“End,” I gasped, cutting our connection.
“What is it?” Bryony looked at me with concern. “You look white.”
“I could access both of your abilities, Bree.” My voice shook. “And I could have used the other one just as easily as I…”
She swallowed, staring at me before shaking herself.
“But you didn’t, and you never would.”
“No. I never would. I can promise you that. But still…Bree, I could have.”
Later in bed, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Ever-loyal Bryony might be willing to brush off my concern, but it wedged in my mind. Bryony’s ability was powerful enough, but how much more powerful for someone to be able to steal it from her without her permission.
Earlier in the year, I had nearly lost myself in the joy of delving into the workings of others. I had almost been consumed by my ability. And now I had discovered an even more powerful ability—and an even more direct connection into the power and expertise of others. How could I trust myself with it? If I started connecting with other mages directly, how soon before I lost myself?
I could come up with no satisfactory answers to those questions. I attended classes as usual, putting my full focus on studying for exams and refraining from even connecting with compositions. I was afraid that if I did, I wouldn’t be able to resist following the next step to connect with the mages themselves.
Bryony kept suggesting we practice again, reminding me she could work the composition I created to immediately return the energy I had taken from her, but I was resolute in my refusal. Since she had study of her own to do, she didn’t push too hard.
My thoughts about my new ability might not be positive, but I was glad to have them to distract me. Darius had disappeared directly after the Council meeting and had not yet returned. When I visited Duke Francis in his office, he explained that he had granted the new king-elect a leave of absence from the Academy to deal with matters in the capital and with the various discipline heads.
“He’s in great demand, as you can imagine,” the duke told me. “The next two years will not be easy for him as he balances his substantial new responsibilities with his role here as a trainee.” He gave me a look that was startlingly close to amusement. “It is fortunate that he is such a good student and so advanced in his skills.”
I held back a snort. After two years of private tutoring before his entry to the Academy, Darius had always been in greater danger of expiring from boredom than failing his exams—no matter how many classes he missed.
“He will be back before long,” the duke said with dismissal in his voice. “The year is drawing to a close and exams will soon be upon us.”
I had withdrawn after that, although I longed to press him on exactly what before long meant.
And as the days dragged on, the question burned stronger and stronger in my mind. When would Darius be back? After everything that had happened, and the conversation I had overheard between him and his father, I could barely contain my desperation to see him.
Jareth seemed equally restless, his eyes resting on me more often than they had before. What did he think of his brother’s new status, and of his subsequent absence? And what did he know of my involvement in the unfolding events? I avoided him, not curious enough about the answers to risk conversation with the younger prince. I still considered him the most likely Academy resident to be Cassius’s secret ally.
The final days of the year raced past, until one day I looked up in the dining hall to see a familiar tall figure striding toward the second year table.
Chapter 23
Exclamations and conversations broke out across the hall as everyone turned to the new arrival. Several of the fourth years stood and bowed to their new king-elect, and the rest of the trainees scrambled to rise and follow their lead. I gave him a shallow curtsy, beaming from the unexpected rush of emotion at seeing him again.
Darius smiled around at the standing trainees.
“Thank you all,” he said. “Your support means a lot. But I still have two more years as a trainee, so please—for all our sakes—you can go back to treating me as you did before.”
A smattering of chuckles sounded across the room, and the trainees returned to their seats. I watched him approach our table, stopped a number of times by senior trainees who wished to congratulate him in person.
He looked so achingly familiar and yet, at the same time, so strangely different. He could afford to tell the trainees to treat him as they had before because he had always been the crown prince, superior and aloof and receiving respect on all fronts. But this Darius looked relaxed and at ease, smiling and laughing even, as he accepted the well-wishes of his generation.
My own fear still lingered. I had seen his father’s face after Darius left that council room, and I knew he had a hidden ally still. But despite the sudden increase in responsibility, Darius looked free in a way he never had before. My heart rejoiced and feared for him at the same time.
I expected him to come to me, but he didn’t slow as he approached the spot where I sat with Bryony and Tyron. As he passed, however, he met my eyes, the expression on his face making me flush.
Later, his eyes seemed to say, and I instantly realized he was right. Whatever conversation was coming between us, it wasn’t one we could have in public.
I raced back to my suite after the meal, only to pace up and down as I realized he was likely to be delayed by the other trainees. At last a knock sounded on the tapestry door, however, and I flew over to fling it open.
At sight of him, I swept into a deep curtsy. “Your Majesty.”
“Not for another two years,” he reminded me. “I haven’t been crowned yet.”
“But you will be.”
He laughed and swept me into his arms, spinning me around before placing me carefully back on my feet.
“All thanks to you, Verene.”
I shook my head. “Don’t be ridiculous. I just got attacked. I can’t take credit for that. Zora is the one who spent years softening the duke, and Duke Francis himself is the one who called the Council meeting.”
I placed my hand on the side of his face. “And you’re the one who spent years building your position, winning allies, and proving your capability. You won your own crown, Darius.”
“And yet, none of it would have happened if you hadn’t been brave enough to come here to our Academy.”
“Was it bravery?” My eyes dropped from his. “Or foolhardy determination?”
So much had happened since I arrived two years ago that it was hard to think of the naive girl I’d been then without a measure of sorrow. I had always hated not having an ability, and yet everything had seemed so clear to past-Verene.
“Never doubt your bravery.” Darius’s soft voice matched the gentle touch of his hand on my chin, lifting my face back to his. “It was a fortunate day for Kallorway—and for me—when you crossed our borders.”
I flushed but couldn’t escape the pull of his eyes. His head moved slowly downward, and I pushed up to meet him. Our lips met with the softest of sighs.
Despite myself, I had spent far too many hours remembering our previous kiss, and the way its fire had consumed me. This embrace was different. This time his lips promised the enduring heat of embers, burning slow and long, but no less consuming all the same.