Page 97 of Born of Starlight
I’d never seen such lethal intent in the Commander’s eyes. Queen Sybilla gave a quick shake of the head before he reluctantly backed down.
“This is war,” Queen Sybilla declared as she looked down at the northern crest across the star-singed chest plate of a fallen soldier and then back up to me. The guards led Elsedora away.
“Emmerick, escort Fenris back to his chamber.”
“Sybilla, you should not be alone,” Emmerick warned.
“I am not. Asterie is going to escort me to the Egress so she can ward it.”
“You’re not going anywhere near—”
“It was not a question.”
* * *
The tunnelsbelow the castle were cold, and spider webs hung overhead.
“No one bothers to clean down here,” Sybilla explained. “I fear I haven’t been the best host—I’ve now taken you to two dust-ridden parts of my home.”
I huffed a short laugh. “I don’t see why you need to accompany me, my Queen.”
“Sybilla,” she corrected.
“Sybilla, what if more soldiers come from the Egress?”
“They won’t.”
How does she know?
“The nobles in that room…do you know how many of them have thought about assassinating me?” Sybilla asked as we turned a corner of the tunnels.
That’s an odd question.My mouth hung agape.
Some nobles had stood to protect her tonight, but othershadfled…
“Let’s just say—a lot of them. Many did not want me as their Queen—they thought my cousin Haward would be a better fit. But lucky for me, not many of them actually have the gall to follow through, and some even grew to like me.”
I stopped as we neared two guards standing in front of an Egress—the stone cut away enough to fit only one man at a time.
“Leave us,” Sybilla commanded the guards who stood at the Egress.
Once the guards had stepped out of earshot, I asked, “Sybilla, how do you know what they have thought?”
“The same way you conjure prophecies and paths.”
“You are an Oracle?”
“No, I’m an Empath. At least from what I’ve read of them.”
My arms were limp at my sides as I stared wide-eyed at the young Queen who had just openly admitted to having Reverist magic.
“Elsedora did not open the Egress, but someone in that room did. I heard the imposter’s thoughts before they fled, but I couldn’t figure out who it was. Their thoughts indicated that this attack was only meant to scare us—to frighten my nobles out of supporting me.”
She’d put her trust in me, and I would do the same. “I can’t use the moonstone tomorrow—it will not answer to me any longer.”
“I know—you should really learn to ward your thoughts.” Sybilla leaned against a dusty wall. “Speaking of wards, why don’t you take care of this Egress, and I’ll share what I think we should do next.”
Chapter28
