The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch, #3)(96)

I looked away, embarrassed. “We became aware of each other’s feelings in Daanoris, Your Majesty.”

“While searching for a cure to my sickness?” When I nodded, he sighed. “Thank you. It occurred to me that I had not yet shown you any gratitude for those efforts.”

“Many things happened in the interim, Your Majesty.”

“That’s no excuse. You frightened me, Tea. Kalen tells me that you have no memories of what transpired after Aadil’s capture. He also tells me that you chose to have yourself warded.”

“I was fortunate that no one was injured this time, Your Majesty. I cannot take the same risks again.”

“How many times have I told you not to call me by titles? ‘Kance’ will do.”

I kept my gaze down, disentangling my fingers from his. “I didn’t think I deserved that honor,” I admitted. “Not anymore.”

“I remain wary of your abilities, Tea. I always will. But that doesn’t mean I’m not concerned for your well-being.” He leaned forward and gripped my hand, refusing to let go. “I suspected that there was something between you and Kalen soon after my engagement to Inessa.”

“Your Majes—Kance—I hadn’t even realized then.”

“But Kalen did. I know him well enough to see. He was good at keeping his emotions in check, but he always lost that composure whenever you were involved.” Kance chuckled. “I teased him about you—it was a day or two before I fell sick, I think. He didn’t even bother to deny it, just stared at me like I was a ghost. It made me jealous.”

I looked at him, puzzled. I was certain he’d felt no romantic attachment to me before.

He clarified. “I was jealous of both of you. Of how easy it was to choose to be with someone you loved, of how there was no burden on either of you as there was on me. I would have married Inessa out of duty, you know, even if my father hadn’t forced me to. But Inessa is made of stronger stuff than I. I resent her sometimes, and Fox.” He sighed heavily. “You didn’t choose the Dark just as I never chose to be born into royalty. Kalen told me about shadowglass. How using the spell would rid the world of all magic. What do you intend to do?”

I closed my eyes. “What do you think I should do?”

“I understand that you have a duty to the other asha, to the kingdoms that benefit from the runes they wield. You know more than I do of how heartsglass can help people, how my brother helps people. There are ramifications to losing that power, and it will affect everyone.” Kance fell silent for several minutes, though his hand never left mine.

“But do it anyway,” he said finally. “My brother will help people whether or not he remains the Heartforger. There will no longer be beasts to roam the land and attack people. With or without heartsglass, there will always be war. The asha and the Deathseekers will fade and become like the rest of us. They will learn in time that our existence is not so bad. I beg of you, Tea—if you have the opportunity to rid yourself of the magic that will one day consume you, then do it.”

“I cannot lose my brother again, Kance.” Tears dripped down to where our hands were joined. “I cannot. If you were in my place, and the price was Khalad, could you do it?” A silver heartsglass and the Resurrecting rune, Aenah’s voice whispered in my head, as if she hadn’t been dead all these months. And a kiss from the First Harvest. That’s all you need to bring young Fox Pahlavi his own heart, my Tea. But the harvest requires shadowglass, and shadowglass requires sacrifice. Surely he is worth the risk?

Kance withdrew his hand from mine, his face immeasurably sad. He stood and drew his cloak around himself, but not before his heartsglass swung free. My eyes followed the movement and spotted a smaller crystal pendant that hung from the same chain. He saw where my gaze drifted and touched the smaller stone with a finger.

“You told me it would help with my exhaustion. You gave this to me the night my engagement to Inessa was finalized,” he said quietly. “My anger at you in the days that followed did not prevent me from drawing comfort from your gift, and I am never without it. You are right. I could not ask that of Khalad. But had I been in his or your brother’s place, I would like to believe I could offer my life willingly.”

He sighed. “Maddening, isn’t it? The bonds that tie us together are the same bonds preventing us from what we would sacrifice for ourselves. I will let Kalen know that you are awake.”

? ? ?

“Do you mean to tell me,” Zoya said much later, sounding incredulous, “that Druj intended to turn King Aadil over to us all along?”

“It seems that way.” Once Kalen decided I was fit enough to get out of bed, I had emerged to find the Odalians hastily erecting makeshift prisons for the compliant Drychta. “Druj knew there was no First Harvest in Mithra’s Wall yet convinced the king to invade.” To seek me out.

Zoya scowled. “I’m not sure Aadil would make a competent ally. Perhaps the Faceless was simply foisting his trouble on us.”

“Be that as it may,” Althy said sensibly, “Kance has offered to assume charge of the prisoner, so it is one less burden for us. The other asha and I must make haste to Kion. Empress Alyx will want to hear what’s happened immediately. The asha association, no doubt, will be very interested as well.”

“Are you going to arrest me?” I asked her.