Page 86 of The Iron Hex

Eira smiled, knowing the sweet mead was for her. Sure, it was a small preference to remember, but Eira felt like she was being seen in a way she hadn’t been in a long time.

Hugo handed Eira a sweet berry-colored mead before grabbing the other two and heading to the table in the corner Evangeline had grabbed for them. Thankfully, in the boisterous space she had managed to secure a relatively private table in an alcove.

They had made it; Luwha was just a few minutes away, and they were closer than ever to the answers Eira was looking for.She looked at Evangeline and Hugo as they both watched the bard play, a pang of yearning for Cilirien seeping into the moment.

What if Viscountess Eira was someone Eira Eckhart didn’t like? Eira didn’t know what to expect when her memory was unlocked. Evangeline and Hugo seemed to think Eira would be whole again, the version of her that they had always known back in full force. Eira wondered how much of her would stay as she was now.

Hugo’s words from her afternoon crying in the bath rang through her head: that as Eira Eckhart, she had become the best version of herself, the version of herself without the weight of being a viscountess on her shoulders. Would that weight return, along with her memories?

Hugo placed a hand on Eira’s thigh, rubbing circles with his thumb on the lush green fabric of her skirt.

She watched him, golden tanned skin brighter than it had been when they’d met. Hugo had mentioned that he couldn’t sleep well, but he’d been sleeping next to her perfectly fine. His dark hair flopped over his eyes and fell to his shoulders as he turned away from her to keep watching the bard play. Eira wondered if Viscountess Eira had felt as strongly for him as she felt now. She wondered how much of what she was feeling was seeded deep in the back of her mind. What would change when she got her memories back tomorrow?

Eira desperately hoped it wasn’t her feelings for Hugo that would change. In Hugo’s arms she felt safe, despite his history.ThisEira knew he’d changed, that he wouldn’t forgive himself for what he’d done—but she could forgive him. She could be with him just as he was.

“I want to talk to you both about something,” Evangeline said abruptly, running her long fingers over each groove in the wooden stein she’d been given.

Eira looked up, breaking out of her spiral about her memories and glancing quickly at Hugo before saying something.

“Is everything all right?” Eira asked.

“I want to tell you something, but I don’t have all of the answers. So I need you to understand that if I’m not able to answer your questions, it’s because I still need answers too,” Evangeline replied.

“We understand,” Hugo said, gathering his hair at the nape of his neck and tying it with the ribbon he kept in his coat pocket.

“I’ve been thinking about the failing crops and Lord General Kerrigan’s goal to invade Corisia,” Evangeline continued. “My father told me about something before the Iron Empire overthrew us, something he said he would tell me more about once the rebellion had been quashed. He said if we weren’t careful and pragmatic, we’d lose Astra, and everyone in it.”

“Did he say what it was?” Hugo’s brow furrowed in confusion; he’d clearly never heard anything about this from the lord general.

“He said nothing,” Evangeline answered, leaning back in her chair. “Which was, honestly, unusual for him... so it must have been something very sensitive for him to have withheld it from me.”

“How do we get the information he was hiding? He’s dead,” Hugo said, and Eira assumed it was without thinking, though it didn’t stop her from cringing at his bluntness.

“And whose fault is that?” Evangeline glared daggers at Hugo.

“I didn’t kill the kingorthe queen, Evangeline,” Hugo answered.

They stared murderously at each other for too long, a silent battle playing out in front of Eira. Would they keep arguing, or keep her happy? She could fix this.

“It’s a good question, though. How do we find out what he was waiting to tell you?” Eira chimed in.

Evangeline looked at Eira and then back at Hugo, indecision clear in her eyes.

“There’s something in the palace that the Iron Empire hasn’tfound, isn’t there?” Eira gasped, hand to her mouth. It was so obvious once she said it out loud. Of course the king had kept something hidden under lock and key.

“Don’t be so loud,” Evangeline hissed.

“I highly doubt there’s a corner of the castle we hadn’t found,” Hugo said dryly.

“We?” Evangeline cocked her eyebrow.

“You know what I mean.” Hugo waved his hand.

“There is. Only I know how to access it and I need to be in the castle in order to get to it,” Evangeline said, ignoring him.

“Shit,” Hugo and Eira sighed simultaneously.

“If it’s as bad as my father made it out to be, well, it just makes it all the more important that we handle the Iron Empire. He made it sound like it was the world ending, and I can’t help but feel like all of these crop failures and poisoned rivers we’ve been hearing about have something to do with it.”