The Mirror King (The Orphan Queen, #2)(117)

“Give him time. One day he’ll understand that nothing has changed. He’ll forgive you.” He would. There was no one James loved more than his cousin. They’d work it out.

“Will it be his choice? His question was legitimate: has anything been his choice? What if I’ve been unconsciously commanding him all this time?”

Like the wraith boy sensed my wants. It was a fair question. “Maybe if he doesn’t forgive you and you really want him to, that’ll be proof enough.”

“Or because I know I don’t deserve it.” He lifted his eyes to watch me through his lashes. “What about you? I took advantage of your power. I hunted you and other radiants. All along, I had a secret of my own.”

It would have been so easy to condemn him for his hypocrisy, but I wasn’t angry with him. Curious, concerned, and confused: yes. But not angry. “I don’t want to fight.”

He closed his eyes and exhaled. “Me neither.”

“I want to hear all about it. Your power.”

A weak smile warmed his face. “It’s funny. I’ve seen you struggle so hard to suppress yours. It’s like tying a hand behind your back. You have it. Your natural inclination is to use it, even though you know how dangerous it is. You accept it as part of you.”

“Sometimes I wish I could change that,” I said.

“But for me, magic is the opposite. I learned to suppress it early. After James—” He glanced at the door. “I wouldn’t make James go away, but I didn’t want to admit that I’m a flasher, too. That’s probably why I fought so hard against magic in Skyvale.”

“Sometimes we hate others for the things we hate in ourselves.”

He nodded. “Once, you accused me of going after radiants. You were right.”

“Such is the curse of being me.” I watched him from the corner of my eye. “So that’s your power? You make things appear?”

“Appear and disappear. I’ve only done it a few times, and rarely anything big.”

Same as I usually animated only small things. “James and the bridge are exceptions, then? You let go of the bridge pretty quickly.”

“Too many things, or too big, and it takes a toll.”

Oh, how I understood that. “A boy who makes things appear and disappear, and a girl who brings things to life.”

“What a pair we make,” he said. “I don’t know how you’ve managed. James, the wraith boy, plus all the things you’ve animated in addition to that. You must be incredibly strong.”

I didn’t know about strong, but I’d definitely grown accustomed to the stress of magic. “Keeping him alive.” I shook my head. “That’s not how my power is supposed to work. But James is alive. Chrysalis, too.”

Slowly, the puzzle pieces began to fit together.

“But maybe magic things are different,” I mused. “Maybe I brought Chrysalis to life because he’s made of wraith. James because he’s made of magic.”

“The Cathedral of the Solemn Hour was made with magic.”

“With. Not of. The materials were mined and shaped with magic, not conjured from nothing.”

“But James was.” Tobiah glanced at the door, anguish heavy in his eyes. “I wanted to ask for so long, but that would have meant admitting the truth about James and myself.” He leaned his weight onto the desk and hung his head. Strands of hair fell over his eyes, and he heaved a long sigh. “That was cowardly of me.”

“It was,” I allowed. “But also completely understandable. Saints, Tobiah. You know the things I’ve done—or not done—because of fear.”

A cold, uncomfortable silence followed, like the memory of Meredith’s lifeless body on the chapel floor.

“I need to talk to James.” He looked up at me, eyes red with stress and exhaustion and grief. “He’s my best friend. Magic or no magic, that never changed.”

“You’re a good man, Tobiah Pierce.”

“I want to be.” He touched my hand, a faint brush of his knuckles over mine that warmed deep into my stomach. “I’ll find you later.”

I lingered in the study for a few more minutes, wondering if I actually needed to return to the ball. But how would it look if I abandoned it completely? Tobiah had avoided dozens of social events so he could go out as Black Knife, which left his people believing he was lazy and unfriendly.

No matter what I wanted to do, I needed to fulfill my duty as queen. Which meant dances and dinners, in addition to the real work of running a limping kingdom.

Grudgingly, I started toward the ballroom again, Oscar at my heels.

“Your Majesty!” Sergeant Ferris raced toward me from the opposite end of the hall.

“What is it?”

“Prince Colin,” he said, gasping. “He’s attacking Aecor City.”





FORTY-TWO


“PRINCE COLIN? YOU’RE sure?”

Sergeant Ferris nodded. “He has part of the Indigo Army and Aecorian loyalists.”

I’d suspected that much, but I hadn’t expected his attack to come immediately.

“Where is his army now?” I asked.

“The lowcity, engaged with the Red Militia.”

“The Red Militia?”