Page 48 of A Court So Dark
“Certain.”
The false king’s shoulders seemed to shrink as he started pacing the length of the dais. “Were the others with him?”
“I didn’t see them,” Varamede and I answered in unison.
We swapped mean glowers. Maybe, I could kill him now. He had served his purpose and had delivered a convincing message to Cardian. I looked down at his hands. All I had to do was reach over and…
Stop!
I slammed Dark Dani back. She was a real murderer, that one. How could she make killing someone seem pleasurable? I had sworn an oath to protect and save lives. I couldn’t go around killing everyone who looked at me the wrong way.
He would killyouif he thought he could get away with it.
Very true. In fact, I had no doubt that as soon as Cardian got tired of me, Varamede would release the mother of all thunderstorms on me.
“There’s no way he escaped,” Cardian said, sticking his hand in the right pocket of his trousers. “He’s well guarded. Isolated.”
“What if someone helped him?” Varamede asked.
Cardian’s blue eyes snapped to his pet thunderlord. “No one would want to. No one would dare.” He paused, seemed conflicted for a short moment, then made a snap decision. “I need to make sure.”
As I noticed the change in his expression, I made a snap decision of my own. Following my instincts, I took a step forward and grabbed Cardian’s arm. I knew my hunch had paid off when I felt the throne room dissolve around me, its walls melting down to the floor like candle wax. A familiar dizzying feeling took hold of me, and I fought to stay upright as my stomach flipped.
In the next instant, we re-materialized and, for a short instant, I had the glimpse of a peaceful meadow carpeted with thousands of dandelions. I knew instantly I was in my realm, passing through. The land seemed to pull on my blood and whisperyou belong here. The sensation only lasted for one precious second, and then we were dissolving again, and when we reappeared, we were in a drab room with gray, sooty walls and only the glow of a dozen half-spent candles illuminating the space.
It all happened in under a second, too fast to keep my head on straight and answer Cardian when he whirled on me and shook his arm off my grip.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“I… I… what happened?” I glanced around, feigning surprise and ignorance. “Did you transfer? Oh, no. I hate transferring.” I pressed a hand to my stomach, letting my face show how sick I felt. I didn’t have to fake that. My heart was hammering, and my nerves were making me feel nauseous. It really didn’t pay to slam Dark Dani down. I let her out again.
My surprise and confusion served me well, however. Cardian batted a hand in my direction, then walked toward a dilapidated wooden door.
“Stay here,” he ordered me. “It won’t take me but a minute, and we’ll go back to Elyndell right away.”
“Thank Erilena.” I invoked the goddess they all do even though I know nothing about this deity, then wrinkled my nose and glanced around the room. “I don’t think I like it here.”
“What is there not to like?” Cardian managed to sound amused despite his obvious tension. “Take a seat on that lovely chair while you wait.” He pointed at a dusty rickety thing with a moth-eaten seat cushion, which would probably collapse under the weight of a newborn.
I rolled my eyes, and he finally left the room, smiling, as if pleased with his own wit.
As soon as he disappeared through the door, I discarded my shoes on the decrepit chair—sending a cloud of dust flying into the air—and went after him. As an afterthought, I also tore the veil off my face and threw it to the stone floor.
CHAPTER 17
DANIELLA
Ipeeredcarefullyoutthe door and into a dark corridor. Sparse fairy lights illuminated the area. From the dank smell of things, we were in some sort of subterranean place, somewhere beneath a major structure, I decided.
The sounds of steps and an elongated shadow in the distance let me know Cardian had gone right. I took several silent, tentative steps, and when I was certain I could move stealthily, I hurried after him, leaving a safe enough distance between us. I passed many closed doors and could only hope no poor souls were locked behind them. The air hung thick with what felt like fear and despair.
The passages wound intricately. I prayed no one would see me and was glad for the apparent seclusion and gloominess. Of course, they would keep Kalyll in the bowels of some derelict quarters no one wanted to visit, some depressing place that would slowly steal his hope.
As I started to go around a corner, I perceived Cardian’s head swiveling to check over his shoulder. I jumped back and hid, holding my breath, back pressed tightly against the wall. I waited a long minute, then carefully peered again.
He was gone. No sight of him.
“Dammit,” I cursed under my breath and tiptoed forward.
