House of Shadows (Royal Houses 2)

“You’re waiting for another murder?” Kerrigan gasped.

“Gods, no, Kerrigan. Don’t you know me better than that? I have people being watched. I am doing what I can through the means I have. I cannot publicly accuse people, but I can search out evidence my own way.”

Kerrigan finally sank into a seat next to Helly, her anger turning into resignation. “Why must it be this way?”

Helly took one of Kerrigan’s hands. “The Society has been around for thousands of years. We’re changing incrementally all the time. We’ll do what we can, I promise.”

It wasn’t enough, but it would have to do for now.

“And I called you here because Zina sent me this.”

Helly passed Kerrigan a slip of paper with Zina’s scrawl on it.

I can start training the girl on the Night of the Dead. Let her know, will you, Hell?

Kerrigan shivered. The Night of the Dead was still six weeks away, and just thinking about it made her nervous. “Why do we have to wait so long?”

“With Zina, who knows? If she says the Night of the Dead, then she knows what she’s doing.”

“All right. The Night of the Dead it is,” Kerrigan said, rising to her feet.

Irritation about the investigation hit her. She hated that this place was still so set in the past. And she was starting to worry that one girl wasn’t going to be able to fix it.

27

The Library

“You’re doing just fine,” Audria said, clapping Kerrigan on her back as they headed to lunch later the next week.

“I suck,” she grumbled.

Bond training was a nightmare. By the time she finished every morning, she felt like she’d been run over by a carriage. At least yesterday, she’d gotten to take it out on Lorian. She’d fought ferociously until even Lorian seemed almost impressed. Not that he’d ever say it out loud.

“The bond is hard for me too,” she confessed. “I’ve never had anything like this. Fordham makes it look easy.”

Kerrigan glanced over to him and found him already watching her. He met her gaze evenly with an arched eyebrow until she hastily looked away. “He does, doesn’t he?”

“What’s going on with you two anyway?”

“Nothing,” Kerrigan said slowly.

Audria rolled her eyes. “Look, I made the mistake of inviting March to the Season, but you can tell me. Are you two involved?”

“No,” she repeated. “We’re really not. He’s not interested.”

Audria pulled her to a stop. “Kerrigan, you’d have to be blind not to see that he’s interested. It’s palpable.”

Kerrigan shrugged. “It’s not my story to tell. Just know that it isn’t happening.”

“His loss,” she said with a giggle. “If it’s not Ashby March, the most eligible bachelor of the Season, that you want, then we will find you someone!”

Kerrigan wanted to tell her that she didn’t need the help, but it was easier to let Audria ramble than to argue.

They finished up lunch as a team and headed into their history lesson. Luckily, it was the easiest of the three classes. Far easier than her language elective, which she’d taken to brush up on her ancient Fae. She’d had a lot of these lessons at the House of Dragons. By a lot of the same teachers too.

Kerrigan took a seat in the row of chairs before their instructor, a bubbly Fae with long, braided blonde hair, light-blue eyes, and a peach-colored pin on her black Society robes to mark her as a member of tribe Zavala, far in the northern mountains.

“Welcome back,” Mistress Movanna said cheerfully. She bounced slightly with each step and pressed thin spectacles up the bridge of her nose.

Kerrigan had rarely seen a Fae have to wear the enhancing glasses. Though Movanna joked it was because she was always deciphering tiny lines of ancient Fae.

“Today, we’re going to discuss the Irena Bargain.”

Roake groaned softly.

Movanna laughed. “I know. I know. We’ve all heard it before. Of course we know all the details. No need to even discuss it, right?”

Kerrigan wanted to nod but had a feeling that Movanna was joking.

“I’ll tell you the story, and you tell me what you think,” Movanna suggested. “Thousands of years ago, Fae discovered an uninhabited world. To their shock, dragons existed here already. The Fae wanted the land for themselves and began a battle between Fae and dragon, which the Fae were losing. One Fae maiden walked alone into the belly of the beast and struck a truce with the dragon leader, Ferrinix. Together, it was the first dragon bond and the beginning of the Society. The Fae agreed to live under Society rule, and twelve tribes split the land for themselves based on their belief of magic. Three tribes to the west in Viland, who believed magic should be used for war. Three to the east in Moran, who thought magic should be used for good. To the north in Tosin, who used magic for efficiency. And three more to the south, who believed magic should be used for nothing or menial things, depending on the translation. Is that what you learned?”