Page 58 of The Blade in the Ashes
Time passed without meaning as I stared at the fire crackling in the hearth, unable to do much more than pick at my nails and turn over what Caldrius had said.
He was right, and he wasn’t the first person to point it out.
I acted without thinking.
I’d stood up against the Dragon because I knew I was more powerful than he was. I’d agreed to stay in this castle because I had foolishly thought my powers would come back, and I could fight back against Hyrax. All this time, I’d used my magic as a crutch that enabled me to do what I felt was right without having to consider anything else. And now, without those powers, I had absolutely nothing to fall back on.
You have never truly been powerless.
I wondered whether Clay still felt that way?
Because Iwaspowerless now.
A gentle tap sounded at the door, and my attention snapped to the windows where the sun was setting. I’d been sitting in front of this fire for hours already.
“Come in,” I called out, waving to the table in the parlor where I typically had my meals arranged. “You can place it there.”
The servant at the door bowed and pushed in the tray of food, allowing the suite door to swing closed behind him. I studied his movements as he began unloading dishes and organizing them without any real pattern onto the table.
My eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“A woman usually brings my meals,” I mused, reaching for the blade I’d hidden under my chair.
He was tall, with dark hair and sun-kissed skin. He wore the typical, simple champagne tunic and matching trousers of the kitchen staff, but he stood taller and moved more self-assuredly than they did.
And when he finished setting the table, he turned and looked me directly in my eyes.
I lurched to my feet, dagger in hand and outstretched.
“Who are you?” I demanded.
“Thea.” Dark eyes sparkled as they scanned over me, lingering on the blade before his lips quirked into an amused smile. “I needed to speak with you, and this was the only way.”
A strange tension filled my blood, and my grasp on the dagger wavered. I didn’t recognize the voice, and yet, I’d seen that smile before. Someone else had spoken my name in that cadence before.
It was impossible.
“Veric?” I breathed, not quite believing it.
His eyes scanned the room, checking to see if anyone else was lingering in the shadows, before he nodded, and the illusion fell. The jawline sharpened, the hair shortened, the skin darkened in complexion just a little.
And then my former betrothed was standing before me, tension obvious in his frame and urgency in his eyes. “I had a Faerie help cloak me. We don’t have much time.”
I glanced nervously towards the door, painfully aware of the guards that lingered outside. I grabbed his hand, pulling him further into the bedroom, out of sight in case the door should burst open.
“Time for what?”
He took the blade from my hands, setting it aside before meeting my gaze and slowly lowering himself to one knee before me.
My fingers began to tremble in his grip, my heart already recognizing what my mind couldn’t seem to grasp.
“What are you doing?”
“I would like to pledge my allegiance to you as my Queen.”
My mouth dried as a pressure slapped down on my chest. The firmness of his hand holding mine was all that kept me from stumbling backwards as the pounding of my heart became a drumbeat echoing through me.
No, he couldn’t.
