“Princess,” he says. “You look much recovered after your bath. I barely recognize you. A bedraggled warrior went into the steam rooms, and a radiant woman emerged in her place.” He pats his cheeks. “Perhaps I should try it.”
Thiago gives his friend a quelling look.
“There’s not enough water in the world,” Eris mutters, “to transform you.”
“We’re just about to eat,” Thiago says, coming forward to draw out a chair for me. “We were discussing tomorrow. We’re going to Ceres. I need to contact the Alliance and set a few things into place to counter Angharad.”
“Am I included in that ‘we’?”
“Yes.” Thiago eases my chair back in as I sit. His knuckles graze my bare shoulders, and I think he’s almost about to rest his hand there before he thinks better of it. “I need Eris, and I can’t afford to leave her behind to guard you.”
My heart skips a beat. I can’t avoid hearing my mother’s words in my ears. There’s something he’s not telling me, and somehow, I know I’ll find the answers in Ceres.
“I’ll be ready at dawn.”
The prince insists upon blindfolding me for the journey to Ceres, which only engages my curiosity.
I barely have time to think about it though, as the second he engages the Hallow, my stomach decides to reverse itself. This doesn’t feel like the trip to Mistmere. It feels like the Hallow itself is sucking at me, trying to drain me of my magic. I try to shield, but I’m on my knees before I know it, and my head aches.
“Here,” Thiago says, resting a hand on my forehead.
Instantly, the power drain is gone.
I come to on my knees, breathing hard. “What was that?”
He swings me up into his arms, which I really should protest, but don’t have the strength to. “You’ve been travelling through portals regularly. It affects some fae more than others, particularly if they’re not warded against the power of the ley line.”
I know he thinks he’s telling the truth, but I can’t help thinking he’s wrong.
Something about the Hallow didn’t feel right.
We seemingly climb a thousand stairs, and I catch the sound of servants bustling through the castle, before the prince sets me on my feet and whips my blindfold away.
Light stabs at my eyes. I wince, but I can also make out a woman sitting in what appears to be a circular tower room.
The last time I saw Thalia, she was wearing red, but now she’s in a green gown that’s more daring than anything I’ve ever worn. Gold lace epaulets rest on her shoulders, with a heavy golden cloak made of thin metallic scales that drapes to the floor. Dozens of golden chains loop around her throat and cross her bodice. It’s the most elegant gown I’ve ever seen.
The tall, exotic beauty shares some of the same features as the prince, such as his thick dark hair and almond-shaped green eyes. But it’s the way she claps her hands together and smiles at me that takes me aback. “Your Highness,” Thalia says, sweeping toward me and taking my hands. “I’m so glad to meet you again. I thought Thiago was going to keep you locked away in that gloomy old city forever.”
For some reason, I’d thought her the cousin that was supposed to be traded to my mother in exchange for me.
There must be another one.
I don’t know why, but I want to smile back at her. Her welcome feels genuine, and her smile is infectious.
“So did I.”
“E,” she says, turning and giving Eris an enthusiastic hug. “I missed your glowering face.”
“Ugh,” Eris says, pushing her away and brushing herself off, as if to rid herself of Thalia’s enthusiasm. “What part of ‘I don’t hug’ did I not make clear?”
“Sorry.” Thalia winks at her. “I forgot you don’t like being touched… unless it’s by a fae lord with an enormous cock.”
“Erlking’s hairy balls,” Finn mutters under his breath. “Thalia.”
“What?” she asks innocently. “You should have seen it. I burst into Eris’s rooms, thinking—as usual—she’d be alone, and there’s this enormous—”
“No, no, no.” He claps his hands over his eyes. “I am not going to even picture it. I refuse.”
“Speaking of hairy balls—”
Finn throws a cushion at her, and Thalia bursts into laughter even as Eris winces.
“Beware the Prince of Evernight’s most dangerous allies,” Thiago says dryly.
I don’t quite know what to make of it.
My mother’s advisors and generals are all stiff, malicious bastards who wouldn’t dare break into a smile.
“Where’s Baylor?” Thiago asks.
“Frightening small children?” Finn replies.
“Dangling miscreants off the tower?” Thalia suggests.
The doors slam open, and a rugged warrior wearing battle-scarred leathers and an enormous helmet stalks inside. “Drilling in the yard with the rest of the guards,” he says, “because someone around here has to actually do his job.” Then he notices Eris and tips his head to her. “Excluding my favorite little menace.”
“Little?” she scoffs.
Now I definitely don’t know what’s going on. Eris appears to have a sense of humor. Who knew?
“Vi, this is Baylor, the last of my generals.”
“Or first,” the enormous warrior says, dragging his helmet off his head so that a tumble of golden hair brushes against his shoulders.
It’s like looking into the eyes of a dead man.
A shocked gasp escapes me as I stare at a mirror image of the bane Andraste killed.
“Vi?” Thiago frowns as he notices my reaction.
Indeed, everyone in the room is staring at me.
“I….” I need space to breathe and a moment to think. “Sorry.” I press my hands to my temples, flinging a weak smile at the prince. “I think I haven’t entirely recovered from the trip through the portal. My head’s aching.”
Thiago pushes to his feet. “Do you need—”
“No.” I wave him off. “I’m fine. I just need to rest.”
In the privacy of my rooms, where I’m not staring my guilty conscience in the face.
I don’t look back.
But I can almost feel them exchanging glances.
17
The amulet is exactly where I left it, buried among the mess of silver and gold in my jewelry chest.
I don’t know why I kept it.
I never expected to see the dead bane’s family—which is what this Baylor must be. No, I threw it in my jewelry chest and then forgot about it.
Until now.
The gold feels warm beneath my touch as I turn the amulet over. I know who they are now. Baylor and Lysander, the shapeshifting twins who act as two of Thiago’s generals. They were legends during the wars and served the Grimm himself before turning their loyalty over to the Prince of Evernight when the Grimm was locked away in a prison world.
It’s strange how Thiago seemingly collects such misfits.
Baylor and Lysander served an Old One, Cian’s Unseelie, and Eris is….