“We have to tread carefully,” he says. “With the Prism Master here.”
He’s changed his tune from earlier, but I don’t call him on it. I take a breath, fighting to stay calm. “You know we can do nothing against him. He’s too powerful.”
He nods, jaw tight. “That’s why we have to get our hands on that weapon before anyone else does.”
“We don’t even know what it is. If it was so powerful that the Iljaria buried it—”
“It doesn’t matter what it is,” says Vil shortly. “Only who wields it.”
I gnaw on my lip, unhappy.
“Thereissomething between you and the one-eyed prince.”
I bristle. “I helped him up, Vil. Is that so severe an offense?”
He doesn’t answer.
We reach the dining hall.
Kallias has not given the Prism Master the seat of honor. Ballast sits there, the silver powder his attendants have dusted over his cheeks not disguising the rising bruise left by Kallias’s fist. He doesn’t look up as I’m shown to my place across from him.
The Prism Master—Brandr—sits between Ballast and Aelia, sipping his wine, dark eyes flitting around the room. His gaze catches mine, and he lifts both eyebrows. His magic twists suddenly throughme and I gasp at the pain, unable to stop myself. He gives a brief, sharp smile. The magic withdraws. He turns his attention elsewhere.
I’m hardly able to eat any of my dinner, fighting nausea and the sick twist of fear. I’m relieved when the attendants clear the table, when we’re ushered back into the great hall for dancing.
Music fills the cavernous space, half a dozen children from Kallias’s Collection clustered in the corner, effortlessly playing strings and woodwinds to the insistent rhythm of a pulsing drum. Northern lights dance violet and green beyond the Sea of Bones; I blink at them and yearn for true light, but there is a long while yet before the sun will rise again.
“Dance with me, Princess,” says Kallias, suddenly at my shoulder. Before I can protest, he tugs me out into the middle of the floor, where the dancing has already started, couples dipping and twirling to the swelling music.
My body remembers the dances Vil taught me what feels like so long ago, before Indridi died in the dust. But Skaandan dances are not the same as Daerosian ones, and I stumble, tripping over Kallias’s feet.
He catches me, both hands on my waist, and I recoil, knocking into another dancer. Kallias just laughs, grabs my wrists, pulls me into the dance again.
“My dear Astridur, you seem far away this evening.”
I grimace, scrambling for an appropriate response and coming up empty.
“I wanted to remind you,” he says, as he lifts his hand and spins me under his arm, “that you have not yet answered my proposal. The Prism Master’s arrival changes things. He will push to have his way, to seal the treaty quickly. My terms are the same: Become my queen, save yourself and your country. Refuse me, and you will all die.” He smiles as he says it, like either outcome would give him immense pleasure.
“You think you can best the Prism Master?” I say quietly. “He’s the most powerful man in the world.”
Kallias shrugs. “Not for much longer. Answer me soon. Before your time is up. And, Astridur.” Danger sparks in his eyes. “I do hope thatyour little display earlier means nothing. It would not take much for Ballast to fall back out of grace. I have other sons, you know. I can choose a new heir.”
He leaves me reeling in the midst of the dancers. I hardly have a moment to breathe before magic writhes along my skin and I turn to find the Prism Master standing there. He holds out his hand.
I take it.
We dance. There is a roaring in my ears, blocking out music and light and air, everything but the mad beat of my heart.
The Prism Master whirls us to the outskirts of the dancers, a pace away from the glass wall.
“I am surprised to find a Skaandan princess here,” he says. “Especially one I didn’t know existed.”
I can’t quite meet his eyes, can’t quite comprehend the shape of him or his wild, teeming power.
I answer his question with one of my own. “I am surprised to find the renowned Prism Master is little more than a boy.”
His jaw tightens. “My father is dead. His power passed to me.”