Page 64 of The Stolen Throne
Damn, the man is stubborn.
I fling a hand at Bene. “Use your power on him, too. You have a Devourer telling you that story is true and an amulet in front of your face that I’m telling you does things.” Realizing I’m almost yelling, I take a breath and quiet my voice. “Eidolon has an amulet, too. He gave it to my sister as a betrothal gift. Other than the color, it’s identical to this one.”
Now is not the time to mention that I wore it as well for months.
That last bit falls into a deep well of utter silence, the zariph’s jaw working like he’s chewing on words he wants to hurl at me.
I chance a quick glance at Reven. Shadow knew. We discussed it when we were trying to rescue my sister from the king. At the time, I thought I was speaking with Reven, but Shadow was in charge. I guess Reven heard.
I hold up my amulet. “We need to find out if Aryd is in here.”
The zariph leans back, arms crossed, expression mulish. “And if she is?”
“Then we find out why. I think that ghost of the king told me that story because it’s connected to Eidolon and why he’s been doing what he has. We need more information.” I give the zariph a hard look and deliberately quote a Wanderer proverb. “You have to know your enemy before you can defeat your enemy.”
“Meren’s right,” Reven says.
I blink. I am? I’ve been waiting for him to side with the others. To tell me this is a terrible idea. Instead, he’s backing me.
Cain rounds on him, voice rife with accusation. “Do you always agree with her just to get on her good side?”
Reven says nothing.
I, on the other hand, throw a glare in my best friend’s direction. “Do you realize that in always trying to protect me, you’re only holding me back?”
Hurt flashes across his features, and I want to take it back, but I lose the chance as everyone else pipes in.
After that, the discussion—and discussion is a loose term—takes a while, but in the end, I get my way. A small group of us will travel to the Shadowood to see if the library is intact and has any answers.
As the group breaks up, most of them going to help clean up the aftermath of Bene’s rampage, I watch Reven as he leaves. The way he doesn’t even look at me, like I’m no longer important enough even to nod a goodbye to…that hurts, an ache blooming inside me.
Pride helpfully steps in, straightening my spine.
Cain stops at the tent flaps and looks back. He must see something in my face, because he tilts his head at me in question. He used to do that when we were kids, too.
“I’m fine,” I tell him. “You?”
I know he’s still angry about earlier. “Right as rain, Mer. I’ll always have your back.” He flashes me a cocky grin. “Even when you’re wrong.”
I roll my eyes, and he chuckles as he leaves the tent.
Bene follows me back to the space that is my room. I’m so tired at this point that I could sleep for a week. At least we’re not moving the camp today—thanks to my Devourer friend’s destruction, we can’t—so I won’t have to sleep on horseback.
Goddess, I’m tired.
As I lay on the pallet they provided for sleep and the Devourer settles beside me, I think over the plan. Tomorrow we’ll start preparations for a group to go to the Shadowood. My eyes are drifting shut when I suddenly remember a question that’s been bothering me. “Bene, how did you get past the walls at our borders? You said you’d been trying.”
The Devourer tips his head. “Through a crack in the glass.”
28
The Things
We Don’t See
The walls are cracking.
As if I wasn’t dealing with enough already.
