Frozen Tides (Falling Kingdoms #4)(66)
She grimaced. “Thanks for providing that memory. I do want to forget that.”
“I knew you’d come around.”
Cleo smiled and looked back at the orb, her thoughts swirling in time with the shadow of magic trapped deep inside of it. “So, what’s your plan?”
“I don’t trust the prince. Not for a moment.”
“No? You seemed to have trusted him well enough when you agreed to help kill his father—before and after he put you in chains.”
“Yes, well, luckily I’ve had time to think about it since. I’ve proven my trustworthiness to you, to many people over these last months, but he hasn’t. I’m not willing to take any more risks when it comes to him. Lys, Olivia, and I are leaving—and you’re coming with us. We can figure out how to get that magic rock to work and get our land back all on our own once we’re far away from here.”
Cleo had had many opportunities to simply walk away from the Limerian palace ever since that very first night when they’d arrived at the docks of Ravencrest. But she hadn’t. She felt she had more to learn here, more to gain, and that running away would only keep her in the same place she was now. “I know the prince is a brute with morals that can only kindly be described as questionable. I don’t want to be around him any more than you do. But I need to stay here a while longer. I need to know where the king is and what he’s planning.”
“We can track the king from anywhere.”
She shook her head. “That won’t be nearly as easy to do without the resources and intelligence in Limeros. Jonas, I also have a plan, and I hope you’ll be willing to help me with it.”
Jonas opened his mouth, as if ready to argue with her decision. But then he nodded. “Very well. Tell me.”
“We have a crystal, but we don’t know how to unlock its magic. However, I believe a Watcher would know this secret.”
“Well, then let me just snap my fingers and transport us to the Sanctuary to find one,” Jonas said, a sarcastic edge in his voice.
“Please, just listen to me. I know an exiled Watcher who lives in Paelsia. She spoke to me of legends, told me stories I’d never read or even heard of anywhere else. Real accounts of Eva, the original sorceress, and her love affair with a mortal hunter. Eva gave birth to his baby before the goddesses killed her for the Kindred.” Cleo paused to take a deep breath, then steadied her gaze on Jonas’s again.
His expression grew more rigid with every word. She could see the patience feuding with skepticism in his brown eyes. “Go on.”
“I need you and your friends to visit this exiled Watcher and find out if she knows how to unlock this magic. Nic can go with you; he’ll know where to find her.”
He raised a brow. “You’re suggesting that Nic, Lys, Olivia, and I just run off and leave you here, all alone with a prince who could very well be plotting your demise?”
“I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself.”
“Yes, you’ve proven that very well.” He rubbed his chin and frowned. “I will say this much: Your plan is much more intriguing than mine.”
She tried not to smile at this. “High praise, rebel.”
“You really think the prince will just let us leave the palace so easily?”
“Your own plan was to leave, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, but that was with the certainty we wouldn’t ever return. The security here isn’t as impenetrable as it is in Auranos, but it’s still a palace, and there are still numerous sentries who keep watch over all who enter or leave these grounds.”
The rebel had made an excellent point. And even if Magnus hadn’t officially announced to everyone here that the Paelsian rebel leader was currently a “guest” at the castle, he would have many questions if, suddenly, Jonas and his friends were to wander off unexpectedly.
“I’ll speak with Magnus and give him an excellent reason for your temporary leave,” she said with a confident nod. “I’ll keep the earth Kindred here with me. That exiled Watcher may have been very kind and wise, but I’m not sure I trust even her with it.”
Jonas crossed his arms and studied her. “And it’ll be just that easy, will it? He’ll simply take your word without question?”
“He’ll have to. Otherwise my plan won’t work.”
“No, princess. Let me handle it. If I’m to agree to this, I don’t want you tangled up in it at all. When he asks about me, you will simply say you have no idea where we went, that I left without saying a word. I’ll deal with the ramifications when I return.”
Her heart lifted. “So you’re saying you’ll do this? You’ll go?”
Jonas paced to the other side of the small room, his arms still folded tightly over his chest.
She held her breath as she waited for his answer.
Finally, Jonas turned to face her again and gave her a grin. “It would be my honor, your highness. But when I come back, surely successful and impossibly heroic, I will ask for something in return. Something I haven’t had in far too long.”
Her heart leapt. “Anything. What is it?”
His smile grew. “A kiss from a princess.”
CHAPTER 17
LUCIA
PAELSIA