Page 118 of In The Dark
What the fuck?
“Take this as a warning for not doing your job correctly. We’ll be escorted to the throne room. Find someone to fetch the king, will you?” he commands.
There’s no sign of the menacing Ezra we saw moments ago. He graces us with the casual male I’ve known for years.
“Follow me.” He begins walking down the corridor, urging us to follow. Once I step into the hall, my magic immediately warms my hands.
“I thought the king was gone,”Rydian says.“We can Veil out of here. We can fight.”
“Me too. But we’ll lose the upper hand if we vanish. We need to see what the king says, and if it turns for the worst, we’ll find a way to leave together. We’ll go to Aurelia—gather the army,”I say, and he shoots me a wary glance and reluctantly nods.
Two guards follow closely behind, one walking a step ahead of Ezra as he leads us to the throne room. The sun begins to rise, casting a soft pink glow over the horizon through the windows of the castle.
Our steps create an echo as we thud down the stone corridor, stopping twenty feet from the throne. The two guards following behind us suddenly grab Rydian, pulling him off to the side. Rydian pulls back, kicking one in the chest as dark shadows form around his hands at the surge of magic.
“No! Please, Rydian. Please, don’t fight them. They can’t know who you are,”I beg, my stomach lurching with unease.
He immediately halts, his head swiveling to me, allowing them to kick his knees in, and he drops to the ground. Rydian kneels before the throne of Elderheim, arms pinned behind him.
Ezra stands to my left, and after a few minutes, King Elion steps from behind his throne, followed by Ren and Theron. Renfreezes at the sight of us, his gaze locking with mine. I give the faintest shake of my head, a warning to remain silent.
Please, please just go along with it.
Elion pauses once he notices me below the dais and then silently surveys the chamber. But I don’t bow—I refuse to give him that respect.
“Witt, what is this?” He throws out a flat smile, using Ezra’s real name, but I have a feeling he already knows. Elion eyes Ezra and then narrows his gaze as it lands on Rydian kneeling a few feet from me.
“I’m sorry.”I push the thought to Rydian, knowing exactly where this is going. He throws me a concerned look.
But I was too afraid to tell him sooner. I knew we would be taken to King Elion if we were caught. I just hoped I wouldn’t have to do this tonight, especially after finding out about the second half of the map.
Now I have no choice.
“I found these two digging through your desk. I’m happy to siphon for you, Your Majesty, should it come to that,” Ezra says.
Elion only chuckles, stroking his beard. “We’ve been waiting for your return.” He pauses long enough to look at me. “Did you think we didn’t know? With the wards I have in place, I know when someonenewsteps into my archives. Then I saw something very important to me was missing.” My stomach drops. “Tell me, Isa, which memories did you find?”
Rydian’s stare blazes into the side of my face, but I remain forward, though I know what masks his features now—betrayal. But I couldn’t say anything as a precaution to myself, not until I was certain of the truth.
And I didn’t want him to know yet.
“Isa, is that true?”Rydian asks, voice straining with hurt.“Tell me it’s not true.”But it is.
A white crystal with swirls of yellow was calling to me,buried deep into Elion’s desk when we searched the first time. Then when I went to return the first map, I stole it.
The moment the crystal touched my skin, it sent a thrumming power surging through me, and I knew then that it was mine. I finally found the courage to go to Milena two weeks ago, confirming my suspicions. She successfully placed my memories and essence back in their rightful place.
“Only the important ones,” I say, tilting my head to study the king.
“And who is that friend of yours?” He nods to Rydian, whose hood is drawn low.
Asking about Rydian only confirms that he remains unaware of who he truly is. And if we have access to our magic, Rydian should have been able to shift. I can only hope that he did.
I scoff. “He’s just some drunken fool I coerced into coming here tonight. Kill him if you must.” Elion chuckles at my response, almost as if he’s proud.
My eyes mistakenly flicker to Rydian, finding his head turned toward me, but the shadows of his hood conceal his expression. Although I know what’s there because I can feel it at the forefront of my mind, right between my eyes—pure outrage. His magic remains tucked away, no sign of his shadows.
I return my gaze to Elion, suddenly realizing that he just revealed he’s been waiting for my return. He knew we were in his archives, and nothing happened. Yet, he didn’t mention anything about his chambers or the map we stole.
