A Trial of Sorcerers: Book One by Kova, Elise (universal ebook reader .txt) 📕

way she’d imagined the tension between them? Had she been wrong?

Perhaps he had the sense she lacked to know this wasn’t the right moment to pursue something possibly scandalous between them.

“Come. Tonight we’ll talk about anything but pirate queens and families.” Fingers laced with hers, Ferro led her to the chairs. This time, Eira sat next to him. “I will tell you anything you want of Meru. And, then, if you’re up to it and it would be a pleasant distraction, you can tell me more about the hiking trails in the mountains with Alyss. Or anything else that pleases you.”

“Thank you.”

“It is my supreme pleasure.” A smile spread on his handsome face. “So, what would you like to know?”

“You mentioned a Court of Shadows earlier… I’ve never read about such a thing.”

“You likely wouldn’t. It is their job to know, and to make themselves mostly unknown. The Court of Shadows is the dark hand of the Queen of Meru. They are Queen Lumera’s spies and whisperers…”

Ferro lived up to his word. For the rest of the night, she thought of nothing but Risen and its ancient underground, filled with secret passages of forgotten cities that propped up modern buildings, where spymasters lurked around every corner.

18

“You actually came.” Deneya was waiting in the dark hall the next night, just as she said she would be. She leaned against the wall between the cracked and grimy windows, beams of moonlight framing her.

“I did.” Eira folded her arms, staying right by the entrance of the passage. She wanted a quick escape if this conversation turned sour. “You sound surprised.”

“I flipped a coin to guess if you would. The coin said no. Apparently my coin is a liar.”

“Like me.”

Deneya hummed. “Are you a liar? Or were you lying? They’re different, you know.”

“I suppose the latter.”

“I do as well.” Deneya smiled.

“Did Ferro send you to meet with me?”

“No.” A look of confusion crossed her face. “Why would he?”

Eira hadn’t thought that Ferro had sent Deneya. Their meeting the other night seemed to be solely of Deneya’s design. There was no way Ferro would ever let someone hold a blade to her throat.

Deneya also didn’t seem to know that she and Ferro were meeting—if she had, she certainly would’ve said something—and that surprised Eira. Ferro had said that he didn’t tell his guard much…but Eira had assumed that she, at least, kept tabs on his whereabouts.

It made Eira appreciate her interactions with the man all the more as they now seemed twice as special. There was something to their meetings being secret that made them even more thrilling. And made the possible implications behind them set her heart to racing. Maybe he wanted to keep things private for other reasons? Eira didn’t let herself linger on the thought for very long.

“You’re his guard. I assumed that everything you do is at his order.” Eira worked to sound casual.

Deneya laughed roughly. More of a bark, really, than a laugh. “No. If anyone is keeping tabs here, it’s me keeping tabs on him.”

“To protect him?”

“Sure, you could think of it that way.”

The conversation was putting Eira slightly on edge. She was beginning to regret her decision to come. Eira couldn’t shake the notion that there was some kind of game or competition being played between the two elfin. A protective edge overtook her at the thought of Deneya doing something sinister to Ferro.

“I have a question for you.”

“I’m not surprised; you’re full of them.”

“Answer my question, and I’ll answer yours—what I meant when I said I didn’t know if I was Adela’s or not.” If Eira’s suspicions were correct, Deneya might know anyway.

“All right, fine.”

“Are you a member of the Court of Shadows?”

Deneya stilled. A sly smile curved across her face. She quirked one eyebrow up and tilted her head slightly as she asked, “What do you know about the Court of Shadows?”

“I know that it is Queen Lumeria’s organization of whisperers and spies.” Eira didn’t dare say too much. She didn’t want to betray Ferro’s trust in her. Especially if he hadn’t told Deneya about their meetings. “But, understandably, there’s not much else on them.”

“If you know that much, then you would, understandably, also know I certainly wouldn’t tell you if I were a member of this organization.”

“I think you are,” Eira said boldly.

“All right. Why do you think that?” Deneya folded her hands behind her back, still wearing the amused grin.

“Because you seem to lurk in the shadows. You’re quiet around groups, but have a lot to say in private. You’ve found these hidden passages. And…because you know about Adela.” Ferro had said that it was the Court of Shadows who kept a tabs on Adela. “Were you sent here to hunt me?”

“I suspect the answer to that question lies in what you mean when you say you ‘don’t know’ if you’re one of Adela’s.”

“My parents suspect she was my birth mother.”

“Oh?” Deneya seemed slightly eager at that. Enough that the note of unexpected delight grated on Eira. There was nothing about her circumstances that was worthy of amusement. She pushed down the sentiment, however. She needed a level head right now. “That would certainly explain some things if it were true.”

“Do you think it’s true?”

“Adela is as much myth as she is flesh. It’s hard to say what’s true when it comes to her. How old are you?”

“Eighteen.”

Deneya hummed in thought. “You were born a few years after I saw her last, then.”

“You…you saw her?”

Deneya laughed at Eira’s surprise. “I rode on the Stormfrost itself.”

“The Stormfrost?”

“Adela’s ship. Be grateful you’ve never seen it. You’d know it if you did.”

Eira detached herself from reality for a moment. She scoured her memories, searching for some recollection of a magical ship. She could almost imagine it…but was that ghostly imagery floating in the shroud of time real? Or just her mind trying to fabricate something that would fit into this grand unknown of the history that was a part of her?

“Are you