Page 41 of Malice

The truth slices through me, quick as a hot blade. I think of Mistress Lavender, who acted as though I was the cause of the animosity between myself and the other Graces. Even Laurel, though she speaks up for me from time to time, did nothing when Rose revealed my identity at Aurora’s birthday masque. Hilde is kind enough when I visit her shop, but could I run to her if I needed help? Would she stand by me if the king decided Briar had no more use for a Dark Grace? I don’t know.

“Au—” Her name snags and I clear my throat. “The princess isn’t like them.” I parcel the words out carefully, watching him for signs of disagreement. Of anger. “She wants to abolish the Grace Laws and the Grace Council when she’s queen. She wants a new Briar.”

“Does she?” Kal’s stance remains fluid and easy. His tone light. But I detect the undercurrent of disdain in the way his shadows jerk. “I hope she succeeds. But I think you will find that much is lost in the ascension of a princess to a queen. Especially a Briar Queen.” He picks up a diamond-shaped pane of charred glass and sends it sailing out of the tower, a spark of bottle-green against the backdrop of the sea. “She may not even survive to her coronation.”

That ugly thought rears its head. Queen Mariel was adamant that Aurora would find her true love and secure Leythana’s line. But what if she doesn’t? No. I don’t want to think about that. And it shouldn’t matter. I’ll be gone by then. But I can’t stop thinking about it—abouther. The way she called me Vila without revulsion. Took my arm in front of everyone.

“Do you know who cursed her?” The question wriggles its way free of my heart. “The name of the Vila wasn’t in the book you gave me.”

One eyebrow quirks. “I was wondering when you were going to ask me about that book. You have been so silent that I worried you might have sent it to join the other.” He gestures at the gap in the wall. “Could this be the reason you are embracing your Shifter magic.”

I shrug and move past him, looking out at the sea. “I’m still not sure what to believe. I only know that denying my power has brought me nothing but misery. And I won’t be a prisoner here any longer.”

“Good. But the book from Malterre was written before the war. The Vila in question was not notable then. And you will not find her in any of the books in Briar, either. She was stricken from the annals of the realm.” His shadows sharpen to spikes. Callow scuttles out of his way. “After the curse was enacted, it was treason to even utter her name.”

“But you know.”

“Even I cannot speak it.” A grim smile stretches tight across his lips.

“It’s part of the binding enchantment.” Disappointment rushes through me. “And you’re sure there’s no way to break the curse?”

“Quite sure.” Kal nods, tossing a flat stone from hand to hand. “She was a powerful one, that Vila. Bent on vengeance. Only she could undo the curse. However, even if she wanted to, it would be risky.”

“Why?”

“You know that Vila magic hinges on ill intent. Breaking a curse, even one cast with their own power, is an act of mercy. She could have tried to retract her work. But it might not have ended well.”

The briny tang of the wind smells suddenly like copper. Like the duke’s blood on my face. His death was caused by the best intentions. “And now she’s dead.”

“Not even Vila are immortal. Most of the time, their magic outlives them—as with the curse on the princess.” He holds out his arms, indicating the shadows around his wrists. “And my own enchantment.”

I blink in surprise. Had he just told me it was Vila who bound him here? But why would they have done that when their courts treated Shifters with honor?

“Do you mean…”

“That is quite enough for one evening. I would much rather spend our time teaching you how to Shift.”

I don’t want to let the subject go, but the enchantment won’t let him tell me anything else. And the curse won’t be my concern for much longer.

Kal begins pacing the perimeter of the tower. “Shifting is easy once you know how to do it. It will be more difficult for you, as a half-Shifter. But I am certain you will thrive.”

“That makes one of us,” I grumble.

“Doubt will only weaken you.” He motions for me to join him, rolling his shoulders back. “Like everything else I taught you, Shifting is about intent. Think of what you want and command your magic to do it.”

“Impossible. I would have Shifted a hundred times by now if it were that simple.”

“Why?”

“Because…because I’ve wished so often to appear…different.” Gooseflesh rises under my sleeves, recalling the hours spent in front of my mirror, detesting the reflection inside. The thousand wishes I’d whispered as a child, desperate for my looks to alter. To wake up one day and resemble the Graces. Even a regular human. Anything but what I was.

“Those are wishes. Flimsy, hollow things.” He flicks his long fingers, as if shooing an annoying gnat. “Think. Young Shifters manifest their gifts in strange ways before they fully grasp the magic, as your own blood did when you described what happened with the fountain at the palace. Has there ever been a time when you changed? Even in the slightest?”

“No.” But the answer is too immediate and my mind starts wading back through memory without my bidding. My ability to hold my breath underwater when Endlewild and the healing Graces were testing my power. The way the servants glance right over me when I eavesdrop, as if I have blended into the very walls. Even gathering the damn carrion crows’ eggs, when I can climb higher than any human ought to.

My breathing shortens. Kal reads the lines of my face.

“I thought so. You change now when you need to, at your power’s unwitting command. Butyouare in charge of your power. Not the other way around.”