A few moments later, the worthless guard is back. He opens his mouth to offer an excuse I barely listen to.
I roll my eyes. “I’ll deal with it myself,” I growl, irritated, and then I disappear.
I feel her instantly.
I feel the device.
She’s here.
It only takes a moment to portal to her. She’s on her knees, clutching the relic I foolishly let her keep.
I told her tostay away. She didn’t listen. She’s made a mess of the market. Chaos is ringing all around us. My men aren’t far behind. She outran all of them. It would be more impressive if they weren’t a pack of fools.
I should let her go. She’s safest far away from me. I’m safer with her far away ...
My hand juts out. The portal she was in the process of forming withers away, in deference to my ability.
Her eyes snap up to meet mine, and—
Her feelings.
Dread. But also ... something else. Something I felt before, when she clutched that portaling device to her chest.
A shred of her is happy to see me.
“You,” I say.
Her.
That’s when I know I won’t be letting her go. I gave her a chance not to come back. I gave her a chance to be rid of me. Now, she’s returned, of her own volition.
She’s mine.
The plan is monstrous. But these are monstrous circumstances.
I need that sword. Getting it will rid me of my two biggest problems.
The dreks ... andher.
She can’t torment me if she’s dead.
The hours since she was found have given me time to think. My general disappeared. He left behind his entire life. His family—who I know he loved—mournedhim. He was convinced he was close to finding the sword. Why not bring it back to me? Earn his freedom? Be able to do whatever he wanted, without having to fake his own death?
Even if hehadfallen in love with Isla’s mother, he could have simply given me the sword and been with her. He could have visited his family whenever he wanted to. It would have been traitorous, of course, but I’m not sure any of us would have ever found out, with the distance between our realms.
Perhaps the sword wasn’t where he thought it was. Maybe this was his only escape from his duty without it.
Or—
Or maybe he did find the sword. Maybe he found it and decided not to break the curse on it. Which means he might have been the last person to handle it.
It’s a stretch. But if I’m right ... it could mean Isla would not only be able to break the curse on it ... but she might be helpful in finding it.
If I’m right ... the sword would sense his power in her. Ancient swords are almost sentient. They can be stubborn. Perhaps it might actually allow itself to be found, if she was with me, trying to locate it.
The prisons are freezing, even for me. My boots echo against the damp stone floor. The walls are cavernous, so low some places, that I have to duck. The ceiling rises the farther I get, into an older, quieter part of the cells.
There she is.
