Over the next few days, Seraiah worked on her own plan. In her spare time, when she wasn’t training or recovering from said training, she was searching the castle library for information on the Cave of Faces. Most maps she came across didn’t have it marked, but she’d found one that did—and one was all she needed.

In the early hours of morning, before the sun had even risen, and she was expected in the practice ring, Seraiah painstakingly recopied the map onto a sheet of paper. She noted the places she’d already been to get an estimate of how long it would take to get there. If she was lucky and figured out a way to get a horse, it would be at least two weeks. The cave also happened to be in the middle of a desert. Another thing she knew nothing about, but would have to add to her list to research.

Seraiah sighed. There was still so much she didn’t know. It was easier when she had others to rely on, but now she had no one but herself.

It won’t be any different from when you went on the Summer King’s quest, she told herself as she stared at the map, double-checking she had copied all of the details correctly.

Except even then she wasn’t completely alone. She’d had Lonan.

Lonan.

She hadn’t seen much of him these last few weeks since returning from the Seelie Court, but according to Kestrel, he’d been exploring the city and enjoying himself. Perhaps it might be beneficial to invite him to go with her. He may not have traveled much outside of the underground, but he still knew plenty about this world that she didn’t.

A clock chimed the hour, alerting Seraiah that her research time was up for now. She tucked her newly made map away and hurried to get ready for training.

Ever since the evening she’d found Virelai in Kai’s study, she’d thrown herself harder into learning everything Kestrel was teaching her. It served two purposes now. She’d need to know it when she went off on her own, but also it was a way to work out her anger at Kai over the time that had been wasted.

“Alright, what’s going on?” Kestrel finally asked, lowering her practice sword. She rested the tip in the dirt and leaned on it as she studied Seraiah.

“What do you mean?” Seraiah asked between breaths.

“I mean, where is all this pent-up rage coming from? You’ve been like this for days now. It’s not a bad thing since it seems to be helping you, but why the change?”

Seraiah shrugged. “It’s nothing. Can we continue?” She hadn’t breathed a word of what she had seen that night to Kestrel, and she didn’t intend to. She might think of Kestrel as her friend, but she knew Kestrel’s loyalty belonged to Kai.

Kestrel studied her a moment longer, but didn’t say anything else.

When another elf arrived at the practice ring and waved to Kestrel, she called for a break. “I have to go take care of something. Do you mind practicing alone in the meantime?”

“Not at all,” Seraiah said. She knew she was taking Kestrel away from her true work and causing Eryx to assume most of her duties again. “I’ll practice with the daggers.”

After Kestrel left, Seraiah set up targets. She could have worked on her stances, but she felt more like throwing right now. It was much more satisfying.

She set up the targets and worked her way through the practice daggers. Each one was successively closer to where she wanted them. Then she came to her last dagger. It wasn’t technically a practice dagger, but the one Kai had given her for her birthday. She always kept it on her, but didn’t always use it in her training. She always felt a little bad about using something so pretty.

Seraiah pulled the dagger from the sheath on her thigh and prepared to throw when someone touched her shoulder.

Instinct kicked in, and she whirled, aiming her blade for their throat.

Kai eyed the dagger, but he didn’t move. “I see the day I feared has come,” he said.

“What?”

“The day you learned how to use that,” he elaborated. His eyes moving from the blade to her face.

She scowled. “Don’t sneak up on me.”

If she moved even the slightest bit forward, she would break skin. The temptation was strong, but she didn’t want to find out what would happen if she maimed a prince. She started to drop her arm when his hand shot out.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Faster than she could process, Seraiah found her back pressed against Kai’s chest as he held her own dagger to her throat.

“Didn’t Kestrel teach you not to let your guard down?” Kai said, his mouth right next to her ear.

Seraiah attempted to stomp on his foot, but he avoided her.

“Nice try,” he said, the words sending shivers up and down her spine. “Where is Kestrel, anyway?”

“She was called away for something,” Seraiah said, trying to ignore the way her traitorous body reacted to being pressed against him. “Where’s Virelai?”

She smirked in satisfaction when she felt him stiffen.

“I know you came to my study the other night, but it wasn’t what it looked like,” Kai said, his breath tickling her ear. “Virelai had information I needed. That was all.”

“I never said it looked like anything,” she said coolly.

“Good. By the way, prepare to leave tomorrow.”

Now it was her turn to stiffen, thinking of her own plans.

“But first I need you to do something for me.” He took the dagger away from her throat, but his other arm, wrapped around her waist, still held her in place.

Seraiah could have freed herself if she wanted to, but she didn’t move.

“I need you to make sure Kestrel is with you tonight. Don’t let her leave your side. Got it?”

“Yes,” she breathed.

“Good.” He shoved the dagger back into its sheath on her thigh and released her.

By the time she turned around, he was gone.

----------------------------------------

Later that evening, after Seraiah had washed off the dirt and blood from the training ring, and Wisteria had wrapped her knuckles with a clean bandage, she joined Kestrel in the front sitting room. Seraiah had told Kestrel about Kai’s visit to the training ring, leaving out the part about Virelai, and Kestrel had shown up at Seraiah’s door with a bag and sword.

When Seraiah had reminded her Kai had said they were leaving tomorrow and not tonight, Kestrel had brushed her off.

“Call it a gut feeling,” Kestrel had said. “You should do the same. It never hurts to be prepared.”

Wisteria had kindly packed a bag for her without question, and it now rested next to Kestrel’s by the door.

Seraiah had to fight to keep her eyelids from drooping as they waited for Kai to appear. The chair she’d chosen was comfortable, and she wanted nothing more than to sleep after her early morning activities and today’s long training session. The crackling of the flames in the fireplace wasn’t helping, either.

Kai hadn’t told her he would meet them, but Kestrel seemed convinced that was what he’d meant. Seraiah had a feeling she was wrong, though. The castle had already quieted for the night, and if Kai had intended to meet them, he would be here by now.

Seraiah glanced over at Kestrel, who was restlessly tapping her foot on the floor. She was becoming increasingly twitchy with each passing minute. Seraiah half expected her to jump up and start pacing the room.

She was about to comment on the tapping when a crash came from the hallway.

Seraiah bolted upright in her chair, and Kestrel was on her feet in a moment, her hand going to the sword at her side.

Wisteria appeared in the doorway and visibly paled when she realized they hadn’t been the source of the ruckus. “What—” Wisteria started to ask before Kestrel shushed her.

Seraiah sat frozen in her seat, her fingers digging into the plush fabric of the arms, as she listened hard.

Silence. No other sounds came.

After a moment, Kestrel dropped her hand from where it had rested on her sword hilt, but she didn’t relax.

“Wisteria, would you check the hallway, please?” Kestrel kept her voice calm and steady, never betraying the tension Seraiah could see written in every line of her body.

Wisteria pressed her lips together but said nothing as she hurried to do as Kestrel asked. Her face told Seraiah that going into the hallway was the last thing she wanted to do.

Kestrel resumed her seat on the couch, and they listened as the outer door opened and shut again. Several tense minutes passed before Wisteria returned. One look at her face was enough to tell them that something was very wrong.

“Grab your bag, Seraiah,” Kestrel said in that same steady voice. “And don’t forget your dagger. It’s time to test the lessons I taught you.”

Seraiah didn’t like the sound of that but left the room as quickly as possible to retrieve the dagger from her bedside table, where she’d left it after training. There was no arguing with Kestrel when she used that voice—her Commander’s voice.

As she was securing the dagger in place, Sterling’s book caught her eye. She scooped it up from the table and hurried back to the front room.

Wisteria sat on the couch in Kestrel’s place, wringing her hands in her lap. She looked ready to burst into tears at any moment. Kestrel was standing near the door with her own bag strapped over her back, and she’d pulled her sword from its sheath. The firelight danced along the blade, making it appear as though it was on fire itself.

Another crash sounded from the hallway, causing all three of them to jump and turn toward the sound.

“What’s happening?” Seraiah asked as she stuffed Sterling’s book into her bag before swinging it over her shoulder.

“We need to leave. Now,” Kestrel said, not answering the question.

“What about Kai? I thought we were waiting for him.”

Kestrel shook her head and turned to Wisteria. “Do not leave this room, no matter what you hear. It isn’t you they want. Keep your head down, and you will be fine.”

A single tear slipped down Wisteria’s face as the girl nodded she understood.

“Follow me,” Kestrel said to Seraiah, and instead of leading her to the outer door as Seraiah had expected, Kestrel headed toward the balcony.

“I thought we were leaving,” Seraiah said.

“We are.” Kestrel sheathed her sword and pulled open the glass door, stepping out onto the balcony. “We’re taking a shortcut.” She stalked over to the railing and looked down.

“Oh no,” Seraiah whispered when she realized what Kestrel meant for them to do.

“Oh yes,” Kestrel smiled. “It’s either this or fight our way through the hallways. And while I’m an excellent trainer, I don’t think you are quite ready for that. This will be the fastest way out of the castle, with the least amount of bloodshed. We need to get out of this city as soon as possible.”

“Why? What’s happening?”

Kestrel’s answer chilled her to the bone. “Because someone wants us dead.”