And the next day, Morgana was dead.
It’s just as well. I imagine that if things had gone another way, I’d have ended up executed for butchering a high queen.
I circle back to the matter at hand. “Violet’s stolen from, tortured, and murdered our kind. You do have odd taste in tea companions, princess.”
Vlari grins wickedly. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t poison the drinks first.”
I chuckle. It’s odd to my own ears. Unnatural. How long has it been since I laughed at all?
I don’t need to wonder.
Ten years.
“Mother says you’ve been invaluable.”
I’m surprised her mother has said anything at all about me.
“I haven’t seen her in a long time,” I admit.
Not since I’d seen Vlari herself, ten years ago.
The queen doesn’t step out of her keep. The folk are invited to feast with her on the celebration days, but I’ve never bothered to go.
“She keeps me informed about all my friends,” Vlari says, shooting another dagger straight through my heart. “But nothing else at all. She doesn’t want me to worry, but I should like to be kept informed. Thank you for the actual news. I do catch a few things here and there, but I can’t concentrate too often. It taxes me.”
Remembering the reason for my visit, I ask, “How does it work? I heard what you did earlier, to help a girl outside the walls. You were there, Vlari.Material. Holding a weapon and all.”
Vlari shrugs. “I wasn’t truly there. My body hasn’t moved in years. But yes, if I concentrate enough, my mind can go anywhere in Whitecroft. The council rooms, bonfires.” She grins. “Or I could spy on lovers, I suppose.” She sighs. “It takes up a lot of focus and energy, however. I like to watch the borders sometimes. I spotted the girl, and I wanted to help. It was instinctive. But I’ve been exhausted since. Exhausted, yet asleep. It’s quite the conundrum, isn’t it?”
I can’t wrap my mind around any of this. What I do know, however, is that we can’t afford for her to waste her energy in any way. She can’t rescue little girls or spy on lovers, not if it costs her weeks, days, even hours.
I remember what her mother said about the curse. If Vlari loses her strength, she won’t be able to pull herself out of eversleep.
Since the beginning, nothing has mattered more than strengthening our ranks so that one day we can take back Tenebris. The moment we cease to need this sanctuary, Vlari could wake up. Stand before me, flesh and bones—not just some mental illusion conjured by her mind.
Then, I’d kiss her. Or throttle her. Probably both.
“Promise me you won’t do it again. Promise me you won’t waste any energy.”
She laughs. “That’s not how it works, Drusk. If you want my oath, you have to pay for it.”
Bargains again. She’s as fond of them as ever.
There’s no price I wouldn’t pay to ensure she remains safe, so I reply, “Name your terms.”
She makes a show of thinking it through, lifting her eyes to the ceiling and humming as she pretends to ponder. I can tell she already knows what she wants. “All right. I want your time.”
I blink in confusion.
“If I can’t hop outside of these walls, I’ll be bored to tears. I’ll give you my word I won’t, so long as you promise to come here and entertain me. You could read me books, or inform me of what’s going on. Do we have a bargain?”
I could laugh. Nothing would have stopped me from coming back here every day, perhaps several times, now that I know I can get to see her. Talk to her. Touch her. Instead, I pretend I’m put out, letting my shoulders sag and sighing. “If I must. I’ll entertain you as well as I’m able, and your mind will remain right here, in this room.”
“I vow it,” she says. She changes the subject, then. “You know, I hear my mother has a mind to make a lord out of you, for your services to the realm. She would have, already, if you weren’t avoiding her.” There’s no accusation in her tone, but however she phrases it, it’s still a question.
A question I can’t answer.
How do I tell her I hate Ciera, and Nero, and everyone else who allowed her to save their lives? That I would have rather died on a battlefield ten years ago than let her fade into nothingness and condemn the rest of us to a gilded cage? I’m not one to spell out my feelings, and it won’t start today.
