Havenfall (Havenfall #1)(87)

I see out of the corner of my vision that the north wall seems to be swelling, a dark, shiny surface turning in places to frothy white. At first, I can’t understand what I’m seeing, and then when I do—it’s water, a wall of water—it’s already crashing down on us. The flames die with a hiss and an explosion of fog, blinding me. Icy-cold water hits me at the waist and I stagger into Brekken, terror like I felt at the lake crashing down on me all over again. His hand finds my wrist but then is torn loose.

“Hang on,” I hear him gasp, and then he’s gone.

I call out for Brekken, but the fog has already swallowed him up. It’s in my burning eyes, my lungs. I grab at the wall and hang on, the current tearing at my legs.

“You’re not enough, Maddie!”

The Silver Prince’s voice emanates through the fog. It’s terrifying, like he’s inside my head. Tears streak down my face, but I instinctively don’t make a sound.

“Havenfall deserves someone strong at its head,” he calls out. “Power wants power, Maddie Morrow, and you’re not enough!”

Even though I know he’s just trying to bait me into doing something stupid, anger rises to the surface. “Oh yeah?” I call back, trying to mirror his coldness, but my voice shakes. “Why’s that?”

“You’re weak,” he almost sings, everywhere and nowhere all at once. “Under your rule, the inn will fall and everything will be chaos. Let me take over and remake this place into what it ought to be. Not just a crossroads. A throne room. For all the Realms.”

“Fat chance,” I spit, pulling my dagger from my waistband. I wish I could send more flames his way, but my stolen magic is spent, the bracelet cold and dead on my wrist. “Havenfall isn’t about power, it’s about peace.”

“It can be whatever the Innkeeper wants it to be. But only if he is strong enough to seize it.”

I can’t see him, but I can tell from his voice the Silver Prince is smiling.

“It’s not mine to keep or surrender.” I know I’m rising to the bait, but fury pushes my words out. “Havenfall doesn’t belong to me. I belong to it. We all do.”

He laughs. “A pretty thought, Maddie. But I will have the omphalos.” The next words he speaks are louder, closer. “I would offer you a place at my side, but I think that would be more trouble than you’re worth.”

“Screw you—”

But then another sound fills the tunnels. An unearthly howl of wind, growing louder over the course of a heartbeat until it’s upon us, slamming me against the wall and clearing the fog instantaneously away.

Willow is sprinting toward the juncture from the staircase, hands flung wide, wind whipping at her hair. Graylin is beside her, dagger drawn, Brekken on her other side. The Silver Prince is just a few feet from me, long daggers in both his hands.

He turns to face the staircase, a faint smile playing over his face. For a stretching instant, everything is still. His shout seems to echo in the juncture, cling to the walls and slither from tunnel mouths just like the fog he created.

I will have the omphalos.

Spears of ice fly together in the air toward Brekken, Willow, and Graylin. Brekken’s sword whips through the onslaught, shattering shards everywhere. The hailstorm beats at them, but Willow raises her hands, grimacing, and the air in front of them shimmers.

There’s more movement behind them, though it’s hard to hear over the rattle of hail and howl of wind, the juncture crackling with weather magic. Through the shimmering air, I see people flooding from the upstairs hallway to come to a stop behind Graylin, Willow, and Brekken. The rest of the delegates. Wide eyes, mouths hanging open.

A few people draw blades, and my heart sticks in my throat as I realize they’re mostly Byrnisians. Will they attack us to help their prince?

“You’re outnumbered,” I rasp to the Prince, hoping I sound braver than I feel. “I am the Innkeeper. And I want you to leave.”

I clench my fingers tighter around the knife, trying to figure out what to do. A little voice in my head whispers kill him—step forward and put my knife in his throat—but I’m afraid of what will happen when this stillness is shattered. Willow won’t be able to keep up her wind shield forever. Everyone I’m responsible for is gathered in the tunnels. Everything hanging in the balance.

The Silver Prince moves suddenly, his limbs blurring in the dark. Before I can so much as draw breath, he’s behind me, dagger blade resting lightly against my throat.

The hailstorm fades into nothing, chunks of leftover ice plummeting and melting into the water that swirls around our ankles. Suddenly the only sounds are my own harsh breathing and the pounding of my heart, the lapping of waves against the wall and the arctic crackle of ice, and a low humming that seems to be coming from the Solarian doorway. Brekken moves toward me, but the Prince cocks his head and Brekken freezes. Graylin looks stricken. The dozens of people in the main tunnel are silent. Too far away to do anything.

In the tense stillness, I can feel the Silver Prince’s heart beating at my back. What is this all for? I want to ask him. But, maybe because I’m reasonably sure I’m about to die, the words don’t come out.

“Where’s your Solarian?” he says in my ear, mocking. I swallow, the dagger cutting slightly into my skin. Warm wetness trickles down. I don’t know where Taya is.