The Black King (Book 7) (26 page)

She didn’t want to take weeks. She wanted to face Rugad and get him out of her body. She wanted to be able to move again.

The last few days had been torture. She wanted to leave as soon as Matt had, but she knew she had to wait. If anyone saw them coming into Jahn so soon after, word might get back to Rugad. He would figure out what was going on. Coulter said he wouldn’t, but Arianna had decided underestimating Rugad was the worst thing they could do.

Dash went back into the kitchen for more supplies. Arianna stared at the carriage. The trip would be a long one. She wasn’t looking forward to it. But she was looking forward to seeing Jahn. She had missed it more than she wanted to admit. And she was going to take it back.

Coulter was worried that their plan wouldn’t work. Coulter was worried that they’d get caught, maybe even killed. He was also afraid he would have to use his magick like he did in the first battles against the Black King. And Coulter was afraid he’d freeze, just like he did then.

Arianna had her own concerns about that. But she was different from Coulter. The first plan might not work. It might cost some lives, but they were at war. They had to expect some risks.

So she had come up with a secondary plan that she told no one about. It wasn’t one she liked much. She liked her third plan better, but she wasn’t sure she could pull it off, not yet.

She had lived too long in this body thinking it immutable stone. She was trying to change that. For the last two nights, she had come to the magick yard after everyone else went to bed and she had held out her hand, trying a simple Shift that infant Shifters could do in their sleep—literally. It was why so many infant Shifters, born to non-Shifter parents, died.

She tried to turn her fingers into flame.

Both nights nothing happened and she had finally given up, going to bed angry and upset. She was trying to do something easy, but it was also something that had come so naturally to her and had first happened so young that she had no memory of learning it. So she spent a lot of time imagining her fingers in flame, trying to remember the feeling, trying to control the body.

She was trying to convince herself that Shifting was as natural to her as walking. If she could walk in this stone body, she could Shift it.

The problem was that she knew some of the theories of Fey magick. No one knew whether the magick resided in the soul or in the body, but some believed that certain magicks—Shifting being one of them—resided more in the body than others. Still, no one had proven that. She had to control her own thoughts. Until she believed she could Shift in this body, she wouldn’t be able to.

If she could Shift, she suddenly had a variety of options open to her. She could walk into the palace as herself, skin feeling like flesh and blood, and show the Fey around them that there was at least one imposter in their midst. Or she could appear as Gift—she had done that before—or even, if she practiced, Rugad himself. That would scare him.

She smiled. That would scare everyone.

Behind her, she could hear Coulter giving last minute instructions to Leen. Leen and Scavenger would run the school while Coulter was gone. Leen would be in charge, but Scavenger would handle much of the magick instruction. His knowledge made him invaluable.

She heard footsteps and slowly turned her head. Sebastian was making his way down the path. She sighed softly. She had been trying to avoid him all day.

He sat down beside her and took her hand in his own. Their skin scraped as it touched, the screeching sound of stone against stone. She winced. Sebastian didn’t seem to notice.

“I...want...to...go,” he said.

“We’ve talked about this, Sebastian.”

“I...un-der-stand...how...you...are...bet-ter...than...any-one...else. I...can...pro-tect...you.”

She sighed. “I think it’s too dangerous for both of us to be there. He took me over and he almost had you once. What if he tries again?”

“The...voice...is...gone. I...am...my-self...on-ly.”

He sounded so sad. He still regretted taking Rugad’s voice years ago. Seger had managed to get the voice out of him, but it had nearly cost them Sebastian.

“I know that. But I don’t want to worry about you. I want you here and safe.”

“I...am...not...as...eas-i-ly...killed...as...most.”

She knew that too. And that probably applied to her now as well. These stone bodies had advantages. They could be shattered and they could be reassembled.

“Ari?” Sebastian asked.

She turned to him and put her hands on his dear face. She loved his slate gray eyes, the way they showed the gentleness that was such a part of him, even now, even after all the things he had lived through.

“You have to stay here, Sebastian.”

“No. You...need...me.”

“Yes, I do.” She leaned her forehead against his. There was a faint clink as the stone surfaces met. “I do. But I haven’t told you how before.”

He raised his hands and grabbed her wrists, pulling her palms away from his cheeks. Then he moved back so that he could see her. “How?”

“Remember how Seger said it could be argued that you are part of Gift?”

“She...is...wrong. I...am...my-self.”

“Yes, you are. You have lived separately from Gift for decades now. But you can’t deny that you two started as the same soul, living in two different bodies.”

“That...was...a...long...time...a-go.”

Arianna put a finger against Sebastian’s lips. “It was. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I know you no longer know Gift’s mind. I wish you did. It might make life easier.”

Sebastian took her wrist again. “Ari...“

“I want you to listen to me. There is a chance that I won’t live through this. It’s a fairly good chance.”

“The...Black...King...can’t...kill...you, Ari. The...Blood...“

“He knows. But he’s arranged deaths before. He could find a way to arrange mine. And I’m afraid he might do the same for Gift.”

“No...“ Sebastian closed his eyes.

Arianna took his hands. “Look at me. Please, Sebastian, I know you don’t want to hear this, but you have to. I need contingency plans.”

“Contingency plans?” Coulter was standing just behind Sebastian. “Why would you need contingency plans?”

Arianna glared at him. It was difficult enough to discuss this with Sebastian. She didn’t need Coulter here with his worries and his doubts. “I thought you had things to do.”

“I thought you were going to keep an eye on Dash.”

“He was putting things in the carriage.”

“Well, I can’t find him.” Coulter leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. “I want to hear these plans.”

Arianna swallowed. Since she had left her own body, she hadn’t made a single decision without Coulter. But she didn’t want him involved in this one.

“No,” she said. “I’m talking to my brother, and I’m going to do it alone.”

“He’s not coming with us.”

“He wants to. I’m trying to talk him out of it.”

“I...am...still...here,” Sebastian said. “You...do...not...need...to...talk...about...me...as...if...you...are...al-read-y...gone.”

He sounded almost angry. Arianna could hear tears in his voice. He was feeling abandoned, her poor, sweet brother Sebastian, and she could understand why.

“Will you go away?” she asked Coulter.

“I’m only going to ask you what this is about later,” he said.

“Fine. You do that.” She wouldn’t answer him. Or maybe she would lie. But he didn’t have to know that.

Still he stayed a moment longer, as if he expected her to change her mind. Then he sighed and pushed off the wall, heading toward the kitchen door.

She waited until he went inside before returning her attention to Sebastian.

Sebastian’s lower lip was jutted out slightly. Arianna hadn’t realized until she too had become stone how much Sebastian compensated for his lack of subtle movements by making exaggerated expressions. She took his hand in her own and squeezed it.

“You are part of us, Sebastian. You are, as Seger says, a part of Gift. You have as much right to the Throne as Gift or I do.”

“I...am...not...real.”

She closed her eyes. She had always known Sebastian felt that way, but she hadn’t realized how much it hurt her to hear it.

“You’re real. You’re just different.”

“No...one...will...ac-cept...me.”

“They’ll have to. You’ll be all that’s left of our father.”

“But...the...Black...Fa-mi-ly,” Sebastian started.

“I don’t know what will happen there,” Arianna said. “I don’t know what this world will be like if something happens to me or Gift. But I assume that Rugad will still be in my body. You’ll have to get him out, Sebastian.”

“I...do...not...have...Vision.”

“I know. But it’s only a qualification for ruling the Fey. Someone needs to rule Blue Isle. If something happens to me or Gift, that someone is you.”

“I...can-not...have...child-ren.”

“Talk to Seger about that. There may be magick that’ll help.”

“Ari, I...do...not...like...this...plan.”

“Neither do I.”

“Then...let...me...come...with...you.”

She shook her head. “You have to guard the Place of Power, Sebastian. Whether it’s as ruler of the Blue Isle or as a member of the Black Family, it doesn’t matter. You must protect this place. If Gift and I are gone, then Coulter will be gone too. And I don’t want any power-hungry Fey to get to this place. It’s too easy now to find the Third Place of Power, and that’ll create a magick storm that could destroy everything.”

“I...am...not...strong...e-nough.”

She brought his hand up to her mouth and kissed it. “You are stronger than all of us.”

“I...love...you, Ari. I...do...not...want...to...live...with-out...you. I...al-read-y...do...not...have...Gift.”

She frowned for a moment before understanding him. Sebastian felt Gift’s loss not as a physical presence, but as a mental one. When Coulter closed their Links fifteen years ago, he had set Sebastian adrift. Sebastian struggled almost daily to reopen that Link and could not. Coulter would not help him. That probably explained the slight mutual suspicion between them.

“I don’t want to be without you, either, Sebastian,” she said. “But if something happened to me, I would rest easier knowing that you are taking care of things.”

He closed his eyes and shook his head slowly, like a child who did not want to hear what he was being told.

“Sebastian, you can do this.”

He opened his eyes. “It...would...be...better...to...let...me...pro-tect...you.”

She pulled him closer. “That’s what I’m asking you to do. I’m asking you to guard my back. Protect this place, even if I die. Please, Sebastian. It’s the only way.”

“What...if...you...die...and...then...Ru-gad...comes...here? What...do...I...do?”

She stared at Sebastian for a moment, feeling slightly cold. It had to be a trick of her emotions and not her body. The answer was so simple. She didn’t know why she hadn’t told him before.

“You take my body away from him,” she said. “You switch places with him, and you rule Blue Isle.”

“What...a-bout...the...Fey?”

“And the Fey, until you find a Visionary from our family, one you trust.”

“Ru-gad...would...be...in...my...stone?”

“Maybe,” Arianna said. “If you don’t imprison him outside both bodies.”

“It...would...be...hard,”

“Yes, but you can do it easier than anyone else. You almost did it once before.”

He smiled then. “I...did.”

“You can do this, Sebastian.”

“More scheming?”

Arianna turned. Her hearing wasn’t as good in this body as she wanted. Scavenger was behind her. She wondered how much he heard. “I want Sebastian to stay here.”

Scavenger nodded. “His presence would make yours too obvious. Still, he could be a decoy for you.”

“Yes,” Sebastian said.

“No. We’ve settled this.” She kept a grip on Sebastian’s hands, but looked up at Scavenger. “What did you want?”

“Do you know where Coulter is?”

“He went inside. Why?”

Scavenger bit his lower lip as if he were deciding to tell her. Finally, he sighed and said, “Wisdom is following Matt.”

“Wisdom?” She had to think for a moment, before she remembered the Fey man she had met on a handful of occasions. Scavenger said that Wisdom had once been Rugad’s Charmer, but Rugad had cut out his tongue for some heinous crime.

When Wisdom had arrived at the school shortly before Arianna, the Healers had offered to fix his tongue and that had put him in a horrible panic. He had been afraid of Rugad’s retaliation, which they had thought silly. They had thought Rugad dead.

Now they knew better.

“Why would he follow Matt?” she asked.

“Matt was the one who brought him here,” Scavenger said. “He was the only who seemed to understand Wisdom.”

“So he invited Wisdom to go with him?”

“No,” Scavenger said. “I think Matt knows better. But if Rugad sees Wisdom, he’ll know that Matt is not there to serve him.”

“What can we do?” Arianna said. “They’ve already left.”

“How...“

She looked at Sebastian. That was the closest he had ever come to interrupting her.

“...do...you...know...that...Matt...is...be-ing...fol-low-ed?”

To Arianna’s surprise, Scavenger flushed. “I sent a few people to watch him. They’ve reported back.”

Arianna glanced at Sebastian. Sebastian looked almost angry. “Was this Coulter’s idea?”

“No. It was mine.”

“Then you’re getting in Matt’s way as effectively as Wisdom is. Recall those people at once.”

“But you have to know what’s happening to Matt.”

She glared at Scavenger—or at least, she tried to glare. “We sent Matt alone because we trusted him.”

Sebastian stood. “I...will...tell...Coul-ter...a-bout...Wis-dom.”

“Why?” Arianna asked. “We can’t do anything.”

“May-be...he...will...want...to,” Sebastian said.

Arianna shook her head. “You just want to get Coulter to contradict me. Don’t ask him to take you along.”

“I...have...made...you...a...pro-mise, Ari,” Sebastian said. “I...al-ways...keep...pro-mises.”

“I know you do. I’m sorry. Warn Coulter about Wisdom then, but tell him I don’t think we can do anything.”