Crystal Storm (Falling Kingdoms #5)(48)

“Yes,” Magnus said, his dark eyes fixated on Jonas. “An explanation for your arrival in this city coinciding with our own would be greatly appreciated.”

“I’m shocked to say, it’s almost good to see you too, your highness.” Jonas gave the prince the edge of a smile.

It wasn’t returned.

“Our friend here’s getting a bit heavy,” Felix commented.

Magnus eyed the unconscious body he carried with a sour look. “Follow me.”

Another girl joined their entourage, and Cleo recognized her instantly—she had accompanied Jonas and Lysandra when they were last at the Limerian palace.

Cleo remembered her name: Olivia. But a proper greeting could wait.

She hooked her arm through Nic’s as the group followed Magnus back to the inn. “Why are you so drunk tonight?”

“Oh . . . so many reasons. I’ve recently come to believe you were dead, for one. Therefore, I was going to drown myself in ale to stifle my grief.”

“I’m very much alive.”

“And I’m very much happy to see that.”

She allowed him a smile. “And there are other reasons for your thirst?”

“None that have chosen to join us tonight, but I hesitate to mention that just yet. You’ve had quite enough of a shock already. I’m sure he’ll catch up eventually. He does that.”

“You’re making no sense.”

“No, I’m sure I’m not.”

Her meager smile fell away when she glanced at Felix and his burden. “Did Theon”—it hurt to say his name, even after all this time— “ever say a single word to you about having a twin brother?”

Nic shook his head. “Not a word. When I saw Taran at the docks in Kraeshia, I nearly keeled over with shock. Taran doesn’t talk about it, but I assume they were estranged. Still, he took the news of his brother’s death hard.”

“Yes, I saw that.” She exhaled shakily. “How did he learn it was Magnus who killed Theon?”

Nic shrugged. “I told him, of course.”

Her stomach sank at the exact moment her anger began to rise. “Of course you did.”

“I should have stayed by your side.” He took her hand in his, his drunken expression growing very serious. “I’m sorry I left you alone with him all this time.”

Nic didn’t know about her feelings for Magnus. Of course Nic didn’t know—she’d spent her every breath denying her growing feelings for the prince for a year. “It’s all right. I’ve . . . managed.”

“Where should I put him?” Felix indicated his burden when they reached the inn.

“I’m sure we can find a deep hole,” Magnus said.

Cleo glared at him, then looked at Felix. “There are empty rooms on the second floor,” she said.

Felix disappeared, returning quickly without Taran.

They sat down in the meeting hall, and as Cleo looked around at the group, she couldn’t tell whether she was thrilled or horrified by how this night had turned out.

Nic sat next to her at a table, and across from them were Jonas and Olivia. Felix and Magnus sat near the fireplace on the other side of the room near the bookcase, while Enzo remained standing near Cleo.

“When did you arrive?” Magnus asked.

“Today,” Jonas replied. “We’re still quite in the dark about what’s happening here. The only information we have comes from a single Kraeshian soldier who was willing to talk.”

“And?”

“He knew very little. Or, at least, very little that would help us. It appears, though, that you are on the run, your highness. And that your father is rather unhappy with how you handled things while he was away.”

“That would be an understatement, yes.”

Cleo watched Magnus with mild surprise. Despite how drunk he had to be by now, he seemed as sober as a Limerian priest.

“The soldier,” Jonas said, nodding somberly at Cleo. “He told us that you were dead. That it happened after you escaped from Amara. That you froze to death.”

“I very well could have had I not found shelter at the exact right moment.” She averted her eyes, trying to keep from making eye contact with Magnus, but she could still feel his gaze burning into the side of her face.

“You were always a survivor,” Jonas said. “Nic despaired, but I had hope. And here you are.”

Nic shrugged. “I despair. It’s what I do.”

“There’s so much to tell you,” Jonas said. “And I’m sure there’s much you have to tell us.”

“Far less than you might think,” Magnus said. “Amara thinks she’s ruling this kingdom now. But she’s wrong. And she will be defeated.”

“And how do you think you will defeat her?” Jonas asked.

“I thought we might start with the earth Kindred you gave the princess,” Magnus said, and Jonas’s shoulders tensed. “Do you still have that shiny little chunk of obsidian squirreled away somewhere, princess?”

Oh, yes, she thought as she flinched. This was the Magnus she’d once despised—the one who would announce to everyone, seemingly out of spite, that she possessed the Kindred. She’d have to thank him for the reminder.