A Shadow Bright and Burning (Kingdom on Fire #1)(56)

“Are you all right?”

“I lied,” he whispered. He faced me. His gaze was cold; the smiling, vulnerable young man had vanished. “I didn’t come to find you for parlor games. I wanted to gauge your reaction when I asked about taking Rook away.”

“What? Why?”

“Master Agrippa thinks my Unclean colony might be the best place for him.”

My whole body went numb. “No. He promised me they wouldn’t send him away.”

“He believes that Rook may be a distraction to you.”



“How? I barely visit him as it is. Today was the first real conversation we’ve had in weeks!”

“No one wants to do this,” Blackwood murmured, ignoring what I’d said. I pushed away from the hearth, away from him. “With Rook’s bad headaches keeping the servants up and your sporadic performance, Master Agrippa doesn’t want any problems.”

“How could no one mention this?” I gripped the back of the chair. Would I simply have woken one morning to find Rook gone? “When will they separate us?”

Blackwood sighed. “Master Agrippa agreed to one more week.”

“Agreed? Is someone forcing this?” I stepped toward him.

Blackwood shook his head. “I can’t talk about it.”

“This is Palehook’s doing, isn’t it?” Blackwood’s silence only confirmed my suspicions. My hands began to spark. “They can’t have him, do you understand? I’ll leave this house first, which I’m sure delights you.”

“I can’t promise we’ll win, but I’ll fight to keep him with you,” Blackwood said. He offered to shake on it. “On that, you have my word.”

“I think I know what everyone’s word is worth,” I said, and ran from the library.

—

BACK IN MY ROOM, I LIT my bedside candle. I tried once, twice, to get the flame into the air, but each time the fire licked across my stave harmlessly. “Please,” I whispered, leaning closer. “Please work.”



The little flame became a fireball, then died.

“Why?” My voice choked with tears, I shook Porridge as one might a wayward child. “Why won’t you do what I ask?” Furious, I flung my stave at the wall. It flashed blue for an instant.

It was as if someone had knocked my head against a stone. I collapsed, the ceiling spinning above me. My skull throbbed. Rolling onto my side was like a symphony of agony.

I had handled my stave badly. If the stave breaks, the sorcerer breaks with it. “I’m sorry, Porridge,” I whispered.

“Miss!” Lilly swam into view above me. “What is it?”

“Hurts,” I grunted. Lilly slipped my arm around her shoulder and helped me to my feet. The floor tilted at such a mad angle I was sure I’d be sick. I muttered something even I couldn’t understand. Lilly laid me on my bed, and after a moment, her footsteps disappeared out of the room.

I closed my eyes and waited for the darkness to stop spinning. I might have stayed like this for moments or hours, until I heard his voice: “Nettie?”

When I opened my eyes, Rook sat beside me. “Lilly said you needed me.”

“She did?” I sat up slowly. A dull ache had replaced the sharp pain in my head.

Lilly parked herself by my vanity and watched. “Thought you’d need Mr. Fenswick, miss, but you said all you wanted was Rook.”

Rook squeezed my hand. “Do you need anything?”



I swallowed the tightness out of my throat. My chin wobbled, which meant tears were imminent. “We’re in trouble. I’ve failed. I can’t even attempt what Master Agrippa wants, and the queen won’t commend me.”

Lilly gasped, but Rook squeezed my hand tighter. “You can cry if you like.”

“I don’t like,” I muttered. “They’re going to separate us. Unless I improve my lessons and you control your pain, they’ll send you away to Brighton. Lord Blackwood told me.”

Rook’s expression hardened. “They could do it?”

“Until I’m commended, they control everything.”

“Very well,” Rook said, and nodded to Lilly. “Start packing Miss Howel’s things. We’re leaving.”

“What?” Lilly gasped.

“No.” I grabbed his arm. “We’re not leaving. This is the only way—”

“It isn’t the only way.” Rook brushed a strand of hair from my forehead. “You don’t have to be a sorcerer. We’ll leave for Sussex or Kent. They need teachers there, as well as servants. Or we can fight, head for the army on our own terms now that we know we’ve both got power.” He whispered that last part to avoid Lilly’s hearing. “We’ll start again. Together.”

“You know there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to keep you safe.” I gasped, the tears coming now whether I wanted them or not.

“I can keep you safe, too,” he whispered. “We keep each other safe.”



“Yes.” I wiped my eyes with my handkerchief. “Bournemouth could be beautiful this time of year.”

“Exactly! We can leave at first light tomorrow, all this in the past. We could be by the seaside.”