Page 111 of City of Snakes
“He’ll calm down. Don’t worry,” Elsedora assured me.
Strong rays of afternoon sun beat down on us—summer here was oppressively hot, though my body was adjusting. I’d grown to love the lighter fabrics of the fashion here and the way all the clothing billowed off my body. Much better than the tight cuts of heavy velvet, wool and corsets of Luz.
Krait was nowhere to be seen after his temper tantrum over El throwing a knife at my face. So touchy.
“What is his issue?” I mused to Elsedora.
She smirked. “He knows we are running out of time, and you are not near ready to face Caym if his Reverist power returns on the next black moon. I suspect that scares him.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Whosefault is that? He has me playing with toy swords and then holds back if I wobble even a bit. I saw him hesitate after hitting me.”
He hadn’t faltered every time.I had the bruises to prove it. But every other.
“I do not disagree,” Elsedora said before she took a swig from her canteen. “But we hoped to find you sooner—not with only a few years to spare. We know so little about what the prophecy actually means. He’s anxious.”
“That makes two of us,” I mumbled.
Since I’d been sick, Krait had returned to that frowning, clipped-conversation asshole that I’d first met. Whatever softness and warmth I’d witnessed the morning he had carried me into the baths had melted away.
He’d only need to be my husband, not my friend.
It seemed he was setting his line in the sand.
I still hadn’t decided what to do or say about the prophecy, and his failure to bring it up made my blood boil. As though he’d just changed his mind after four centuries. It was his immortality to sacrifice—his power to give up.Maybe hehadtruly changed his mind. In his situation, I might have. I shook away my empathy.
All I could do was keep getting stronger, keep preparing for whatever threat came first.
“What is happening in Helos?” I asked Elsedora as we exited the amphitheater and I adjusted my silk scarf to cover my shoulders from the sun.
“Mattock has lost the support of many lords in the rural regions around Helos—most were excited about the return of magic and its impact on their crops and livelihoods. His own people are turning against him. He is alone up in that castle of nightmares.”
Since Emmerick and Bringham had decreed that no Source-wielders could enter their Corridors, Elsedora had acted as an easy loophole. She was from the Sahlms but not a Source-wielder. And so she kept dropping in unannounced, hopefulthat she’d learn something about how the Death Origin was controlling Emmerick.
“Has force been considered to unseat him?”
Elsedora stopped short and turned to me. “You want to take the North by force? Go to war with your Emmerick?”
“Whoever sits on the throne right now is notmyEmmerick. Thatisn’thim.”
My friend might be angry at me—but he wouldn’t turn against Asterie and Fenris for no reason like that. He would not use a grudge to drive a wedge between himself and the rest of the realm, and he would not jeopardize the safety of the people of any court.
MyEmmerick was good to the fucking bone. And that deathmark and Caym’s influence tore away at that goodness.
“There’s been another development.”
“What is it?” I raised a brow.
“Your cousin Haward…he is missing.”
My hand found my throat, trying to ease the constricting feeling there. “For how long?”
I tried not to let the indifference I felt show. No one should be excited to hear of their cousin’s potential demise and yet…he’d never given me a reason tonotbe excited about his demise.
“It is hard to say—the Castle of Helos isn’t exactly keen on sharing.”
“He could be an envoy,” I mused as we veered down a narrow street bustling with mule-led carts of produce from the greenhouses. It seemed every vendor was preparing for the night markets, and the streets were a maze to navigate.
Elsedora nodded. “He could be. Until we know where our threats come from, you must understand—it isn’t safe for you to attend any more meetings. Not even with your sworn allies. Fen and Asterie are handling things beautifully, trust me.”
