Frozen Tides (18 page)

She tried not to react with any of the displeasure she felt about this subject. “We all make harsh errors in judgment.”

“Indeed.” For the first time since she'd entered the temple, his flat, dark eyes met hers directly. “It's too bad, really. We made an incredible match, Amara and I. Her skills as a lover are beyond compare—even to those of the most coveted courtesan. Perhaps if she'd confided the true reason of her visit to me, I would have shared the Kindred with her.”

Cleo withdrew her hand from his, her blood turning to acid. “I don't believe you.”

“Really? Is that any less believable than a secret union between you and Jonas Agallon?”

She'd been wrong. His eyes weren't flat and emotionless; they were full of simmering outrage. “I thought you said you understand why I did that.”

“Understand? Yes. Approve of? No. You have a stunning talent for concealing the truth. I rarely meet a liar as skilled as you are. Congratulations, princess.”

How had it taken her this long to realize that he was furious with her?

“So what?” she said, abandoning all hope of staying diplomatic
and diving right into interrogation. “Were
you
lying too? About this new alliance? About what will happen afterward?”

“Finally, the princess reveals her true intentions, the real reason you've come up to me on this day of worship. You've no interest in the details of my past at all.”

“Can't it be both? Why can't I want information about my future and be curious about your past as well?”

“We're done here.” He stood up and walked toward the exit, and she hurried after him to block his path.

“No, we're
not
done here,” she hissed.

“Answer me this, princess. What exactly is there between you and Agallon? Is it more than a friendly alliance between a princess and a rebel?”

“What do you mean?”

He glared at her as if she were a child purposely avoiding an answer. “Are you in love with him?”

Her mouth dropped open.
“What?”

“Under any other circumstances I wouldn't care, of course. But if the two of you were in love, it would make it much more complicated for the three of us to go forward.”

“You're insane.”

“A yes or a no would suffice. I'll take your response as a . . . probably. Good to know, princess. Much gratitude.”

She grabbed his arm and held on tightly.

He glared down his nose at her. “Let go of me.”

“Not yet. I need you to hear what I have to say to you.”

Cleo sought to hold his gaze, trying to see past the anger and uncertainty in his eyes. Was there anything else there? The new mask he wore was marvelous, thicker and stronger than ever, covering every emotion but anger.

But every mask could be cracked.

“What do you need to say to me?” he finally prompted.

She took a deep breath and stood as tall as she could. “I did fall in love with someone. Someone whom many would say was completely wrong for me. But I didn't care.”

He now studied her for a long, heavy moment. “Did you, princess? And who was that?”

Boldly, she placed her hand over his heart to feel its swift pace.

He looked down at it, his brows drawing together as he met her eyes.

“Do you really want to know?” she asked, her voice now soft.

He was silent so long that she wasn't sure he'd ever speak again. Then, finally he nodded once. “Yes.”

He watched her with a darkening gaze as she bit her bottom lip. She'd seen that darkness in his eyes before, and she knew it didn't come from anger.

“Princess,” he urged. “Tell me.”

She met his eyes directly. “His name was Theon Ranus,” she said. “And you murdered him.”

Magnus pulled away from her, the growing tenderness in his expression slamming shut like an iron door.

“Sometimes I forget about that day.” She tried to ignore the pain in her heart as she spoke. “But something always ends up reminding me. Good evening, Magnus.”

Cleo left the temple and didn't look back.

• • •

There was a message waiting for Cleo when she returned to her chambers.

Meet me in my room.—Nerissa

Cleo rushed to the servants' wing and knocked on Nerissa's door.

“Good, you're here,” Nerissa said, opening the door immediately and grabbing Cleo's wrist to pull her inside. She peeked out the door, glanced up and down the hallway, then turned around to grin at the princess. “I'll leave you two alone to talk. But please, don't be long.”

“Nerissa, what are you—?”

But before Cleo could finish her sentence Nerissa slipped out of the room and closed the door behind her.

“Well, your highness. After a small eternity it seems we're finally alone again.”

Cleo spun on her heels, eyes wide, and found herself face-to-face with Jonas. The rebel was no longer wearing his ridiculous eye patch today, which was a relief—especially since, when she'd first seen him, she'd thought he'd had a horrible accident. Or that Magnus had done it to him.

Cleo met Jonas's greeting with stunned silence, and then his pleased expression turned tentative. “I'm sorry for the manner in which I arrived. It was not my intention to implicate you . . . for that I want to kick myself. Trust me, Lys has promised to throttle me at her earliest opportunity for nearly getting us all killed. I was stupid and irresponsible, but I assure you that I—”

Cleo ran across the room and threw herself into his arms. “I was so worried about you!”

“Oh.” He stiffened, then gave a little laugh and pulled her closer. “And here I was expecting a painful slap. I like this much better.”

“Why did you come here? You must have known how much danger you'd be putting yourself in.”

“Why?” He brushed her hair back from her face. “To save you, of course. And to kill the prince. In that order.”

“I don't need to be saved.”

“Yes, well, how was I supposed to know that? You disappeared
from Auranos. You could have been dead for all I knew. You didn't send me any messages to let me know you were safe.”

“And where should I have sent them? To some tree house in the Wildlands? Or should I have sent them through Nerissa and put her in further danger?”

“If there's anyone who can handle herself, it's Nerissa.”

“So can I.”

“Yes, I see that now. It seems you've managed to tame the darkest of beasts.” He tried to smile, but Cleo saw that his expression was strained. “And here I thought you loathed each other.”

“We do.
I
do.” Enough of this, she didn't have much time with him, and she wanted to spend it discussing more important matters. “Jonas, I know you received my most recent message. The instructions to go to the Temple of Cleiona . . .”

“I did. And I followed them, exactly. In fact, we were still there when you and your entourage arrived.”

“You . . . what?”

That mischievous look had reappeared, and his grin seemed much less strained than before. “I know it was risky to stay behind, but I couldn't resist the chance to see the disappointment on the prince's face when he realized someone had gotten there before him to claim the earth Kindred. Priceless.”

A wave of relief fluttered in her chest, and she ignored the dig against Magnus. “So you have it.”

“Oh, yes.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out an obsidian orb small enough to sit on his palm.

Somehow, she'd forgotten how to breathe. “That's it,” she managed to get out. She reached for the orb with a trembling hand. “The earth Kindred! It's real!”

“And it's yours.” He took her hand and placed the crystal in
her palm. “I've been keeping it safe for you. And warm. So warm I thought it might hatch.”

This reality was more than she could have hoped for—more than she was
letting
herself hope for. The earth Kindred, right here, endless earth magic at her fingertips. With this in her possession, she could easily take her throne back. She felt the tingle of magic run up her arm as she stared at its glossy surface, and she was certain she saw an ebony shadow swirling within the orb.

She was breathless. “Jonas. . . . Thank you. I promise to reward you handsomely when this is all over—you'll have riches beyond your wildest dreams. And what about the air and fire Kindred? Did you claim them, too?”

“Well, princess, we did travel to both of the locations you described, drew the symbols on the ground in blood just like you said . . . but it didn't work. Not like it did with the earth Kindred. This is the only one I have. I'm sorry.”

“No, Jonas, please don't be sorry. Finding just one is miracle enough. This is wonderful.” She squeezed the orb, finding that the mere weight of it in her palm gave her strength. “Now, how does it work?”

Jonas's brow wrinkled up with uncertainty. “I have absolutely no idea. You had such clear instructions for how to find it . . . don't you know how to use it, as well?”

She stared at him for several stunned moments, then started to laugh. “I have absolutely no idea either!”

“That is unfortunate. I was completely prepared for you to transform into an all-powerful earth goddess tonight and vanquish us all.”

Though Cleo was disappointed that, after all this, she still didn't have access to all the secrets and powers of the Kindred, she
also felt a large wave of relief. If she didn't know how to unlock the earth Kindred's power, that meant Amara probably didn't know how to unlock the water Kindred either.

“Princess, I have a plan,” Jonas said in an unusually serious tone. “I believe I've now proven myself worthy of your trust, so I do hope you'll listen with care.”

Cleo shook her head. “I've never doubted you.”

“Never? Really?”

She felt her cheeks grow warm. “Well, after you kidnapped me—
twice
—and tried to kill me, we did eventually come to a mutual understanding.”

“I'd feel so much better about things if you could forget about the kidnappings. At least the first one.”

She raised her brow. “Those days I spent trapped in your sister's shed were very unpleasant for me.”

“I dug you a very nice makeshift chamber pot. I wouldn't do that for just any royal hostage, you know.”

She grimaced. “Thanks for providing that memory. I
do
want to forget that.”

“I knew you'd come around.”

Cleo smiled and looked back at the orb, her thoughts swirling in time with the shadow of magic trapped deep inside of it. “So, what's your plan?”

“I don't trust the prince. Not for a moment.”

“No? You seemed to have trusted him well enough when you agreed to help kill his father—before and after he put you in chains.”

“Yes, well, luckily I've had time to think about it since. I've proven my trustworthiness to you, to many people over these last months, but he hasn't. I'm not willing to take any more risks when it comes to him. Lys, Olivia, and I are leaving—and you're coming
with us. We can figure out how to get that magic rock to work and get our land back all on our own once we're far away from here.”

Cleo had had many opportunities to simply walk away from the Limerian palace ever since that very first night when they'd arrived at the docks of Ravencrest. But she hadn't. She felt she had more to learn here, more to gain, and that running away would only keep her in the same place she was now. “I know the prince is a brute with morals that can only kindly be described as questionable. I don't want to be around him any more than you do. But I need to stay here a while longer. I need to know where the king is and what he's planning.”

“We can track the king from anywhere.”

She shook her head. “That won't be nearly as easy to do without the resources and intelligence in Limeros. Jonas, I also have a plan, and I hope you'll be willing to help me with it.”

Jonas opened his mouth, as if ready to argue with her decision. But then he nodded. “Very well. Tell me.”

“We have a crystal, but we don't know how to unlock its magic. However, I believe a Watcher would know this secret.”

“Well, then let me just snap my fingers and transport us to the Sanctuary to find one,” Jonas said, a sarcastic edge in his voice.

“Please, just listen to me. I know an exiled Watcher who lives in Paelsia. She spoke to me of legends, told me stories I'd never read or even heard of anywhere else. Real accounts of Eva, the original sorceress, and her love affair with a mortal hunter. Eva gave birth to his baby before the goddesses killed her for the Kindred.” Cleo paused to take a deep breath, then steadied her gaze on Jonas's again.

His expression grew more rigid with every word. She could see the patience feuding with skepticism in his brown eyes. “Go on.”

“I need you and your friends to visit this exiled Watcher and
find out if she knows how to unlock this magic. Nic can go with you; he'll know where to find her.”

He raised a brow. “You're suggesting that Nic, Lys, Olivia, and I just run off and leave you here, all alone with a prince who could very well be plotting your demise?”

“I'll be fine. I can take care of myself.”

“Yes, you've proven that very well.” He rubbed his chin and frowned. “I will say this much: Your plan is much more intriguing than mine.”

She tried not to smile at this. “High praise, rebel.”

“You really think the prince will just let us leave the palace so easily?”

“Your own plan was to leave, wasn't it?”

“Yes, but that was with the certainty we wouldn't ever return. The security here isn't as impenetrable as it is in Auranos, but it's still a palace, and there are still numerous sentries who keep watch over all who enter or leave these grounds.”