She didn’t know how to use it accurately for small distances or places she had never been before. But her room in the Mainland castle was neither.
The wall came down just as she portaled away.
CHAPTER TWENTY
TEA
For two full days, Isla slept. She only awoke to eat and sip broth, then she drifted away again. She had strange dreams. Grim was in some of them. Flashes of him. Of her. Ofthem.
By the twenty-third day, when Ella came with news of afternoon tea, Isla knew it was time to get up. To shed the pain and weakness like the snake on her crown shrugging off its skin.
The bondbreaker wasn’t in the Star Isle, Sky Isle, or Moon Isle libraries. Which only left one place.
Sun Isle.
The king’s own land. It made sense that a relic as powerful as the bondbreaker would be kept there.
But Isla had no way of getting gold clothing. Barely any hair dye left.
And more problems than ever.
Cleo knew someone had attacked her guards, gotten into her library, and left without a trace.
She must have suspected Isla immediately. Ever since that first dinner, Cleo had had her sights on her. The physical description the attacked guards would have provided would have simply confirmed her suspicions.
Cleo didn’t have proof it was her. But sheknew.
She had to.
The wound to her head had mostly healed, thanks to her Wildling elixir. The white had washed out of her hair. She had thrown her Moon-ling clothing into the fire.
Still, Isla felt like the truth of her whereabouts three nights prior was written across her body as she walked inside the tearoom.
It must have been beautiful, once upon a time. Now the windows, giant arches every few feet, were covered with thick fabrics like mirrors in an old house. Like her room back home. The ceiling, domed and made of glass, had been painted over, trapping the sunlight outside. The only light came from hundreds of orbs of fire that floated precariously overhead, the same ones the king had displayed at her demonstration. Marble columns lined the room the way guards might if Oro allowed them inside. The king didn’t need guards, however. Not even against rulers of realm. He was more powerful than all of them combined.
Isla felt that power ringing through the room as Oro entered it.
Cleo swept inside next, and her eyes immediately locked onto Isla’s. Her expression revealed nothing.
But Isla’s palms began to sweat. She forced herself to keep the Moonling’s gaze until an attendant guided Isla to her seat.
The Moonling ruler knew. Isla felt it in her bones.
Cleo was a dangerous enemy. One who was building an army. For what? Did any of the other rulers know that between the legion and her supposed ships, the Moonling seemed ready for war?
Once all the rulers were seated, staff came pouring out of a large set of doors, carrying gleaming trays of china. They circled the table once, then stopped suddenly, their movements perfectly choreographed. Behind each chair stood a Skyling, a Moonling, and a Starling.
Oro nodded.
The Starlings lifted their hands, and tiny plates flew in a flurry, landing carefully on the table, followed closely by teacups, which fell atop them with a clink. Three cups total sat in front of Isla. Ornately decorated teapots hovered overhead, high above the table, heavy with liquid. Water-wielding Moonlings lifted their hands, and steaming tea Sunlings had no doubt heated fell from the pots like tiny waterfalls,through strainers the Starlings held steadily, rich red liquid that spilled into her first mug. The pots straightened and moved in a circle before her second cup was filled with honeyed gold. The third tea was the deep blue of sapphires.
The Starlings lifted their arms again, and cubes of sugar fell into each cup, followed by drops of honey and shots of cream. Each flavor of tea received its own treatment, the blue tea getting a slice of lemon, the red receiving a mint leaf, the gold gifted a candied orange peel.
Finally, the Skylings whipped their wrists, sending a gentle breeze over their drinks, cooling them.
Grim sighed. “I suppose this isn’t the moment to mention I detest tea?”
Oro ignored him. “Please enjoy,” he said.
