Page 24 of A Court So Dark
CHAPTER 9
DANIELLA
“Ow.”Iwiggledmyjaw from side to side and massaged it. Placing my fingers on each side of my face, I slowly allowed healing magic to seep in and take away the dull ache.
“I’m sorry I had to do that,” Arabis said, “but you lost it.”
“Did you have to sock me? You could haveSusurrome instead.”
“I don’t do that to my friends.”
“You do it to Kalyll all the time when he loses it.”
“He asked me to. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize.” I sighed as the pain dissolved. “I deserved it.”
More than ever, I was sure that the Envoy was a trickster demon. True, I had been desperate to learn where Cardian was keeping Kalyll, but there had been more to it, some sort of compulsion caused by the creature, something I had been unable to control.
While I was unconscious, Arabis and the others brought me back to Cylea’s room in the Vine Tower, and so we were back right where we’d started, with no idea of where to begin our search.
“What are our options now?” I slumped on an armchair by the fireplace and looked to the others for answers.
Larina was sitting at the edge of a table. Cylea lounged on the bed, her posture unconcerned, although her pinched face revealed the opposite. Jeondar, Kryn, and Silver stood close to the open window, while Arabis paced by the door.
“I still can’t get over the Envoy’s trickery,” Silver said, running a hand through his platinum-colored hair. Moonlight came down in shafts through the window, making the short strands shine. “They always warn you about going over two questions, but they could have been more specific about what would happen if you did.”
“No kidding,” Cylea rolled onto her stomach, kicking her feet up. “Maybe no one ever got out of there alive to share the details.”
“Very likely,” Jeondar put in.
“How do we find him now?” I insisted.
I didn’t care about the Envoy anymore. That avenue was shot. If I lost more than two days of a very long life, I didn’t care anymore. I only wanted to figure out where to find Kalyll.
“Word is being spread out across the kingdom,” Jeondar said. “Everyone—soldiers, dignitaries, guards, spies—they all have instructions to keep an eye out. Sooner or later, we’ll hear something.” I knew he was trying, but there was no confidence in his voice. He didn’t believe what he was saying.
“Sooner or later isn’t good enough,” I said. “What about Shadow? Has anyone talked to her? Was she able to find out anything?”
“I wouldn’t put your hopes on asprite,” Kryn said.
The way he saidspritesounded dismissive as if nothing could ever be expected from someone so tiny and inconsequential in his view. On the table, Larina shifted uncomfortably from side to side.
“Don’t be an ass, Kryn,” I snapped.
“I’m not being an ass. I’m just…” At a sidelong look from Arabis, he seemed to shift gears. “I… I’m just trying to say that we should think of somethingwecan do other than waiting.”
I knew that wasn’t what he’d been about to say, but I couldn’t disagree with him and had to give him credit for amending his attitude. It was more than he would’ve done when I first met him.
Halfway to opening my mouth to say something, a tiny knock came at the door. Arabis opened it, and as if I’d conjured the sprite with my words and thoughts, Shadow flew in on translucent wings, a determined expression on her fierce face.
Cylea jumped off the bed, reclined on one of the posts, and crossed her arms. “We were just talking about you. Any news?”
Shadow inclined her head in the affirmative.
I jumped to my feet, too. “What have you learned?”
The sprite looked down at me from where she hovered a couple of feet above my head. Due to her all-black eyes, it was impossible to judge what she was thinking. How much did she know about me? Had Queen Eithne told her who I really was?
