Dividing Eden (Dividing Eden #1)(74)
She changed into another of Larkin’s creations—this one a deep red. When she swiped a brush through her hair at the mirror, Carys’s white skin next to the color of her dress reminded her of the ball last night. Red against white. Blood against stone.
Wrapping a dark gray cloak around her, Carys spotted the rose on the bedcovers and slipped the flower into one of the pockets of her dress so it rested next to the stiletto. With one hand wrapped around the blade in her pocket, she headed to the battlements to meet her brother.
Or not.
The battlements were empty. Windmills creaked and pulsed and pounded as they churned the air. The orb glowed bright on the eastern tower. Two guards stood near the front of the battlements, looking off in the distance for signs of trouble. They glanced at her but said nothing as she paced the stone walls and waited.
She pulled her cloak closer to ward off the chills going up her spine even though the early morning was still. No breeze blew as she held her breath and looked around the battlements. Once she thought she saw something move in the shadows, but Andreus never appeared.
The dark sky faded to light gray. If her twin was going to come, he would have been here by now. He must not have checked the loose step for the note she had left. She refused to believe that no matter what he had done, or how thirsty he was for the power of the throne, he would ignore a desperate plea for them to meet and discuss who was behind their father’s and brother’s deaths.
Carys decided to check the step to prove he hadn’t received the note. Perhaps he had and had left a reply explaining why he couldn’t come. Carys turned and saw Imogen standing in the doorway of the southern tower. The seeress’s dark hair fluttered around her as she stepped onto the battlements and headed for Carys. As she grew closer, Carys spotted a piece of parchment in Imogen’s hand.
“Good morning, Princess,” Imogen shouted above the thumping of the windmills. “I hope you had a good night. Your brother certainly did. When I left him, he was sleeping soundly, which is why he never had a chance to find the note you left for him. He had actually been thinking of leaving one for you, which is how I knew to look under the step. I’m glad I did or you would be left standing here alone. Is there nothing worse for a lady than to be left waiting for a man? Even if the man is her brother.”
Andreus had told her about the notes. What else had he spoken about? A whip of wind pulled at Carys’s cloak. “You sound as though you speak from experience. I didn’t know you had a brother.”
Imogen stepped closer. “There are a great many things you don’t know about me, Princess. Yes, I have a brother. I have not seen him since I came to Eden to study with the seers when I was five. But I think of him every day.”
“Came to study?” Carys asked. “I thought you were from the District of Acetia.” And timid. They all thought her timid. But this Imogen wasn’t the same one who stood beside Micah and flinched if he said something unkind. This was the Imogen from the Hall of Virtues with the Book of Knowledge in her hands and a plan on her lips. Only Carys hadn’t seen that. She’d been too concerned about the Elders and Garret and had only worried that her brother was letting passion rule his head. And that worry—the jealousy of his choosing Imogen over her—had made Carys blind to the truth that was standing in front of her now.
The wind howled and Imogen—frail, fragile Imogen—stood strong as a tree as she yelled, “I’m disappointed in you, Princess. A person can say they are from anywhere if there is no one to contradict them. My family admired the power of the seers and the trust they command. They wished their daughter to be one of them. And here I am Seer of Eden and soon to be wife of Andreus, King of Eden, Keeper of Virtues.”
“My brother does not believe in your supposed power.” Everything churned inside her. “He has spent his entire life hating the Guild and their seers.”
“Your brother says a lot of things, but at his core he wants approval. He ordered the death of that boy in order to gain the support of the Council. He bends on his disbelief of the seers to please me.” Imogen smiled. “He said he destroyed the thing you needed to make it through the Trials, and yet while he slept, I found this.”
From her pocket, Imogen withdrew a red glass bottle. Without thinking, Carys lifted a hand and took a step toward it.
Imogen pulled it back with a frown. “You only gain it if you give something to me.”
Carys couldn’t take her eyes off the bottle in Imogen’s hand. Imogen was the enemy. She’d had a hand in killing Micah and Father. But the desperate ache inside Carys pushed down the anger at these truths. It was there. Carys tried to hold on to it. But the bottle called to her. Just a bit of it and she would be strong. She would be able to defend her brother against this woman. If she could just get the bottle . . .
She hated herself as she asked, “What do you want, Imogen?”
Imogen stared at the red bottle while turning it in her hand. “I’d heard about your troubles when I first came here. Micah said Lord Garret used to annoy him by telling him he needed to help you get control over your need for whatever is inside this. Lord Garret said if Micah didn’t intercede, it would lead to the downfall of Eden.” She smiled and Carys shivered as the wind grew stronger around her. “I guess I’m glad Micah didn’t heed his friend’s warnings or we might not be standing here now.”