Lichgates: Book One of the Grimoire Saga (an Epic Fantasy Adventure) (48 page)

“You’re comfortable here, is that fair to say?”

“Yeah, I—”

“They have their secrets, Vagabond, as dark as those of Losse and Kirelm. That you can’t see them simply means they involve you.”

She didn’t have a comeback for that.

“You’re comfortable here,” he continued, “not because you’re welcomed, but because in Hillside you fit in. In Losse and in Kirelm, you’re notably different. There, you stand apart. You can sense it and feel it when they interact with you. You were an outcast before you had the chance to speak. But here, in Hillside, few acknowledge your human blood because they can’t see it. To confuse that with the comfort of friends is a mistake.”

Her stomach twisted. She blushed. The world she thought she understood rocked, and suddenly everything—her heart, her shoulders, her head—was heavier.

“I don’t mean to shame you,” he said. “It’s a natural thing. But you must acknowledge it and push away from that comfort. It’s a lie and it’s a weakness.”

“So where do I go?”

“For now, enjoy your rest in Hillside, but do so as a guest. It’s deserved, though your fight is far from over. Find the village once you’re rested, and that will serve you until each kingdom feels like home. When that happens, you will have succeeded in all the first Vagabond set out to do.”

“Wait, how did you know about the first Vagabond’s village?”

“Adele trained him,” he reminded her, glancing around the empty orchard. “But I should leave. Braeden will be glad to hear that you’re well.”

“Punch him for me, will you?”

Garrett laughed and transformed into a hawk, his body shivering and shrinking until tawny feathers covered what had moments before been skin.

Kara thought back to the amulet and the finished map in the satchel sitting on her bed. She would leave them untouched for now, because the moment she put them together, she would know where to go. And as soon as she had the village’s location, she would leave—with or without Braeden.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

THE AMBER TEMPLE

Twenty seven days passed without Kara really noticing them, even though she didn’t do much of anything while she waited for the Gala to come and for Braeden to return. Flick grew bigger each day, until he was the size of a small cat and could just barely fit in her bag.

She kept her promise, leaving the map and amulet in her satchel, and distracted herself from thinking about the village by training near the lake. The Grimoire taught her to manifest a broadsword from the energy in the air, and she mastered it as the weeks passed. Besides that, the water techniques she’d learned in Losse consumed most of her time, though she practiced those more out of spite than a real willingness to learn.

Twin forced her to withstand one hundred and twelve more pinpricks as she tailored the masterpiece. It was by far the most beautiful thing that Kara had ever worn, and she could never quite stifle a coquettish giggle whenever she saw it.

At the final fitting, she grinned as Twin laced up the last string of the bodice.

“I have a surprise for you,” her friend said, voice calm and not as excited as Kara would have expected. After all, the girl had spent hours tailoring the dress. Twin hustled back to a bag of supplies on the bed and pulled out a small present wrapped in brown paper.

“This is the finishing touch and completely selfish,” she said. “I just wrapped it to make myself feel better.”

“You still shouldn’t have,” Kara chided, but she smiled as Twin handed her the package. Inside the brown paper was a large black box that held a small silver tiara on a black cushion. The metal coiled and curved in an ornate pattern fitted with startling crystals.

“Twin, tell me you didn’t actually buy this! Why would you get me something so nice? You know I’ll just break it.”

“Just try it on, will you?” Twin muttered. A nervous twitch pricked the corner of her lips, and her gaze shifted from Kara to the floor.

Kara’s intuition flared. Something was off.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

Twin nodded and feigned another smile, but didn’t say anything.

Kara eyed Twin for a moment before she lifted the ornate metal work in her fingers. Twin would never hurt her. It was more likely that she was just keeping quiet about where she’d gotten it and who it was really from.

The metal was weightless, like holding a glittering feather made of crystal. Its gems gleamed in the sunlight from the window, drawing her eyes in and out of focus as she lifted the crown to her head.

“No, wait!” Twin said. Her voice dripped with panic, and she snatched the tiara.

“Huh—?”

“I can’t be a part of this! It’s just wrong!”

“What’s going on?”

Twin’s body shook. She leaned against a dresser and slid down its face until she hit the floor with a
thump
. Kara sat down as well, watching the tiara as it hung from her friend’s thin, trembling fingers.

“I saw Gavin put a curse on the crown,” Twin said, her voice shaking as she forced through her words. “Apparently, a servant heard some of your conversation with that muse, Kara. They know you have no intention of staying here. Blood Gavin, he thinks that the other kingdoms won’t respect him if you leave. He told me to give this to you, but it will prick you with Hillsidian blood. Gavin would be able to control you.”

A row of thin barbs glittered in the crown at this new angle, situated on the very front band of the tiara. Their jagged ends leaned inward to what would have been her brow if she’d worn it, their tips as green as the poisoned spikes on the cuffs Braeden so feared.

Kara held her breath, her chest tightening with the rapid race of her suffocating heartbeat. Garrett’s warning resurfaced:
“They have their secrets, as dark as those of Losse and Kirelm. That you can’t see them simply means they involve you.”

She leaned her head against the dresser and rubbed her face, her shoulders tensing as she realized the depths of this betrayal.

“The rumors about his liking me?” she asked in a terse whisper. “Did he start those as well?”

“I don’t think so. No, I think those were just rumors. It might have given him the idea, though. Oh Bloods! Kara, he’ll kill me!” Twin shook in violent twitches, her arms and legs inconsolable in her fear. It wasn’t an exaggeration.

“I won’t let him do that, Twin. You sacrificed everything to tell me this. I owe you.”

“Then take me with you when you leave. I don’t care where we go, but I can’t stay here. Not now.”

“I will,” Kara promised without hesitation, but a flickering doubt hovered in her mind. This could be a trap. Twin had saved her from the tiara, true, but that could be part of the ploy. She was still a Hillsidian and still loyal to Gavin, and could just tell him where Kara went next. The only way she could really, truly trust her was if Twin became a vagabond.

Kara sighed. She didn’t want to doubt Twin. The girl’s fear was so real.

“You should head over to your room,” she said, standing and offering a hand. “I need to speak with Gavin.”

“No! He’ll know I told you!”

“He won’t,” she corrected, winking. “I found it out for myself and chased you out of the room in a thundering rage, remember?”

“Please—!” Twin begged.

“I’ll protect you, but Gavin needs to know he can’t mess with me. He’s gone too far.”

“Please don’t tell him it was me.”

“I won’t. Now, will you please get me the hell out of this dress?”

Once Kara had escaped the ball gown, she grabbed the tiara and its box and charged toward Gavin’s study. She wished that Braeden or Adele or Garrett was there to tell her if this was even a good idea, but they weren’t. This was hers alone to fix.

The study door and the dead Queen’s portrait came into view as she turned around a corner. Blood Lorraine still smiled from her painting, but her eyes were steely in the thin morning light streaming through the windows above. Kara pulled the golden tassel to get Gavin’s attention, avoiding the portrait’s gaze as much as she could. When no answer came, she rang four more times out of sheer annoyance.

“Vagabond?”

She turned mid-pull to see Richard standing in the hall, his arms crossed. The lines on his face were deeper than when she’d last seen him, and she realized for the first time that she hadn’t spoken to him since the Queen was murdered. There was a curious twist to his eyebrows as he examined her.

“Hi, Richard. I need to speak to Gavin. Where is he?”

“I’m not sure, though I would guess he’s preparing for the Gala now that it’s just a week away. Are you packed and ready?”

“Whether or not I even go depends on my next conversation with Gavin. Where is his room?”

“You can speak with him this evening,” Richard said with a smile. He bowed to leave, apparently assuming that ended the matter.

“I need to see Gavin right now, Richard.”

His smile became a glare. “You’re a guest here, Kara. Don’t confuse yourself as his equal. He is the Blood and not to be commanded. From what I can tell of my readings, even the first Vagabond always respected that.”

“A lot of people tell me what the first Vagabond did or wanted, but these are different times, I’m a different person, and your son has gone too far.”

“I’m certain that this is a misunderstanding,” Richard said, but the shadows deepened in the bags under his eyes as he spoke. “What has he done?”

“Yes, Kara, please tell us,” a voice echoed down the hall from behind Richard. Gavin walked down the hallway, his jaw tense and his expression as cold as his mother’s portrait.

She tossed him the black box as he walked closer. Its clasp held tightly as it flew toward him, keeping the cursed tiara inside, but the way his back stiffened as he caught it suggested that he knew what it was without opening the latch.

“I know you only started peace talks because you aren’t powerful enough on your own to get revenge for your mother,” she said. Both men were quiet. “But the people around you aren’t tools. You can’t control me or the Grimoire and you never will. Hillside isn’t my home, and I won’t be returning here after the Gala. See? You didn’t need your spies to tell you that.”

The color drained from Richard’s face. He snapped his head and stared at his son with disgust and a gaping mouth. Gavin furrowed his brows, unapologetic.

“Twin told you?”

“Don’t touch her, Gavin. I happen to be smart enough to figure out curses on my own. Hurt her because I found this out and you’ll be an even greater coward than I already think you are.”

She shoved past him and left the silent Hillsidian royal family in her wake.

Kara retreated to her bedroom only long enough to grab the amulet and the map, pack some clothes, and find Flick. There was no way she could bring herself to wait for Braeden—not in Hillside, not now. She would have to come back for Twin, though; Kara had no idea what was waiting for her in the village and didn’t want her friend to get hurt. She grabbed what food had been laid out for her and ran to the waterfall she’d so coveted as a peaceful spot just a few months ago.

She panted and sat down on the boulder near the waterfall, which seemed pathetic after seeing the thundering falls near the Villing Caves. The splash of the cascading rapids drowned out her thoughts, weighed as they were with the hurt and betrayal that made her throat sting. She didn’t want to be alone, so she summoned the Grimoire and debated her options. There was the griffin, or maybe the black dragon from Losse. She flipped through the pages, but stopped when she came across the image of a tall, thin wolf with a thick black coat. It stared at her from the drawing as if it could see her. Chills raced down her spine as she read the text.