5. CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 5

DANIELLA

Heat seeped into me. The image of a kindling fire floated inside my head. It was comfort and warmth and arms wrapped around me. Kalyll’s mouth on mine. His body on top of my own, driving me to ecstasy, my entire being smoldering from the inside out.

I sprang to a sitting position, calling his name.

A strange male sat next to me. I pushed away from him, my arms and legs feeling strong, unlike the last time I’d been awake.

He put both hands up in a pacifying gesture.

Arabis was next to me in an instant. “It’s all right. No need to panic. He’s a healer.”

He had graying hair, which fell in strands as he inclined his head and quietly walked out of the room.

I collapsed back onto the pillow, feeling dizzy. When the spell passed, my gaze danced around. I was back in my chamber. Something pinned to my chest caught my attention. It was a silver brooch in the shape of a rose. It was beautiful and delicate.

Where had it come from?

A memory rose like a phantom from the back of my mind.

“This one won’t wither. Find your way to me, melynthi.” Kalyll’s voice. He had given me this. I didn’t know how I knew, but I did.

I sat up slowly, searching every face, aching to see him.

Cylea was there, and Larina too. They wore matching concerned expressions that gradually seemed to ease as they offered me a weak smile.

“Kryn!” I exclaimed.

No one said anything.

Tears filled my eyes.

“No, no, no.” Arabis took my hand and squeezed it. “Kryn is fine. He’ll be all right.”

There was great relief in her voice. I still didn’t know where their tumultuous relationship stood, but at least she didn’t want him dead.

“And… Kalyll? Where is he?” I asked, a smile starting on my lips at the thought of him.

“He… um…” Arabis shook her head, unable to finish.

The smile never developed, and the tears that had gathered in my eyes spilled, streaking down my cheeks. Was he dead?

“I think he’s fine,” Cylea blurted out. “I mean… as fine as anyone who’s been kidnapped by his vengeful brother can be.”

“Kidnapped?”

Cylea nodded.

An odd mixture of relief and panic assaulted me. The relief dried my tears immediately, while the panic sent my heart into a frenzy and slowly started morphing into anger.

“Cardian stabbed Kryn.” I placed a hand on my neck.

“We know.” Arabis nodded. “He told us what happened. Cardian wanted to take you, and when he couldn’t, he went for Kalyll instead.”

“He’s going to… kill him. We have to find them.”

Once more, everyone went silent.

I extricated my hand from Arabis and jumped off the bed. “We have to go now. He may not have long.” I chose to believe Kalyll was still alive, but I also understood that Cardian could kill him at any moment. “Where are the others? We need everyone. Silver, Jeondar. I’ll finish healing Kryn if he needs it.”

Everyone stared at me blankly.

“Why are you just standing there?” I demanded.

“Well,” Arabis shook her head, a maddening sadness in her eyes, “we don’t know where to look. Cardian has a transfer token. We’ve searched everywhere already, but he has eluded us thus far.”

“No,” I said emphatically. “That’s just…” I didn’t know what it was, only that I couldn’t accept it. “There has to be a way to track him.”

Larina, who had been hovering by the foot of the bed, frowned as she noticed something and flew toward a small table partially tucked behind an armchair. Suddenly becoming flustered, she hurried back on whirring wings, waving her little arms.

“What is it, Larina?” Cylea asked.

The pixie pressed a finger to her lips, urging us to be quiet, then pointed frantically toward the table.

With a frown, Cylea walked over. Arabis and I moved closer. Cylea placed her hands behind her back and leaned forward to examine the small figurine, eyeing it with a sneer. She glanced in my direction and pointed at it. Her expression seemed to ask do you recognize this?

I shook my head. I’d never seen it before.

Larina flew to Cylea’s ear and leaned in to whisper something. Cylea’s eyebrows went up. Larina then zipped toward the clock on the mantel and pointed at a small knob on top of it. Understanding her meaning, Cylea approached the clock and twisted the knob.

Orange tendrils of energy emanated from the device and quickly swept across the room. They scoured every corner, going in and out of the adjacent washroom and closet. One tendril came to rest at the small table. There, it gave up its search. The rest of the tendrils continued flitting around the room, but when they got to the table, they also stopped. Quickly, every bit of luminous energy had gathered there by the small crystal bird, illuminating it in sharp relief.

Cylea sighed loudly. “I don’t know about you, but all this midnight excitement has made me hungry and thirsty. Larina, is there anything good in the kitchen that we can pillage.”

“A thing or two,” she said, catching on quickly.

“I can eat,” I said.

We all filed out of the room without saying another word. Instead of going to the kitchen, Cylea led the way to her chamber where she twisted a knob in one of the fairy-light sconces, and similar tendrils of energy crisscrossed the room, checking for anything that wasn’t supposed to be there. When every inch of the place had been examined, the magic returned to the sconce, a clear indication that it hadn’t found anything out of place. We were free to speak again.

“That good-for-nothing left a mole to spy on us,” Cylea spat. “Did we say anything he can use against us?”

“I don’t think so,” Arabis said after a moment’s thought.

I shook my head. “I don’t think so either, but let’s forget about that. What matters is that we find Kalyll. We need to track him. My sister. My sister can find him. We have to go and get her. She can find anyone. Anywhere.”

“We have trackers here, Dani,” Cylea said. “Kalyll used several. They found no trace of Cardian.”

“My sister is better.”

“Wherever he is, Cardian’s using powerful magic to conceal his whereabouts.”

My sister had once found someone who had been kidnapped by a powerful vampire. That vampire had also used powerful magic, and Toni had still been able to find him.

“My sister can find him,” I insisted.

Arabis tried to place a hand on my arm, but I stepped away. “Kalyll had already thought of that, but he didn’t want to involve her. He already felt guilty for bringing you into this. He derailed your life, and he didn’t want to be responsible for bringing more turmoil to your family.”

I grabbed my head and backed into an armchair. I collapsed into it, the whirring of Larina’s wings serving as background noise to the whirring of my own brain. It would not be fair to bring my sister into this. She had her own life, which she would abandon the moment I asked for her help. And if the obstructing magic Cardian was using interfered with her tracking skills, then what? She would be stuck in an impossible situation, feeling responsible for her inability to find Kalyll.

No. I couldn’t do that to her. Kalyll had been right not to bring her here.

“If you would allow me… I can help you find the murdering prince.” A new voice called from the door.

I looked up to find a sprite in the room. I had seen her before, the day I made that blood pact with Queen Eithne. She had allowed me into the queen’s workroom. Her wings were iridescent, like Larina’s. Her skin was gray and her eyes were narrow slits with all-black eyes. Her nose was flat, almost non-existent, and her thin-lipped mouth was filled with rows and rows of curved teeth. She was a creature of beauty and terror.

Larina turned violet and dashed behind Cylea. She hovered over her shoulder, her blue skin camouflaging perfectly with Cylea’s hair. She was intimidated by the new arrival, which seemed odd since they were the same size.

Arabis examined the sprite with care, though her expression was skeptical. “Shadow, I’m not sure how you could help us find Cardian. Not even the court spies know where he is. We questioned all of his allies and got nothing.”

The way she said questioned made me wonder exactly what they’d done to the people who had offered their support to the younger prince. Something told me they were now regretting their alliance.

“We, minor folk, have our ways,” Shadow said.

She and Larina exchanged a knowing glance. Larina abandoned her hiding spot, as if she were reassessing Shadow.

Arabis still didn’t look convinced, but she said, “We’ll take any help we can get.”

“There is one condition,” Shadow said.

Cylea bristled at that, and Arabis also appeared displeased by this. For all we knew, the sprite was one of Cardian’s supporters, and she would send us on a wild goose chase, straight in the opposite direction of where we needed to be. Or worse yet… into a trap. We couldn’t have that. At Cardian’s mercy, Kalyll’s days were surely numbered. There was no time to waste.

“What condition?” Cylea demanded, looking ready to throttle the sprite if her stipulation turned out to be something ridiculous or outright extortion.

“I want to be the one to kill Cardian Adanorin,” Shadow declared, surprising us all.

Larina nearly choked.

I stood up, anger and darkness driving me to my feet. Before I could think what I was saying, Dark Dani was in control. The image of Cardian driving that knife into Kryn’s throat took center stage in my mind.

“I will kill that bastard,” I said.

“As eager as we all are to take our revenge,” Arabis said, “our king may not want his brother dead. So it isn’t up to us to decide Cardian’s fate.”

“I could content myself with plucking his eyes out.” Shadow huffed and thrust her hand forward in a stabbing motion.

Cylea shrugged. “I’m sure something can be arranged.”

“No.” Arabis shook her head. “Those things are not for us to decide. Our only concern should be to find the king and bring him back safely.”

Shadow rolled her eyes. “Fine. I will make this request from the king when I find him.” Rotating her fluttering wings slightly, she turned in midair and left the room.

“She’s mad,” Larina said. “I kind of suspected that already, though.”

“What are you saying?” I asked. “That we can’t trust her to find Kalyll?”

Larina opened her mouth to answer, but Arabis cut her off.

“Shadow was faithful to Queen Eithne for over a hundred years. We can trust her.”

“Was?” I asked.

Arabis nodded sadly. “She’s dead. Cardian killed her. Shadow witnessed it. She went after him, but he has that transfer token and he disappeared before she could reach him.”

I didn’t know what the tiny sprite could have done to stop Cardian, but at least I now understood why she wanted him dead so badly.

A lump formed in my throat as I thought of Kalyll. He had lost both his father and mother in such a short time. I hadn’t particularly cared for the queen and the way she treated her son, but my heart ached for Kalyll. He had taken so many blows, and yet he’d remained strong. I had to wonder how much of it was a façade, though. Oh, God, I wanted so badly to wrap my arms around him and offer him what little comfort I could.

“How could Cardian kill his own mother?” I asked.

“Because he’s a miserable bastard who cares only for power,” Kryn said from the door.

Arabis’s blue eyes cut in his direction. A spark of relief flashed on her face at seeing him there. He noticed and gave her a grateful nod, something like hope sparking in his features. Jeondar and Silver were with him. They walked in, looking imposing and determined.

Now that they were all here, I didn’t feel so lost.

“We won’t just rely on Shadow, right?” I said. “We have to go look for Kalyll.”

The males frowned in unison. Arabis explained about the sprite’s offer and the listening mole in my chamber.

“Her help could turn out to be invaluable,” Jeondar said after considering for a few beats. “The minor folk do have their ways. They are incredibly connected.” He looked over at Larina who nodded once. “Still, you’re right, Dani. We need to do more.”

“What do you suggest?” Cylea asked.

“We’ve been talking.” Jeondar looked at Kryn and Silver.

They nodded.

“We think Dani should see the Envoy.”