Crown of Danger (The Hidden Mage Book 2)

by Melanie Cellier

  “I couldn’t let you die.” I gulped. “And it was my fault. I laid a trap for Jareth, but I thought he would come after me not you.”

  Darius’s eyes moved back to his brother, his face displaying an echo of its earlier shock before it went hard, the old ice returning.

  “I don’t understand,” he said.

  Talking quickly, I explained my belief that his father still had an ally at the Academy, and the plan I had made to expose Jareth if it was indeed him.

  “I thought he’d send another assassin,” I said. “And I had a plan to ensure we managed a full interrogation this time. I never dreamed he would come himself.”

  “Verene!” Bryony’s voice called from the other side of Darius’s sitting room. “Are you in there? Something woke me up, and you were gone…” I could hear in her voice she was refraining from saying it was my theft of energy that had woken her. She couldn’t see us where we sat, and she must be unsure who I was with.

  “We’re in the bedchamber,” I called back. “Come through.”

  “I can’t,” she shouted. “There’s some sort of…barrier.”

  “That’s my shield,” Darius said. “It won’t let her through without…” He raised his voice. “Allow Bryony to enter.”

  “Oh!” Bryony must have been pressing against the apparently empty doorframe because it sounded like she was now stumbling forward into the room.

  “It let me through,” I said softly.

  “Yes.” He wouldn’t meet my eyes.

  “And him.” I gestured behind me at Jareth’s still-bound body.

  “You’re the only two,” he said, his voice stiff.

  “The only two.” I bit my lip, a horrible thought floating into my mind. “What about your main door? Would that allow Jareth through?”

  Slowly, Darius nodded, something terrible in his eyes. “Only Jareth.”

  “So he had no need to access your suite through my rooms,” I whispered. “Not unless he intended to frame me. All he would need was a way to mask his own identity so that any investigation compositions merely showed someone entering from my room and stabbing you in your sleep.”

  I raised a shaking hand to my mouth. “And only one person has access through both my outside door and the door behind the tapestry. Me. Jareth would be heir, and Ardann would be blamed for killing Kallorway’s king-elect. It would have been chaos.”

  “What would have been chaos?” Bryony asked from the doorway, ending her words in a gasp as she took in the scene before her. “Are you…?”

  “We’re both all right,” I said hurriedly. “Now.” My eyes conveyed a silent message, and she nodded.

  “Even Jareth is unharmed,” I said begrudgingly.

  “Jareth?” She gasped again and strode over to see his face. “He actually came himself? But what are you all doing in here?”

  I quickly explained my realization of what had happened, and my panicked reaction.

  “I should have woken you,” I said. “I wasn’t thinking.”

  “Yes, you should have,” she said severely. “I would have happily stabbed Jareth for you.”

  I glanced quickly at Darius, catching the pained expression that crossed his face before his features hardened into steel.

  “No one will be stabbing Jareth,” he said. “I have already sent for Captain Vincent. He will take charge of my brother and remove him immediately from the Academy.”

  “Where will he take him?” I asked, tentative in the face of Darius’s emotional shutdown.

  “He will take him back to the capital where he can be safely contained for now.” His voice was flat and didn’t invite questions.

  “He sounded sorry,” I whispered, my words catching me by surprise. “When you were dying.”

  Darius shook his head, a look of disbelief crossing his face. “While I lay dying by his hand. My own brother. You were right all along, Verene, and I should have listened.”

  “I wish I wasn’t,” I said, hating the way my voice trembled. But I wanted the happy Darius back, the one who had returned from the capital.

  “The captain will be here any moment,” Darius said. “And I think it would be better if you ladies weren’t here. I survived, which means there will be no need for investigation compositions or any mention of your door. As far as the captain is concerned, my brother entered from the external corridor because I was too much of a fool to protect myself against him.”

  “Darius, no.” I put my hand on his arm. “You aren’t a fool.”

  He stepped away. “Apparently I am. You should go now. Hurry.”

  Mutely I stood, and Bryony gripped my arm, leading me back out into Darius’s sitting room. I tried to glance back at Darius, but she pulled me along too fast, propelling me into the safety of my own suite.

  Chapter 25

  Bryony forgave me for my theft of her energy instantly when I told her the full story. She was merely delighted that it had changed my mind about fully exploring my new ability.

  “You stopped yourself,” she said. “And that’s what matters.”

  She didn’t even push me when I told her I couldn’t focus to practice here at the Academy in the three days remaining of the year.

  “Over the summer,” I told her. “I’ll find a way to practice at home.”

  All rest day I waited for Darius to appear in my sitting room, or for rumors to sweep the Academy about Jareth, but everything proceeded as usual. I did hear someone mention that Captain Vincent had left in a carriage, but no one seemed to consider this remarkable. The only piece of news going around was that Captain Vincent had received a promotion and was now captain of the king-elect’s personal guard. Everyone seemed to assume he had royal business in the capital—possibly recruiting top members of the Royal Guard to his team.

  I couldn’t understand why Darius was keeping the truth a secret, but neither was I going to say anything. Even if I had wished to do so, talking about it would have revealed my presence at the scene. And on reflection I more than agreed with Darius—it was better for both Ardann and Kallorway if no one knew I was present at an assassination attempt on the king-elect.

  Exams passed in a haze. I barely remembered completing them, but my study must have paid off because I passed. The combat exam was a group exercise in the arena, but Bryony had already volunteered to do an exhibition bout with me for mine, and it felt much like our daily practices.

  My performance suffered from my distraction, though. Darius had turned up for the exam, and it was the first time I had seen him since Jareth’s attack. Thankfully Bryony went easy on me, ensuring I put in a creditable performance.

  Darius didn’t speak to me directly. In fact, he spoke to no one, his face utterly closed. He appeared for the beginning of each exam and disappeared as soon as it finished. My eyes were drawn to him again and again, but each time I saw him it caused me pain. How much hurt hid beneath that careful mask? The one person who had always been there for him had betrayed him in the ultimate manner, and I couldn’t imagine how it must feel.

  When I returned to my suite at the end of the evening meal—once again not having seen him in the dining hall—I went straight to the door behind the tapestry and knocked. For a long minute I thought he intended to ignore me, despite the fact I could feel his energy burning behind the door. But finally the handle turned and the door swung slowly open.

  My heart contracted at the sight of his face, gaunt somehow, although it had only been two days.

  “I suppose you wish to say farewell,” he said curtly. “You leave in the morning?”

  “Yes, I do, but…” I paused before a rush of words came bursting out of me. “Darius, I can’t imagine how you’re feeling. I’m so sorry. But I can’t bear to see you like this. I can’t bear to just leave and—”

  He cut me off in a harsh voice. “You have to leave, and the sooner, the better.”

  “What are you saying?” I wished my voice didn’t sound so small. “Darius, some of the things you’ve said�
�I thought…I had the impression that you cared about me.”

  He gave a bitter laugh. “Care about you? You’re the only one left in the world I care about, Verene. And that’s why you have to leave.”

  I stepped toward him, raising a hand, and he pulled sharply away.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I thought I could change Kallorway.” His voice was rough and deep with pain. “I thought I could change the court.”

  “You can. I really do believe that.”

  “Maybe,” he said, but his voice held no hope. “Maybe one day. But the court my father created managed to corrupt even Jareth.” He shook his head, pain haunting his eyes. “I didn’t think it was possible, but somehow they got to him. And if they can twist him…”

  He straightened, a shadow descending over his face and voice. “You need to leave, Verene. You have to get as far away from the Kallorwegian court as you can and never return. I don’t know how long it will take to leach Kallorway of its poison, but I can never bring someone I love into this court again.”

  I sucked in a breath, feeling as if I had just been winded. Love. Darius had said he loved me in the same breath as he said I had to leave him and never return. It was too much to take in.

  “I will go,” I said, my voice trembling, “because it’s the end of the year, and I must. But I will return for third year.” I hesitated. “Unless as king-elect you mean to bar me entry?”

  “As king-elect, I must consider the good of my kingdom. I cannot afford a diplomatic rupture with Ardann right now. I have promised my people an alliance and future peace, and I mean to deliver. But as myself, I’m begging you—please complete your studies at your own Academy. Flee Kallorway while you still can.”

  “No, I won’t give up on you.” I said the words fiercely, although it shook me to the core to hear Darius of all people begging.

  “That’s the problem, Verene,” he said, his voice a tortured whisper. “You’re too good for this place and for me.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t believe that.”

  “I wish I could convince you,” he whispered.

  A moment passed, both of us frozen in our own rooms, the open door between us. Then he straightened, his face turning stiff.

  “Farewell, Princess Verene. Enjoy your summer.”

  I tried to think of an answer, but he had already shut the door in my face.

  I slept little that night, everything that had happened in the last few days tumbling around and around my brain, too jumbled for me to make straight. Darius had said he loved me, and I knew that despite everything I loved him back. But it was the sort of tangled, impossible love that seemed hopeless.

  I had sworn I would be back, and that I wouldn’t give up on Darius, and I meant those promises. But at the same time, I knew Darius wasn’t the first one to try to protect me from the Kallorwegian crown. I had made the decision to protect myself before ever he tried to make it for me—when I chose to conceal the truth of my abilities from him.

  What hope did I have of convincing him I was safe in his court and at his side if I didn’t believe it myself? And yet, I could no longer imagine returning to my old life in Ardann, as he claimed he wished me to do.

  Ida arrived in the morning, efficiently packing my belongings and those of my clothes I indicated I wished to take. In a mood of defiance, I left even more behind than I had the year before.

  I thanked her profusely for her year’s service, and she seemed a little bemused by my enthusiasm. But although she might never know of it, I remembered the small part she had played in securing Darius his throne. She had passed on word of my questioning to Zora, prompting the head servant to be open with me and setting in motion a chain of events I could never have predicted.

  Bryony turned up as Ida was leaving, already tearful before she even began her farewell. Her parents had insisted she return home for the summer, a position I could understand, although Bryony herself had made many pointed comments about small villages and their lack of shopping.

  “Maybe you can come and visit for a week or two at some point,” I suggested, causing her to brighten considerably.

  She gave me a long hug, pausing when she pulled back to fix me with a fierce look.

  “You are coming back, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” I said firmly. “I’ll be here for the first class, don’t worry. Kallorway is on the brink of something new, and I don’t mean to walk away now.”

  “I still can’t believe Jareth…” Her voice trailed off as if she couldn’t bring herself to speak his crimes aloud.

  “I’ve never wished so badly I was wrong about something.” I rubbed at the side of my head. “And yet, at the same time, I can’t help but feel relieved that he’s safely locked away.”

  Bryony nodded fervent agreement before pausing. “And your new ability? You still mean to practice with it?”

  I nodded again. “Over the summer if I possibly can. Or next year if I can’t. I refuse to be caught out like that again. And next year I’m going back in the arena. I can’t afford to run away from stressful, dangerous situations—those are exactly the settings where I need to learn to control my power.”

  “You do seem to encounter an unusually large number of such situations in real life,” Bryony said.

  “Hopefully that’s all at an end now. But I still want to be prepared.”

  I stepped forward and gave her a second hug.

  “Thanks for always being there for me, Bree.” My voice came out muffled and thick.

  “You mean thanks for not being a Jareth?” A hint of amusement tinged her voice. “I could say the same thing to you. Unless you’re harboring any murderous tendencies you’ve failed to mention before.”

  “None whatsoever,” I assured her.

  “Then, in that case, I’ll do everything I can to convince my parents to let me visit at some point over the summer. Maybe I can come at the end of the break and make Corrin a stop on my way back here.”

  “I hope you can. The summer won’t be the same without you.”

  She ran off after that, exclaiming that her carriage was already waiting. I made a slower exit from my room, running into Dellion in the corridor.

  “So you’re off for the summer, then.”

  She hadn’t said it as a question, but I nodded anyway.

  “Will you be going to your grandfather’s estate again?” I asked, watching her face carefully for her reaction.

  I still had no idea what the general really thought of Darius’s change in status, let alone what Dellion might have heard about Jareth.

  “This year is…different,” she said, giving nothing away. “I’m not sure what the summer will look like.”

  “Well,” I said, “I suppose whatever happens, I’ll see you back here in the autumn.”

  She sighed. “Unfortunately, I’m sure you’re right.”

  I chuckled, too used to her now to take offense. “Farewell and happy break to you, too, Dellion.”

  The shadow of a smile crossed her face. “Farewell, Princess Verene.”

  I had nearly made it out of the entrance hall when another voice called my title, pounding footsteps racing after me. I turned to confront a breathless maid. After a moment I placed her as the one who had delivered Zora’s message to me previously. For a moment she just stood there, panting, before thrusting a sealed note toward me.

  “Here, I was asked to give you this.”

  “Thank you,” I said, wondering why Zora couldn’t have just come and talked to me if she had something she needed to say.

  The maid bobbed a quick curtsy and dashed off again, leaving me shaking my head in bewilderment. Layna called to me from the front courtyard, so I tucked the note into a pocket and went down the steps to join her.

  “Will you miss the Academy?” I asked her. “Or are you glad to be heading home?”

  She frowned up at the gray building. “Is it strange to say both?”

  “If it is, then we’re both
strange.” I paused. “I hear Captain Vincent has changed roles. Does that mean we’ll be getting a new Captain of the Academy Guard?”

  She shook her head. “It was felt that for the duration of the king-elect’s time at the Academy, the two roles are so closely aligned that Vincent can continue in both of them. After Prince Darius graduates, however, they’ll have to find someone new for the Academy.”

  “That makes sense, I suppose.”

  “Are you ready to go?” Her horse pranced beneath her, as if sharing her eagerness to be moving.

  With a last lingering look at the Academy building, I nodded and climbed into the waiting carriage.

  We had made it all the way across the border and back into Ardann, my mind full of the people I was leaving and the people I was returning toward, when I remembered the note the maid had given me.

  Pulling it out, I broke the seal and glanced at the contents inside. When my eyes fell on the signed name at the bottom, I stiffened.

  I read it and read it again in disbelief.

  It wasn’t a note from Zora at all. If the signature was to be believed, it was a note from Jareth.

  I returned to the top and read what he had written.

  Verene—

  I hope this note finds its way to you. Something terrible is wrong, although I cannot understand what it is. I need your help, but not for my own sake. I need your help to save Darius. It’s the only reason I dare ask since I know I deserve no such assistance for myself. But for Darius and Kallorway, I implore you. Please help me. Please return next year and find out what is happening here.

  Jareth

  I read it five times, but no new words appeared to give it greater sense. My first reaction was to order the carriage to turn around and race back so I could reassure myself that Darius remained unharmed. But I suppressed the impulse. Showing him this letter would only hurt him further after everything Jareth had done.

  He gave no specifics of any credible threat, and I had no reason to believe he cared for his brother’s well-being. Why did he beg me to save Darius when he was the one who had tried to kill him?