“No,” Cleo said firmly. “I am a princess of Auranos. And I support every one of my father’s decisions. And unless you too would like to find your severed head in a box, you’d do best to respect your king.”
There was now a cowed look to the guard’s expression as he lowered his head in deference to her. “My apologies, your highness.”
Cleo clutched the seeds so tightly in her hand they bit into her skin. “Get back to work,” she said icily before continuing on along the hall.
“That was brilliant, Cleo,” Nic said. “You defeated him with words.”
She gave him a sidelong look, almost amused. But worry creased her brow. “It’s not good out there, is it?”
He shook his head, his own amusement fading. “No. It isn’t.”
“Do you think we’ll lose?”
“King Gaius and Chief Basilius have a lot of men ready and willing to die for their cause. No matter how long this takes.”
read the note three times before it began to make any sort of sense to her. But when it did, the note literally dropped from her hands.
Eirene had seen through her and Nic’s lies about being from Limeros. She’d known Cleo was the Auranian princess.
Even more than that—Eirene was the exiled Watcher herself. While they had searched for her, she had found them instead.
And Cleo had no idea.
She looked down at the tiny pebbles and her eyes widened. These were the grape seeds infused with earth magic. They’d been in her possession the entire time.
Two seeds that were capable of healing someone near death.
If she’d known this, she could have saved Theon’s life with one of them.
The hopeless thought wrenched her heart from her chest. She let out a loud cry of pain, then gave in to her grief and collapsed to the floor, drawing her knees tight to her chest.
Even while wracked with sobs, she knew she had no time for tears or regrets.
She had to get to Emilia.
Cleo forced herself up from the ground and ran for the door. She burst into the hallway, only to crash right into somebody. Nic staggered back a few feet away and gingerly rubbed his chest.
“Ouch. You do have a habit of frequently hurting me, Cleo.” He studied her red, swollen eyes with concern. “I heard a cry from your chambers. I thought you were in distress.”
Her heart fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings. “I was. I am. I—I have the seeds. Eirene...she was the Watcher.”
He stared at her blankly. “How much wine did you have tonight? I believe you might be even drunker than Aron.”
“I’m not drunk. It’s true.” Her heavy heart lifted. “Come. We much go to Emilia’s chambers immediately.”
“You really believe in magic?” he asked.
“Yes!”
He nodded and a grin crept across his face. “Then let’s go save your sister.”
They hurried through the hallways toward Emilia’s room, passing through a corridor where she caught part of a conversation between two guards.
“Their forces are relentless,” one said. “The palace walls aren’t impenetrable.”
“They’ve breached the walls?” Nic asked sharply, drawing Cleo to a halt.
The guards looked sheepish as if they hadn’t meant to be overheard.