there’s more I haven’t told you.” He takes a deep breath and looks at me. “Are you ready?”
Ready for what?
What more could my mother do to me?
“I’m almost afraid to ask,” I admit.
Edain squares his shoulders like he’s facing an onrush of cavalry from an opposing force all by himself. “Apparently your mother kept some secrets even from me, although I believe your sister was aware of this one.” His lips press thinly together. “I don’t like you. We’ve never been friends but believe me when I say that this… this was wrong.”
This coming from my mother’s assassin?
“Tell me.”
Little thorns creep across the floor, circling him. It’s not quite a threat, but if he dares make a move, I’ll kill him.
