Page 30 of Echoes of the Raven
My head jerks in her direction. “What?”
“Leave it.” She points at the opal in my hand, then at the desk.
“It’s mine,” I tell her, even though I sense it’s the wrong thing to say.
“It’s a security risk, Val. I will make sure it is stored safely until the time we decide what to do with it.”
“I’ve kept it safe for over a decade,” I say. “I can manage.”
She stands and stretches to her full height, watching me warily.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I demand. “You don’t think I would try to… use it against you, do you?”
She doesn’t answer, doesn’t immediately say,Of course not, Val, you’re my sister. I know you would never do that.
Instead, she says, “If you won’t, you will have no trouble leaving it with me.”
I shake my head, a host of bitter emotions filling my chest. “You honestly think I would do such a thing?”
Again, she doesn’t answer, but she holds my gaze unflinchingly as I scrutinize her face in challenge.
My first instinct is to tell her I will be the one keeping The Eldrystone safe, but something about her expression makes me pause. Behind her boldness, I see the fear she’s trying to hide. Orys took over her mind and used her like one would a soulless marionette. For weeks, she did things she wasn’t aware of, and since she regained control, it has been her sole responsibility to repair the fallout.
I have no idea what she has been dealing with since I was abducted, but I can only imagine how hard it has been, doing everything alone. Without Father, without me, without even Emerito—her adviser. The council expressed doubts about her ability to govern Castella while she was under Orys’s control, and I’m sure that, after what happened at the ball, their scrutiny has intensified. She already has enough worries without me adding to them, without fearing I might try to usurp her position. It’s the most ridiculous notion she could ever entertain, but everything considered, I can’t blame her for it.
Besides, the Eldrystone is nothing but a mystery to me, and I wouldn’t have the faintest idea how to use it to open the veil. And even if I did, reconnecting the two realms isn’t my decision to make—not to mention that doing so may mean more problems than those we faced when the veil collapsed.
“You’re right,” I say. “It’s no trouble to leave the amulet with you. In truth, it’s yours as much as it is mine. If it remained with me after Mother died, it was by mere accident.”
I walk to the desk and place the opal there, finding it difficult to let it go, but telling myself it’s for the best.
“Keep it safe,” I add, walking toward the door.
“The vault will serve well for now,” she says, looking relieved and offering me a conciliatory smile.
I pause. “That reminds me,” I say. “You… I mean… Orys took my Plumanegra key. I would like to have it back.”
“Of course,” she nods. “I will find it and return it to you.”
“Thank you.”
I leave and walk past the four guards Capitán Quiñones left outside the door. Two of them follow me, and I’m comforted by their presence until I’m reminded of Guardia Bastien Mora and his lies. I always thought of Nido as the safest fortress in all of the realm, but thatimpression has been shattered. I wonder if I’ll ever feel safe in my own home again.
Not with Rífíor only a few floors below you, you won’t, the most sardonic part of me quips.
13
VALERIA
“Damn Veilfallen! They took my betrothed. She was the prettiest of the two sisters, and I had hoped to make her queen. Now what?”
Don Justo Ramiro Medrano - Master Mason - 21 AV
Iget three hours of sleep before my eyes spring open with the first rays of sunlight that slip through the open balcony doors. I’m curled up into a tight ball, the covers gathered around me.
Summer is slipping away, and the nights are becoming cooler—not the time of the year to let the night air waltz into the room. I didn’t have the presence of mind to close the balcony before crawling into bed, or even to add another log to the fire.
The only advantage is that Cuervo was able to come into the room and is now perched on the back of an armchair. When he realizes I’m awake, he swoops down and lands on the bed next to me.
