Page 13 of A Court So Dark
There was great relief in her voice. I still didn’t know where their tumultuous relationship stood, but at least she didn’t want him dead.
“And… Kalyll? Where is he?” I asked, a smile starting on my lips at the thought of him.
“He… um…” Arabis shook her head, unable to finish.
The smile never developed, and the tears that had gathered in my eyes spilled, streaking down my cheeks. Was he dead?
“I think he’s fine,” Cylea blurted out. “I mean… as fine as anyone who’s been kidnapped by his vengeful brother can be.”
“Kidnapped?”
Cylea nodded.
An odd mixture of relief and panic assaulted me. The relief dried my tears immediately, while the panic sent my heart into a frenzy and slowly started morphing into anger.
“Cardian stabbed Kryn.” I placed a hand on my neck.
“We know.” Arabis nodded. “He told us what happened. Cardian wanted to take you, and when he couldn’t, he went for Kalyll instead.”
“He’s going to… kill him. We have to find them.”
Once more, everyone went silent.
I extricated my hand from Arabis and jumped off the bed. “We have to go now. He may not have long.” I chose to believe Kalyll was still alive, but I also understood that Cardian could kill him at any moment. “Where are the others? We need everyone. Silver, Jeondar. I’ll finish healing Kryn if he needs it.”
Everyone stared at me blankly.
“Why are you just standing there?” I demanded.
“Well,” Arabis shook her head, a maddening sadness in her eyes, “we don’t know where to look. Cardian has a transfer token. We’ve searched everywhere already, but he has eluded us thus far.”
“No,” I said emphatically. “That’s just…” I didn’t know what it was, only that I couldn’t accept it. “There has to be a way to track him.”
Larina, who had been hovering by the foot of the bed, frowned as she noticed something and flew toward a small table partially tucked behind an armchair. Suddenly becoming flustered, she hurried back on whirring wings, waving her little arms.
“What is it, Larina?” Cylea asked.
The pixie pressed a finger to her lips, urging us to be quiet, then pointed frantically toward the table.
With a frown, Cylea walked over. Arabis and I moved closer. Cylea placed her hands behind her back and leaned forward to examine the small figurine, eyeing it with a sneer. She glanced in my direction and pointed at it. Her expression seemed to askdo you recognize this?
I shook my head. I’d never seen it before.
Larina flew to Cylea’s ear and leaned in to whisper something. Cylea’s eyebrows went up. Larina then zipped toward the clock on the mantel and pointed at a small knob on top of it. Understanding her meaning, Cylea approached the clock and twisted the knob.
Orange tendrils of energy emanated from the device and quickly swept across the room. They scoured every corner, going in and out of the adjacent washroom and closet. One tendril came to rest at the small table. There, it gave up its search. The rest of the tendrils continued flitting around the room, but when they got to the table, they also stopped. Quickly, every bit of luminous energy had gathered there by the small crystal bird, illuminating it in sharp relief.
Cylea sighed loudly. “I don’t know about you, but all this midnight excitement has made me hungry and thirsty. Larina, is there anything good in the kitchen that we can pillage.”
“A thing or two,” she said, catching on quickly.
“I can eat,” I said.
We all filed out of the room without saying another word. Instead of going to the kitchen, Cylea led the way to her chamber where she twisted a knob in one of the fairy-light sconces, and similar tendrils of energy crisscrossed the room, checking for anything that wasn’t supposed to be there. When every inch of the place had been examined, the magic returned to the sconce, a clear indication that it hadn’t found anything out of place. We were free to speak again.
“That good-for-nothing left a mole to spy on us,” Cylea spat. “Did we say anything he can use against us?”
“I don’t think so,” Arabis said after a moment’s thought.
