Page 37 of Splintered Shadow
She hummed. “How about wings? Am I going to grow wings?”
“Unlikely. Bond abilities manifest differently. Wings are common with the karu.”
“Can you fly?”
“No. They are mainly defensive.” In the past, he had glided from heights, but it was a difficult maneuver. “You will share senses with the void beast.”
“Thoughts? Like a telepathic link?”
“Impressions and emotions. The older the creature, the more complex the thoughts. A hatchling such as him, you can expect base emotions.”
“Hungry. Tired. Alone,” she said, repeating what she already sensed.
“In time, the bond will strengthen. You will develop the ability to manipulate shadow and light.” He held up a hand to demonstrate, letting the shadows swallow up the light until only a single bulb over the table provided illumination.
“That is cool.”
He should not preen at such praise, but as he recalled the shadows with a thought, his chin lifted ever so slightly in delight. Pitch echoed the praise with warmth and affection for her hatchling.
“I will have to inform the king of this development,” he said.
The beast in her lap gave a sleepy whine. It jumped to the floor and circled her chair before settling down beneath it. Its legs and tail poked out from underneath.
“You make that sound like a bad thing,” she said.
Pitch perched on the back of his chair. Absently, he fed the berries from his plate to her, one by one.
“It is complicated, but you must know this—I am blind in my front eyes. Your observation was correct.” He waited for sympathy, an empty platitude about still being capable or incorrect wisdom that his other senses would compensate for the loss. She said nothing, allowing him to explain his condition without those burdens. “A year ago, I was attacked. Acid was thrown in my face. I lost almost all my vision. The medics say I may regain some vision in time, but currently, it is only vague shapes and some color.”
“Is that why your front eyes are cloudy?” she asked.
“Presumably. My medic tells me it is mostly healed. I have spent the last year here, recovering.”
“Thank you for sharing that with me.”
He disliked exposing his vulnerabilities, but she needed to understand. He said, “The king is my brother. He may have ordered the attack on me. I cannot be certain.”
“Oh.” For once, she had no words.
“Politics hold no interest for me, but the spiders spinning their webs at court do not care for my desires. I have… I had a successful military career. If I wanted to seize the throne from my brother, I would have the backing of the military. It is only logical that Baris would remove me as a threat.” Suspicions he had not dared to utter for a year tumbled out of him. He felt relieved, like a poison had been purged.
“This is your brother? Would he do that?”
He did not wish to explain the last century of brutal political maneuvering to gain the throne. “There is no room for sentimentality in politics. If Baris did not give the order, then someone took it upon themselves to remove a potential threat. Or perhaps the goal was to sow mistrust between us? It does not matter.”
“Agree to disagree there,” she said, picking at the remaining berries on her plate. She tossed one to Pitch, who snatched it midair. Another went to the void beast under her chair. “So you’re telling me all this because…”
“Because you will be a tool or a symbol. Perhaps both. You bear the royal mark. You arrived at a holy site. You bonded with a void beast.”
“Coincidence.”
“One is a coincidence. Two is chance. Three could be fate, if that is the message the king wishes to send.” Separately, they were nothing. Together, they were a tool.
“Well, that’s a lot to take in,” she said. “Thank you for explaining it to me. It can’t be nice badmouthing your brother.”
Badmouthing. She had such an unpolished way with words. The predators that roosted at the court would circle her, looking for any weakness. Sarah would shine like a rough gem at court or crumble under pressure.
The security system alerted him to the medic’s arrival.
