Page 29 of Born of Starlight
“In a few minutes. I’ll make a normal brew for your friend in there. Are you and she…romantically involved?” It was a throwaway question, but it burned in me to know.
Emmerick crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “My heart belongs to another.”
Though I could have pressed the question, I wasn’t petty enough to inquire further about who his heart belonged to. Emmerick nodded toward the bedchamber. “My Queen asked me to escort Lady Asterie to you. Asterie thinks she can unbind you.”
Unbind me.The thought made a shiver run down my spine—I deserved no such luxury.
“And how did you two come to find me?”
The boy rocked forward and back, seemingly trying to avoid sharing more. “We didn’t find you. You found us.”
Clever boy. I smirked. “How did you know I was alive?”
“Queen Wymark believed you to be still alive. Asterie’s prophecies led her to contact the Queen, who sent us to find you. So, here we are—running the Queen’s errands and narrowly avoiding being eaten alive twice in one night…”
Prophecies were untrustworthy.They’d always given me goosebumps.
So the enchantress did have Reverist bloodlines. I’d guessed it when she mentioned a prophecy earlier. Oracles and other mind magic-wielders were rare even when I’d still been in the courts. To possess Source magic and abilities as an Oracle—now that was strange. I could understand why they felt the need to hide her away.
Even with an Oracle involved, they were grasping at nothing. Their prophecy had not revealed enough. If it had, they would know to stay far away from here.
“Do you trust that was the right choice—seeking me out?”
“I warned that it seemed risky, but Queen Sybilla convinced me that it was worth the risk for even the slightest chance at saving the Corridor.”
“You aren’t wrong to distrust me,” I noted. The Commander’s shoulders relaxed in response to my validation. “As a Constable, do you think a war is coming?”
The boy ran a hand down his face. “I’ve heard rumors from other courts that radical groups exist in all the Corridors. Some of those groups believe we should open the Wastelands.”
My brow rose. “‘Open the Wastelands.’ As in allowing who is beyond their borders out?”
That rip in the ward, and the men stepping free, suddenly made sense. If my suspicions yielded true, the realm was in imminent danger.
When the Commander nodded his response, I grimaced.
“I am afraid that even I couldn’t protect you against the forces bound there.” I sighed. “Who leads them?”
“No one knows. But as tensions grow, trust in the Order is dwindling.”
“What is the Order you speak of?”
“You’re aware of the High Enchantresses?” Emmerick expertly answered my question with a question as he pointed to my history volumes.I probably should have read those more carefully.
“Vaguely, yes…though I was never in the courts while they ruled.”
Emmerick nodded and paused as if trying to calculate something in his head.
“I’m five hundred—give or take,” I answered the unasked question. “I’ve been here for four hundred of those years.”
The boy straightened uneasily before nodding.
“Well, the High Enchantresses maintain peace and order. They ensure nothing threatens the realm. They’re among the last remaining wielders of Source magic in Henosis, with the exception of King Mattock. The Order was a law established hundreds of years ago that prevents magic from growing strong in the realm again.”
“So Source magic—it’s almost vanished entirely under these orders?”
The boy Commander gritted his teeth.What’s the boy trying to hide?
“Yes. Banned for all but the five High Enchantresses and the North King.”
