Gathering Darkness (Falling Kingdoms #3)(84)

“Am I interrupting?” Cleo asked.

For a moment, Lucia couldn’t find her voice. Cleo now visited her daily, ready to draw her into talks about boys, about life in general. She was only interested in frivolous discussions and long walks in the courtyard and through the palace corridors. For days after Cleo had given her the generous gift of the ring, Lucia had been fully open to this. She was happy and deeply relieved to finally have a close friend she could trust with her secrets.

Now she wasn’t sure what to think.

She opened the door wider to invite the princess inside. “Not interrupting. Alexius isn’t here.”

Cleo entered and walked right past her, sweeping her gaze over the lit candles and hundreds of flowers arranged around the room. “It looks to me as if more romance than elementia lessons has been going on in here.”

“Trust me, the candles and flowers are for the lessons only.”

Cleo raised an eyebrow. “How disappointing.”

Lucia watched the other princess carefully. “I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”

“Then I’m also glad I came. What’s on your mind?”

“I did the spell again, on my own. I awakened the water Kindred.”

Cleo gasped and her gaze snapped to Lucia’s. “Where is it?”

Such a fast reply. So eager, so greedy.

Had Lucia been foolish to trust her even for a moment? To think Cleo could be a true friend in a kingdom of enemies?

Alexius’s words echoed in her mind. “You are a sorceress, princess, with vast magic at your fingertips. What has been stolen can and will be stolen back.”

He was right.

“In Limeros,” she said. “At the Temple of Valoria.”

She wanted to see Cleo’s reaction to the truth, to see if she could sense any deception. Was it possible her suspicions were wrong? After all, when could the princess have had contact with a wanted criminal such as Jonas Agallon?

But the fact remained—and Lucia had been raised to value facts and truths above all else—that only two people other than herself had known the location of the earth Kindred before they’d discovered it stolen.

Only two. And one now stood before her—a girl whose kingdom, whose very freedom, had been stolen by Lucia’s family.





CHAPTER 25


CLEO

AURANOS



Cleo’s plan had worked like a charm.

Her future was looking brighter than ever and, if she could manage it, that future would include Lucia. She’d tried not to—had only planned to put on a show—but she liked her. Genuinely liked her and valued her friendship.

Lucia’s veins didn’t flow with the ice water that was Damora blood, so this surprising outcome was perfectly acceptable to Cleo.

A small part of her cringed when she had to lie to Lucia, but it was a necessary evil.

The Temple of Valoria. The home of the water crystal—the fourth and final Kindred.

Lucia had awakened it, and soon it would belong to Cleo.

She would wait until after she’d heard from Jonas to give Nerissa a message about this news. A thought kept nagging at her. Why hadn’t he sent word to her yet about his success at the Temple of Cleiona?

It will take time, she reminded herself. She’d revealed all three locations in her last message to the rebel, and Nic had looked at her with shock when she’d confided to him what she’d done.

“You really trust him,” he’d said.

“I do.” Trusting Jonas with something as important as this was a risk she was willing to take. It was a leap off a high cliff, and she was hoping very much for a soft landing.

“It’s amazing,” Cleo now said to Lucia, shaking her head. “Your elementia . . . it leaves me in awe.”

“Your ring does wonders for my control.” Lucia looked down and studied the amethyst, and Cleo felt a deep pang of envy. It wasn’t only a force of magic with ties to the Kindred. The ring had belonged to her mother, and her father had given it to her in his last living moments.

Her heart ached for it, but she knew it was now just another loss for her to grieve.

“I’m glad,” she said, forcing a smile.

A frown creased Lucia’s brow. “You knew what this ring was before Alexius told you.”

A heavy moment of silence passed between the two princesses as Cleo struggled to understand exactly what Lucia was suggesting. Her words weren’t posed as a question. They were presented as a statement. “Of course I didn’t.”

“Don’t lie, Cleo. It’s too much of a coincidence for me to believe.”

A swift sensation of alarm whipped through her. “I’m not lying.”

“You had this ring for, what? Months? This ring’s secret is why you first approached me with offers of friendship. This is how you knew, before you even saw it for yourself, that your presence would give me peace. And you used that knowledge to manipulate me.”

While Cleo’s stomach tied itself up in knots, her mind worked furiously to find a way out of this, to ease Lucia’s worries. The princess was only being paranoid, which was nothing new.

It wasn’t time to panic yet.

“Lucia.” Cleo offered her a bright smile. “How could I know I possessed a magic ring? It didn’t provide me with any magic. And, in case you aren’t aware, I’m only sixteen. I didn’t know Eva personally like your boyfriend did. And, need I remind you that I gave that ring to you freely the moment I knew it could help you? Now stop being silly.”