House of Shadows (Royal Houses 2)

She was halfway across the room when she heard Alura and Lorian getting into it. Lorian famously detested his daughter’s girlfriend, a human who lived in Venatrix territory on the western sea. He’d trained Alura into the biggest, baddest fighting machine, hardly seeing her as a person, let alone a daughter—until the moment she’d defied him. Kerrigan was taking the brunt of his anger right now, but she couldn’t imagine Alura dealing with it all those years.

By the time she made it into the dining hall, everyone else had already dug into their meal. Kerrigan filled her plate with food and took the open seat next to Audria. She drank three full glasses of water before getting any food.

“What did Lorian want?” Fordham asked stiffly.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Roake asked. “He wants her gone.”

“It’s practically barbaric, the way he was treating you,” Audria said.

“Seems in line with what I’ve heard of him,” Noda said. “Someone said that last year, he beat a half-Fae girl in Venatrix near to death for supposedly stealing from a vendor in Edgewood Market.”

Audria gasped. “He’s a Society member!”

“Which means no one would say anything about it,” Noda said.

“Isn’t the Edgewood Market magicked against stealing?” Roake asked. He pointed a drumstick at Noda. “Why would someone be stupid enough to steal there?”

Noda shrugged. “Just what I heard.”

“Anyone would steal if they were desperate enough,” Fordham said.

“And how would you know?” Roake asked. “You’re royalty.”

“I’m not royalty but of the peerage,” Audria said. “And I still have compassion for those in need.”

“I would know because my people are desperate,” Fordham said flatly.

His gaze bore through Roake until Roake finally looked away.

“Yeah, sure,” Roake muttered.

“Do you think he actually beat someone?” Audria asked.

“Yes,” Kerrigan said at once.

She knew firsthand how people reacted to half-Fae who had supposedly stepped out of line. She doubted that girl had ever even stolen anything. Just the threat was enough. Living as a half-Fae was a crime here.

“What do you think of the schedule?” Fordham asked to change the subject.

“Gods-damn madness, if you ask me,” Roake snarled, his southern accent peeking out on the words.

“Agreed,” Audria said properly. “I don’t know how they expect us to keep up.”

“They don’t,” Noda said. “They expect us to fail a lot, just so we keep trying to get better.”

“And how do you know so much?” Roake blustered.

“My mam helped me with Society training. She didn’t tell me what I was in for, just that it would test me beyond anything I’d done,” Noda explained. Then, she looked at Fordham. “Why are you eating with us?”

Fordham stared right back at her. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“You didn’t for a month during the tournament. You never spoke more than three words to any of us, except Kerrigan.”

“She’s right,” Audria added.

Roake nodded.

“You were competitors,” Fordham said. “And now, we’re a team. We have to work together so that we can all make it out of here.”

“And why should we believe you?” Roake demanded.

The other two looked like they wanted to know the answer too.

“They don’t want the House of Shadows represented in the government,” Kerrigan answered for him. “So, they’ll gun for the two of us to drop out. You don’t have to work with us. I can understand why you wouldn’t want to, all things considered, but the only way we’ll get through this is as a group.”

Fordham nodded once. “Personally, I’d love to prove them wrong about us lot. I’m not dropping out.”

“Me neither,” Kerrigan said quickly.

“I’m not either,” Audria said.

Noda nodded. “All of us or none of us.”

They all agreed and then looked to Roake. Waited for him to tell them to all go to hell. It would suit him after all.

But to their surprise, he held his hand out. “All of us or none of us.”

Audria covered his hand, then Noda, then Kerrigan, and finally Fordham.

It was a pact that might be entirely meaningless in the end, but at the moment, it felt like it held the weight of the world in it.

“Oh yes, there you are,” an absentminded woman said as she strode into the air-magic room after lunch.

She didn’t look like much. Shorter even than Kerrigan with hair graying at the temples and lines around her eyes. Since Fae so rarely aged at all, it was a shock to even see it. They could live for over a thousand of years before ever gaining lines. And many gave in to the abyss before letting that happen. Vanity and all.

“What are you all staring at me for?” she asked in confusion.

“Um, we’re here for air-magic training,” Audria said quickly. “Sir.”

“Sir?” the woman asked, straightening to her tiny height, a sparkle of laughter in her soft brown eyes. “Sir is for military types, I’m afraid.” She dropped a giant bag down onto the lone table in the magic training room. “Well, loosen up now. We’re not in the military here. The Society is only strict to traitors.” She made a slash gesture across her neck, and Kerrigan had to fight back laughter. “Anyway, you can call me Zina or Mistress Zahina if you must. I’m supposed to be teaching you air magic.”