Rise of the Seven (The Frey Saga, #3)(4)

I could still see her lifeless body cradled in Chevelle’s arms. I could feel the anger, taste the bile, recall the first flavor of infinite hatred. Nothing else could have driven me to seek such a final revenge. She had been an innocent. They had cleaved her eyes from their sockets because I intended to walk away from all of it, to leave with him. They had dressed her in a royal gown of azure, adorned her with jewels.

His mother. The blue of her eyes a message to me. The same depthless sapphire as Chevelle’s.

Chevelle had returned these items to me. Though they meant little now, they had once been precious. I’d no doubt they had been a trial to recover. I didn’t know if I had the courage to read his note, but my hand moved numbly toward it.

I took a deep breath and opened the fold.

“My love.”

Well, shit.

It changed everything. Chevelle knew me. He’d given me all that he could and left me to decide.

My head fell and I put the note in the box, closed the lid, and slid it in the hiding spot beneath the third stone under the floor of my bed. I walked out of the room without looking back, turned down the corridor, and ran.

Six doors, two stairways, and a window later, I was scaling the last ten feet to a roof of the castle. I’d stolen a cloak on my way and when I reached the top, the wind caught and flipped it behind me. My hair whipped my face as I made my way across to perch on the only point that was blocked from wind by the tower but still allowed a full view of the mountain below and sky ahead. I wrapped the cloak tightly around me and felt settled for the first time in days.

It was silent for two hours, and then the quick, light padding of paws approached. Keaton and Finn.

They settled in beside me, quiet and still. Their silvery fur caught the moonlight in an ethereal glow.

“I can’t leave him,” I said.

The wolves did not respond.

“I may not be able to be with him, but I cannot leave.”





Chapter Three


Meeting





I woke on the perch as the sun broke the clouds. My first thoughts were curses; I should have met Chevelle at dawn. I hurried down, running until I reached the corridor and saw the servants. I didn’t recognize them, but that was no surprise considering so many of them had to be removed after they’d been found out as Asher’s spies. The castle was fully staffed now and each of them, properly uniformed and mannered, prepared for the banquet. Chevelle had been busy. Remembering my own station, I straightened my shoulders and slowed my pace.

When I reached the practice room, I thought he’d given up on me. I walked into the empty space for the first time since I’d regained myself fully. It held an echo of memory, emotion. I walked further, glancing up to see the morning sun stream in the filigreed windows, catching dust motes in its rays. I sighed, thinking of how it must have looked to him when I hadn’t shown up after the gift he’d left me. And then I saw him.

He stood in the shadows, watching me. When he knew I’d found him, he stepped forward. He’d been on the ledge, probably watching out a window while he waited. He stopped for a moment, the sun at his back throwing his features into further shade, and I had a flash of nervousness. I didn’t know if I could pull this off.

I straightened. “I fell asleep.”

I thought I saw the corner of his mouth pull up, but couldn’t be positive. He jumped down and crossed to me.

“Good,” he said, “you’ll need your rest.”

Sleep was once a sore subject with me. I required about twice as much as the others and I used to fight it, trying to keep up with them. Chevelle knew that, he’d seen what I’d done to myself.

I’d been different in so many ways, and he knew them all. Things didn’t work the same with me, I wasn’t born with the natural instincts for magic. I’d always had to work at it, find the power and force the control. But I had overcome it. And now, I had a new problem.

“So,” I started, “practice.”

“Show me what you’ve got,” he answered.

I really didn’t want to do this, but I closed my eyes, centered my breathing, and released. The stones beneath our feet started to vibrate and shift, the walls shook, the iron in the window let loose an ear-piercing metallic creak. Tiny sprinkles of rock fell onto my face and I stopped, sealing the stones back in place before opening my eyes once more.

He looked dubious.

“Yep,” I said. “And that’s not even angry.”

“You’ve been angry?” he asked.

My face twisted cynically. “Ruby’s been here.”

It was clearly a joke, but he didn’t laugh. Not even a little. And then I smiled as I realized how much he’d been forced to deal with her antics while I’d been bound. I wondered what all she’d put him through.

“You chose her,” I reminded him.

“I used to think so,” he said.

I chuckled. “Things do tend to have a way of working out for her.”

“Cursed fairies,” he grumbled.

“Cursed fairies,” I agreed.

“Do you have a plan for demonstration?” he asked, clearly determined to change the subject.

“I think I’ll wing it.”

“Brilliant.”

We were silent for a moment. Finally, he asked, “Fire?”