Chapter 15

Senka

"Go check on Valera. Make sure she"s safe," I said as Wolfe approached. "And keep your eyes open for any familiar faces. Cross may have sent a third without telling us. I wouldn't put it past him."

He nodded, about to turn away, when a sudden impulse seized him. His hand shot out, his fingers wrapping around my upper arm with a gentle yet unyielding grip. For a heartbeat, time seemed to suspend.

I could sense the words he wanted to say but didn"t, the tension coiling between us like a living thing. It was a dance we"d perfected—this push and pull of ours.

"I"ll see you," he finally murmured, his voice a low rumble that sent an involuntary shiver through me.

"I"ll see you," I echoed curtly, though my heart fluttered like a caged bird in my chest.

Releasing me, Wolfe turned and strode away, melting into the shadows of the corridor just off of the ballroom with the silence and grace of the predator he was named after.

Alone now, I allowed myself one final glance at his retreating form before turning my focus to the retreating prince.

Shadows spilled from my fingers, creeping along the floor and up the walls, swallowing light and sound whole. Each candle fluttered once—twice—then succumbed to the darkness I wove with practiced ease.

I was nothing but a whisper in the void, a silent specter trailing Baz as he maneuvered through the maze-like corridors. His footsteps were confident, purposeful, each stride eating the distance with the hunger of a man on a mission.

We reached an unassuming door, its wood old and heavy. He paused, pressing his palm against it before pushing it open. A steep staircase spiraled upwards, disappearing into shadows of its own, untouched by my magic. I held my breath, my heart hammering against my ribcage—not from exertion, but from the thrill of the hunt.

Baz ascended, and I trailed behind, letting the gap between us grow. Enough for him to feel alone, enough for me to watch unseen.

The stairs creaked under his weight, his boots echoing in the tight space as he climbed higher and higher. I lingered in the gloom, my presence as intangible as the shadows.

My thoughts strayed, ever so briefly, to Wolfe"s grim face and the comforting touch of his hand on my arm. A touch that promised so much more than words. Was he behind the lady's death? Had he lied to me?

Shaking my head to dispel the lingering warmth of that memory, and the doubt that crept in, I refocused on the warrior prince.

As Baz"s form vanished around the bend, the final step of the staircase gave way to an open, circular chamber that seemed to breathe with the open night air. My lungs filled with the scent of old parchment and metal as I peered around, my shadowed veil melting into the darkness at the edges of the room.

The astronomy tower loomed around me, a silent sentinel of the night sky's many mysteries, its walls adorned with strange contraptions and instruments of brass. They caught glints of moonlight, lenses of crystal and glass winking like distant stars.

Cross had one of these instruments in his study. His father showed me how to use it once, when I was just a clumsy girl. We'd sat on the roof of a temple one clear night and he'd pointed the tube at the sky and let me peer through the glass. That night, I'd caught a glimpse of the heavens and all the gods that had long ago abandoned this world. They shone down on us like watchful ghosts.

I moved silently, each step deliberate, ensuring the hem of my gown barely grazed the floor as I navigated between the arcane devices. They were poised as if ready to unlock the heavens themselves, their purpose as enigmatic as the paths of the constellations they traced. I'd never seen the astronomy tower up close, but I'd always been curious as I gazed at it from afar.

A draft from the high window stirred the air, and I paused behind the cover of a large instrument mounted on an ornate silver stand. From this vantage point, I could see Baz, his figure outlined by the ethereal blue glow of the moon that washed over him, his hands deftly securing a small piece of paper to the delicate feet of a raven.

His movements were precise and practiced—the hands of a warrior showing a gentler finesse. The bird, a creature of shadow itself, seemed to understand the gravity of its mission, bearing the message as if it were precious cargo. With a soft sound that was half-command and half benediction, Baz released the raven into the night.

It took flight, a silhouette against the luminescent orb above, its wings beating a steady rhythm that echoed in the silence. Baz remained at the window, gazing after the messenger, a solitary figure framed by the vastness of the world outside.

As the last of my shadows retreated, the cool light revealed the scar that marred his face—a scar that only highlighted his beauty and cruelty. It lent him a severity that was softened only by the contemplative tilt of his head as he watched the raven disappear.

I hesitated, a dance of shadows at my feet as I considered the risks of revealing myself. But intrigue had always been my downfall, and the pull of curiosity was too strong to ignore.

What was he doing up here? Why had he left without a word when a member of his court lay dead in his ballroom?

With a deliberate softness, I cleared my throat, the sound an incongruous murmur in the silence that clung to the astronomy tower.

Baz didn"t startle; he simply turned, his orange-yellow gaze finding mine with an ease that suggested he'd known I was there all along.

"Senka," he said, his voice as calm as the night sky above us, "what has you wandering around in the dark with a killer on the loose?"

"Princes aren"t the only ones allowed to send secret messages into the night." I stepped fully into the moonlight, leaving only a few long paces between us.

Did he lead me up here? Had he been toying with me as I followed close on his heels? No one had ever been able to detect me before. Not with my shadows wrapped around me.

"Indeed," he replied, his eyes traveling over me, leaving a trail of heat in their wake. "But most don"t have the luxury of melting into the darkness when it suits them."

Dread ran through my entire body, freezing every inch of me. Fear spread like a cold, wet tongue up my back, and my shadows stirred restlessly inside me, sensing the sudden danger we were in.

None of it showed on my face as I schooled my features into a practiced mask of indifference.

It couldn"t be true. There was no way he could know. I had been so cautious, and I had only been here for a short time, barely having any interaction with him at all.

He saved me from prying an explanation out of him as he said, "Like I said before. Don't you dare lie to me, Senka. You're a god-blood as much as I am. My light can sense your darkness." He took a careful step towards me. "It can taste your shadows."

It was an effort to keep still and not flee into the night, putting this whole ordeal behind me. Cross could find someone else to infiltrate the court. I was compromised.

"Consider it one of my many talents," I said, not bothering with lies. I had a feeling he could sniff them out as easily as he had my shadows.

The air between us crackled, charged with an energy that felt like a living thing, coiling around us, drawing us closer.

"Your list of talents must be quite extensive," Baz remarked, a half-smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. It softened the severity of his scar, making him look less like the warrior prince and more like the man who played courtly games with women.

"Only as extensive as your list of conquests, I imagine," I retorted, challenging him with a raised brow.

"Conquests?" His chuckle was a low rumble in the quiet of the tower. "Is that what you think I do? Conquer?"

"Isn"t that the end goal? Lands, riches... hearts?" My words were a teasing lilt, yet I watched him carefully, searching for a crack in his stoic armor.

"Perhaps," he conceded, taking a measured step toward me. "But some things are worth more than conquering. Some things are worth the patience of pursuit."

"And what exactly are you pursuing in the dead of night when so much chaos reigns around us? A lady is dead, and there's a killer in your home, remember?"

"Answers," he said simply, his severe face sobering for a moment, his thick, arched black brows furrowing as he glanced at the window."

The stillness of the astronomy tower was broken only by the soft rustle of my dress as I moved closer to Baz, who stood like a dark sentinel against the moonlit window. The distant murmur of the chaos beneath us felt a world away.

"I remember the day we met," he said, his eyes never leaving the sky. "You were terrified. The men who chased you, the slavers…" His voice trailed off, his unasked question obvious.

"Did they catch me?" I finished for him.

I let out a deep breath as I leaned against the windowsill, gazing out at the sprawling city of Andune. The warm glow of candlelight filled every window, creating a dazzling sight resembling a sky full of twinkling stars.

"Yes," I said, not bothering to look at the prince. "Yes, they did catch me."

I sensed a change in him. He was even more still than usual, as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. The intensity of his gaze on my face was almost palpable—a burning heat.

"How did you get back home?" he asked after a long, silent moment. Because obviously I'd managed to escape my captors if I ended up in this pageant.

Nausea coiled in my stomach as the scars on my back flared with heat, and licks of slashing paid white hot on my skin.

"I gutted the man who thought I belonged to him when he least expected it, then I stowed away on another ship and managed to get myself back to the islands without the help of strange cabin boys." My eyes cut to him finally, a slight smile pulling at my lips that I knew didn't reach my eyes. "I was a slave to a man named Kipp Savage for five years before I could escape. He was a pirate with a peculiar taste for brutality against women. I wasn't the first, but I made sure I was the last. This world is a much safer place with him no longer in it."

Savage was my first kill, and I'd done it with a knife instead of relying on my shadows. By that point, I had endured starvation, physical abuse, and mental torture that weakened my shadows to the point where they no longer responded to my commands.

For five long years, I had been confined with iron shackles around my wrists and ankles, sapping away my blessing until I was just an ordinary girl.

"Your blessing kills, then," he said. Not a question, but an observation.

It was my turn to go still, dread curling inside me. A blessing that could take life meant a death sentence for anyone who wasn't of royal blood. Only the Emperor's kin could wield such abilities. It was what kept them in power while the rest of us bowed to it.

"Is that why you've been trying so hard to hide your blessing?" Baz asked when I didn't answer him, his head tilted conversationally, even as my stomach sank.

Unease settled in my chest at the intrusion. When I didn't answer fast enough, he sighed, turning his entire body to face me, leaning against the wall next to the window. "I've already gathered that you're not just an average undesirable."

My eyes snapped to his, glaring. "That term is degrading."

"Well then, what should I call you?" He took in my appearance slowly. "I can feel the strength of your blessing, more powerful than most. When you entered my palace, I could sense your darkness. I just couldn"t pinpoint the source."

"What do you mean you sensed it?" I asked. "You can sense other people's blessings? I've never heard of such a thing." The horror of of it was like a blow to the gut. There were probably many, just like me, hiding in the lower city, hoping they could keep their blessings hidden.

He shrugged, as if he wasn't currently flipping my world upside down. "To an extent, I suppose. I can't tell what a person's blessing is exactly, but I can sense the essence of it. And yours tugs at my light. It feels…cold, somehow."

Cold. That was a good way to describe the shadows under my skin. They were icy. They were the absence of life, of health, and of safety. They were poisonous snakes that sucked away every ounce of light in the world.

"I'm not going to expose you, if that's what you're worried about," Baz added after a long stretch of silence. "If your blessing is as strong as I think it is, my father would have you eliminated without a second thought."

The heat of rage licked up my spine, because I knew it was true. In his early days as Emperor, Baz's father had hundreds of god-bloods put to death under the guise of being deemed a threat to the empire. Those who were too powerful to be trusted with their blessings. It was a witch hunt.

Parents turned on their own children, surrendering them to their emperor, while others escaped Andune entirely, running for their lives from a regime that wanted to cleanse them from this earth.

"I can't trust that," I said carefully. "You have no reason to keep my secrets. I'm nothing to you."

"What if I tell you a secret of my own then?" he said. I raised an eyebrow at that. What kind of secrets could a prince have? His lips stretched into a wicked smile. "Then we'll be even. We'll have no choice but to trust each other."

Trust. I almost wanted to laugh in his pretty face at the word. I'd never trusted a soul in my life, save for Beau and Valera. As much as I could trust. But Baz knew about my shadows. Or at least suspected. He knew I was too powerful to be an undesirable. He knew I wasn't just an ordinary lady in his court. Maybe I needed to play this game differently.

"Why?" I asked. A genuine question. Why me? Why did he care at all?

"Because I have questions that need to be answered. I want to know where you've been all these years. I want to know how you escaped, and what happened to your brother. Besides, you owe me a life debt."

My heart gave another painful lurch at the mention of Beau.

"And then you'll hand me over?" I sneered at him. "Once you get what you want from me, you'll have no more reason to keep my secret."

He sighed again, slinging his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "If I promise you I won't hand you over, then I mean it. Just because I'll be him someday doesn't mean I plan to follow in his footsteps. My silence can be bought. You just have to know the right price."

That made me pause, and I wondered if he even meant to let that slip out.

"You first, your highness. Give me a secret in exchange for mine. But it has to be a real secret. One that only you and I can know."

In my line of work, secrets were almost as valuable as gold and jewels. Secrets could gain your favors, leverage, and blackmail. As a living shadow, I collected them like a dragon hoarded treasure.

The prince took a sudden step closer, bringing our bodies nearly flush. I didn't move. I barely even breathed as those sunset eyes searched my face.

"Here's my secret," he breathed, his voice barely above a whisper. My heart raced in anticipation, so hard that he could probably hear it. His gaze dropped to my lips, then shot back up to meet my eyes. "I'm the one who poisoned Lady Isolde."

My heart stuttered as his words sank in. The warrior prince had just admitted to murder.

"Why?" I managed to whisper, my voice barely a breath.

He straightened, his expression unreadable as he stared out into the night sky. "Lady Isolde was a spy from Aetheria. The new queen no longer wishes to cooperate with us. Lady Isolde was sent here to gather information and to sabotage any chance of peace talks between us before war breaks out."

Aetheria. The largest kingdom to the south of the Folklands, nestled among mountains. They had been allies with us for decades, their previous queen pledging loyalty to the Elysian Emperor. However, the old woman had passed away several months ago, leaving a new queen to take her place.

The emperor held a grand ceremony in Andune to mourn her passing. But if this new queen didn"t follow in her predecessor"s footsteps, she would meet the same fate as countless other rebellious rulers who had met the emperor"s wrath before her.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, my voice betraying a mix of shock and intrigue. Mostly intrigue. This was indeed a secret worth killing over.

"Because I need your help," he confessed, his tone leaving no room for argument, as if he expected me to fall in line without question. He was a man used to getting his way and never being questioned, save for his small council.

I turned around, not to escape, but to stride around the room as I mentally processed everything he had revealed. The spiral staircase was enclosed by a wooden railing at the top, and I absentmindedly ran my hand along it as I paced.

Baz observed me, his hands still nonchalantly tucked in his pockets, while the moon cast his silhouette behind him.

"I don"t see how I could be helpful. I am simply a lady from the Ashwater with no political influence whatsoever."

I wouldn"t even consider myself that, but I didn"t want to confess it to him. By birthright, I was the Lady of the Ashwater, a small cluster of islands off the coast of the mainland. My father, despite his diminished status and dwindling fortune, still held the title of Lord of the Ashwater.

The prince clicked his tongue several times. "Not until you tell me your secret first. I told you mine. Now it's time for you to hold up your end of the bargain."

Gritting my teeth, I tried to keep my face from showing how much I loathed the thought of telling him a single thing about myself.

But Baz wasn't just a prince. He was the boy who saved me. He was the reason I was still breathing. If I wanted to stay in his good graces and not crawl back to Cross with my tail between my legs, then I'd have to work with what I had.

His brilliant eyes seemed to glow in the dimly lit room as he leisurely walked around the railing, following me as I circled the staircase. Our gazes remained locked, never once breaking contact.

Coming to a stop on the opposite side of the room from the prince, I came to a decision, and I only prayed to any god that was still listening that I wouldn't regret it later.

In an instant, I allowed my shadows to slip forth, my eyes filling with darkness as they slithered under my skin like writhing snakes and spilled out into the room like smoke.