Page 134 of Amidst the Insidious Courts
“Perhaps you were studying,” I finish for him, making the snap decision. “I’m sure you both spend a lot of time doing that together, given that you’re both such keen readers.”
“Oooh, are we keeping secrets now?” Lore grins. “I love secrets. One can never tell when they’ll just pop out…”
“This one won’t.” I pin him with a look. “It’s none of our business.”
The relief that crosses both of their faces is immediate. Ciara actually clutches the desk to remain upright.
“He is my everything,” she murmurs, not meeting my eyes. “Nicnevin, I haven’t been completely honest with you. You need to—”
The loud clanging of a bell peals through the room, cutting off whatever she might’ve said. It’s so loud that Lore’s cap transforms into a pair of earmuffs to save me from the ear-splitting noise.
“What’s going on?” I ask the second it finishes.
Ciara has gone slightly grey as she answers. “My father has returned.”
Forty-Two
Bricriu
Ishould be at the ball. Rose will be missing me, but I swear this time I saw… My forked black tongue darts out of my mouth, tasting the air. In response, my ears flatten against my skull.
Sloe gin and rosin.
He’s real. He’s here.
I’m frozen in place for a second before I take off after him at a run. The corridors are deserted but for the gilded portraits staring down at me as I sprint after him. It feels like I’m moving through quicksand, chasing after the figure in a sunny yellow silk waistcoat, who’s walking away calmly.
“Wait!” I demand, the lone word echoing off the walls.
He just keeps walking as though he can’t hear me. I’m close enough now that I can see the slits up the side of his cerulean trousers flapping, revealing a familiar cluster of dice tattoos—all of them rigged.
He turns, taking a corner. I reach it seconds later, hand outstretched to grab his shoulder and force him to face me.
Nothing.
He’s gone.
The noise that escapes my throat is pure frustration as I survey the darkened hall. Creeping vines are everywhere, casting shadows that make it difficult to discern the shape of a person. Running my hand across my ribs, I lean on Naris’s eyesight, my pupils dilating to allow me better vision.
He’s not here.
Wait. There’s a door open a way down on the left.
I stride towards it, readying my magic. The best way to counter my father’s power is to steal the sound so he can’t form words and avoid eye contact. I have all my blocks in place, but if I’m caught off guard again, like I was last time… No. Better to be safe.
The noise of my own footsteps disappears as I summon a bubble of pure silence around me in all directions, stepping round the doorway with my hand already holding one of my daggers.
Flash.
Blinding light hits me so fast that I recoil, hissing as my sensitive eyes are burned. I strike out blindly, only for my arm to be caught in a larger hand. The touch burns, my body revolting. All I can see is the giant sunspot in my vision.
Blind panic takes over before I can think better of it. I flail, stabbing outward. There’s no sound to tell me if I managed to connect the blow, but the hand on my arm grips me tighter, and someone snaps a burning iron manacle onto the trapped limb.
My magic abandons me in a rush. Sound returns, and with it the cursing of several fae.
“Get his other arm.”
I have no daggers now. My ears are gone. That doesn’t mean I make it easy for them as they force me to my knees on the floor, wrestling my free arm behind my back with touches that scald my skin.
