House of Shadows (Royal Houses 2)

“Why are you telling me this?” Kerrigan asked.

“Like calls to like,” Wynter said.

She took Kerrigan’s hand and pushed it against the wall. A charge snapped against her hand. It made her jump in surprise, as if the magic really were speaking to her. And as she had the first time she’d touched the barrier, something was wrong. Something was intrinsically broken in the spellwork. She could almost see the edges of it, and then she was through to her elbow. The magic couldn’t keep her in, as it did to Wynter. Anger appeared on the princess’s face and then disappeared as quickly.

Kerrigan jerked her hand back out of the barrier. “What was that?”

“The walls are weakening. The thousand-year spell is fracturing at the edges.” Wynter stared, mesmerized by her jailor, before looking at Kerrigan. “And I want you to bring it down.”

10

The Court

Kerrigan’s mind was still reeling when she returned to the rooms. When she found Arbor and Prescott relaxing on the couch, eating out of a bag of chocolate treats, she jumped.

“Gods, don’t scare me like that,” Kerrigan said.

“Out riding?” Arbor asked.

Prescott grinned. “Wynter?”

“Yes.”

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Arbor said.

“What are you two doing here? Has Fordham been back?”

“He’s been tied up with princely duties,” Prescott said with a shrug. “Sounded boring. We promised to come entertain you.”

“I did bring bubbly,” Arbor said. She gestured to the bottle on the table.

“I’m in no mood to drink. Why are you always plying me with alcohol?”

Arbor dropped the perpetual smile, and Kerrigan saw the pain etched into her features for the first time. “Look, our cousin and best friend was exiled. There was nowhere to go or anything to do. We thought we’d never see him again. The only way to survive was to become as cruel and terrible as the rest of the court or to drink enough to not have to think about it.”

“You don’t have to have a drink,” Prescott said. “We thought at the party, you’d need to cope. And today, it’s more celebratory.” He tossed a piece of chocolate into his mouth. “You brought him back to us.”

“And happier than ever,” Arbor agreed.

Kerrigan relaxed at the words. She was on edge from her conversation with Wynter. At the implications in what she’d said. She didn’t need to take that out on Arbor and Prescott.

“Sorry. This place …”

Arbor waved it away. “We get it.”

“If anyone does,” Pres said.

“Chocolate?”

“Gods, yes.”

Kerrigan took a piece from Arbor and popped it into her mouth. She sighed as she sank back into the adjacent chair. It was like getting a special something from the chocolatier in the Square. She could never afford it, but sometimes, she along with Hadrian, Lyam, Darby would save up for weeks to buy a special piece of the famous chocolate and share it together. The stuff in the mountain was never quite the same.

“This is amazing,” she groaned.

“They have the good stuff at court,” Pres agreed.

“Can you tell me about Fordham?” Kerrigan asked, taking another piece.

Pres and Arbor shared a glance.

“What do you want to know?” Arbor asked.

“What was he like before the exile? Was he always so jaded?”

Prescott sighed, and Arbor shrugged. “Yes,” they said at the same time.

Then, they both laughed.

“Fordham was always his own person. In a way that his father hated. He wanted him to be a duplicate of himself. But the court, it wears you down. Day in and day out of constant hate, it’s debilitating. The only way to survive is to harden yourself. And Fordham had to be the head of it. He had to be cruel, invulnerable, and unyielding,” Arbor explained.

“He’s done things he’s not proud of, and it weighs on him. Despite growing up together, we’ve never really seen him relax.”

Kerrigan laughed softly. “So, he’s not much different then?”

“Oh gods, no. The outside world completely changed him,” Pres said. “That smile at the party last night—I’ve never seen him look at anyone like that in public.”

“Even in private,” Arbor said, flipping her dark hair off of her shoulder. “I don’t think it’s just the outside world. I think it’s you.”

Kerrigan shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

Pres shared a secret look with his sister. “People he gets close to suffer the consequences. If he holds himself back, it’s for your safety.”

“I’ve heard the spiel.”

“But he’s not doing a good job,” Arbor said. “Not for someone who knows him.”

“Which means Wynter has noticed,” Pres filled in.

“And the king.”

“Great,” Kerrigan said. “Maybe we should open up that bubbly.”

Arbor laughed. “Now, you’re getting it.”

Kerrigan only had a glass. Just enough to put out the thoughts of what Wynter wanted her to do from her mind. She couldn’t share that with anyone yet. Not without deciding whether or not it was a good idea or if she could even do it. If it was possible, would she be a hypocrite for fearing what would happen if she let loose the House of Shadows? She could get Ben and Bay, and Arbor and Pres out of this hellhole, but she’d unleash the House of Shadows hate upon her world too. She wished Wynter had never come to her.