The Heart Forger (The Bone Witch #2)(45)

The walk back to the campsite was quiet. A few feet shy of entering camp, she stopped.

“Do you think the prince is all right?” I finally asked, unable to bear the silence.

She took a deep breath. “I think so. No, I believe so. They wouldn’t dare lay a hand on him.”

“I’m going to kill them.” It felt good to let the anger out. It was a better emotion to dwell on than the guilt.

She flashed me a small smile. “From what I’ve heard, and from what I’ve seen with my own eyes, I’m sure you’re more than capable of that.” A pause. “I’d like to watch.”

I laughed, surprising myself. “I’ll try my best to arrange front-row seats, Your Highness.”

“Are you close friends with my fiancé?”

Fiancé. That was enough to slide the smile off my face. “Yes. We are.”

“It must sound strange then, talking about my fiancé when… I suppose you know about Fox and me,” the princess said softly. “Of course you do. You must think badly of me.”

“I don’t,” I said, confused. “I thought the opposite… I mean, he didn’t tell you that he was my…”

“Familiar? I discovered that two weeks after meeting your brother. He didn’t know I knew.”

“And you’re still…?”

She laughed softly. “After my grandfather’s death, my grandmother took a consort-familiar. Dark asha have resurrected old lovers in the past. Kion are more open to these relationships than Odalia or other kingdoms. The only real problem with a familiar would be…the bringing about of heirs.” She blushed.

“I understand,” I said hastily, not wanting any more details.

“I didn’t know about my engagement until a few days ago. I was furious when Mother told me. Kion empresses usually chose their own consorts. I swear on my life, Lady Tea, I never expected for my mother to determine my engagement when I met your brother and especially not after sleeping with him.”

I was glad for the trees around us. I put my weight against one, to recover my balance, which I’d lost again. Princess Inessa continued, oblivious.

“I will try my best to distance myself from now on, to spare him any more unpleasantness.” Her mouth twisted. “He has made it abundantly clear that he wants nothing more to do with me.”

“That’s not true, Your Highness.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m engaged to Kance. That’s all there is to it.”

Altaecia and Zoya sat by the campfire, looking grimmer than usual. Likh was with them, still green about the gills. Polaire and Mykaela were still fast asleep.

“I wondered where you’d gone off to,” Althy said, looking up at us. “We need to talk, Tea.”

“I know I promised not to overexert myself. But Fox couldn’t go around looking like…”

My voice trailed off when Altaecia placed Aenah’s book on a large stone beside her. “I think you owe us an explanation,” she said quietly.

? ? ?

Althy folded her arms across her chest. “Whatever made you think you could handle spells so powerful—and from a Faceless, no less? I’m equally disappointed in you, Fox.”

“My first loyalty is to my master,” my brother said serenely, absolving himself of all blame.

“I would have told you, but I didn’t want Polaire to know that—” I bit my lip, casting a look at the sleeping asha.

“I see. Was this about Polaire all along?” Althy gave me a searching glance. “Don’t lie, Tea. I taught you to read heartsglass, and I know when you’re evading. You know she’s only looking out for your best interests.”

“She didn’t trust me enough to tell me about the betrothal, and she’s constantly belittling me. I know there’s a way to heal Mykaela using this book, but Polaire’s more concerned about kissing up to the asha elders!”

That was going too far. Althy didn’t slap me, but I wouldn’t have blamed her if she had. As it was, her words came like a blow.

“Not at the expense of your life, she wouldn’t. You claim to do this for Mykaela, but did you ever think about what she wanted? Would she want you to follow the same path she had, working herself almost to death for people who want nothing to do with her, losing her life with every flicker of spell and drawing of rune? Did you not stop to think how Polaire feels, watching her best friend die a little each day for years? Did you not stop to realize how horrified they would be, knowing that you would do the exact same thing?”

I looked down, embarrassed and guilty. “But Mykaela’s dying. It’s worth that risk.”

“Mykaela doesn’t think so and neither does Polaire. And neither do I, for that matter. Tea.” Althy’s voice broke. “People have killed renegade Dark asha for far less than this.”

“Are you going to kill me?” I was angry and tired and sick of people telling me how I had to be strong enough to protect other people from these monsters, but not strong enough to defend myself because my life was worth less than their fear. “Do it then. You were there when Mykaela killed Illara, right?”

She sighed. “If you were anyone else, I might have. But there is an azi someone has once more resurrected that is running amok, and you are the only person who can control it. Illara was a different case. She was blighted from darkrot, Tea. It corrupted her, made her become something much like a daeva, and she had to be put down. No matter how foolish your choices were, none of this warrants killing—though the asha association might think otherwise.”