Page 96 of Savage Is My Kingdom

She was out there somewhere in the world, alone,scared. I clenched my fists.

“Where did she go, and how do we get her back before the king discovers we’ve lost her?”

“I don’t know.”

And if Zorander Vayle didn’t know, then we were in serious trouble.

“I’ll check the city.” It struck me that finding her could be an impossible task, given none of us understood how powerful the Fae King’s magic was, since the bastard always kept such a tight leash on his power.

For all I knew, she was across the Shoaling Sea right now, far out of our reach.

“You check the Keep.” I told Zor, before checking our surroundings. A collared slave giving the king’s commander an order would be grounds for a whipping, and I could not afford the time it would take to heal.

But Zor just nodded, his face tight. “You check the city. I’ll get word to you if I find her first.”

“I will do the same.”

* * *

Two hours later,I found Anaria stumbling toward the city wall, shaking from head to toe, white as a ghost.

When she caught sight of me, she went sheet white, but only straightened her shoulders, as if facing me was not the worst horror she’d endured today. I reached out to take her arm, she pulled away, but not before I glimpsed her burned, blistered hands.

“Torin’s throne. What creature is it made from?”

“Let’s get you back to the Keep, Anaria.” I kept my voice down. People were already staring, and a slave touching a High Fae was…grounds for a whipping.

Touching the Shadow King’s daughter…I’d probably be hung.

“No.” She shook her head, and kept shaking it, backing away as if caught in a dream. “The throne in the seer’s room. What creature was that?”

I hesitated. I could throw her over my shoulder and carry her back to the Keep, but I’d end up on the gallows for sure.

“I’ve never seen Torin’s throne.” I lied.

“You’ve been part of this since the beginning. You’ve been in that room. Tell me, Raziel.” Her gaze narrowed, the sun washing all the color from her eyes. “This is important. You have every right to be pissed at me, every right, but I have to know. Right now.”

There was an edge of hysteria to her, her eyes wild, her hands gripping the front of her dress. Other than her burned palms, she seemed unhurt, and while I wanted to check her over to make sure, she was too skittish to let me get too close.

“Why do you want to know?” I kept my voice down. Torin’s throne…wasn’t exactly a secret, nor was it something readily bandied about. And why was she asking about this now?

The hair on the back of my neck rose. “Where did you go, Anaria?”

“Torin’s throne room. For a meeting with the Oracle.”

I gaped at her; not sure I’d heard her right.

I was about to call bullshite on her claim when I saw the tears lining her eyes, the tight lines on either side of her mouth, the way her bottom lip trembled. No, running into me today was not the worst thing she’d experienced. I reached for her and this time, she came willingly, let me guide her in the direction of the Keep.

Once I knew she was safe, I’d answer every question she had.

“Is your magic under control?” I asked carefully while we made our way toward Blackcastle, feeding a tendril of healing power into her.

If Anaria’s power wasn’t under control, we should be heading for the fields, not the crowded city in case the magic exploded again. Not to mention once her father found out she’d claimed it, we were all dead.

“No. I think…I used it all up getting to Tempeste. And no, I don’t know how I did that and the Oracle gave me some vague explanation that made no sense.”

I didn’t know where to start with that.

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