Page 55 of The Sunbound Princess
Apprehension tingled over my skin. “He spoke of someone called Viraxes. He called him a sorcerer.”
Helios squeaked, his hair shooting higher. “Sorcerer?”
Nikolas looked at Dain.
“Don’t do that,” I snapped, my temper rising. “Don’t scheme right in front of me. The bounty hunter said you stole from this Viraxes and that your heads would decorate a tower. What have you been keeping from me? And keep in mind that I just stabbed a man in the testicles, so think very carefully before you lie to me.”
Nikolas’s throat worked as he swallowed. This skin around his neck was mottled from the giant’s grip. His eyes were dark and serious, and his tone was resigned as he said, “Viraxes is the sorcerer who rules Solbarren. Not officially, of course, but he’s powerful.”
Helios scoffed. “A sorcerer in Andulum? Humans despise magic, and you expect us to believe they tolerate a sorcerer in their midst?”
“He hasn’t always called himself that,” Nikolas said. “In the beginning, he claimed to be an alchemist. He turned base metals into coin for the Crown. Rumor has it he’s elfkin, but no one says it openly. Once he filled the king’s coffers, Viraxes became untouchable. No one crosses him. Not even the king.”
“But you did,” I said. “The bounty hunter said you stole from him. What did you steal?”
Nikolas and Dain exchanged another look, and I nearly screamed.
“Tell me!” I demanded.
He sighed. “We got greedy.”
“We got arrogant,” Dain corrected. When I looked at him, his eyes were bleak. “We didn’t lie to you about our business. We’re thieves, Ezabell. Really good ones. We stole from the rich in Saldu, trafficking in luxuries and ancient artifacts, and we builta reputation for stealing things no one else could. We made a lot of money, but we also thrived on the fact that no one could catch us.”
“And then we learned about thePyrikion,” Nikolas said.
The name meant nothing to me. “A valuable?”
“A legend,” he said. “We heard rumors that Viraxes possessed a magical chalice that dated from the time before the Covenant. The Pyrikion was supposedly filled with liquid sunlight. Those who drank from it gained strange powers. Viraxes got his hands on it over a century ago.”
“So heiselfkin,” I said. “If he’s lived that long, he has elven blood in his veins.”
“Likely,” Dain said. “But he’s never admitted it, and few are willing to question him.”
Helios let out a harsh laugh. “And you two idiots decided it was a good idea to steal from him?”
Nikolas’s lips thinned, but his voice stayed level. “We had a buyer—an eccentric collector who offered us enough gold to ensure we never had to steal again.”
“Who?” I asked.
“The buyer asked to remain anonymous,” Nikolas said. “But he paid half up front.”
“And you managed to take this chalice?”
“We did,” he said, his eyes taking on a faraway look. “It was a masterful heist. We disguised ourselves as guards and infiltrated Veraxes’s tower. The Pyrikion was encased in a steel vault with no lid or locks. Only Veraxes could open it. But…” Nikolas hesitated, his gaze going to Dain.
“I opened it,” Dain said. “When I need to, I can heat just about anything. It’s one of the gifts I inherited from my elven ancestor. But my magic burns out quickly.”
Nikolas continued, his expression haunted. “We took the chalice not knowing that Veraxes enchanted it with all sorts oftraps and safeguards. When we attempted to deliver it to the buyer’s agent, we dropped it?—”
“Youdropped it,” Dain said.
“I dropped it,” Nikolas conceded, “and the damn thing shattered. The sunlight vanished in a puff of smoke. But the chalice…” He paled.
“What?” Helios prompted, leaning forward.
The faraway look returned to Nikolas’s eyes, but now he seemed to glimpse a nightmare. “It spoke,” he rasped, “but not out loud. The pieces floated into the air, and a terrible voice filled our heads, cursing us to die unless we returned the sun or something of equal value. The curse also requires us to never stop searching for a replacement. Otherwise, we die.”
I stared, the gravity of his words sinking in. “How are you supposed to return the sun?”
