Page 191 of Of Masks and Fury

“They transported you directly to Caldrith’s dungeon?” he asked.

Addie nodded. “One moment I stood in the tent, the next in a cell. He visited me regularly.” Her face contorted with pain. “When I try to name him, the pain overwhelms me.” She gasped, her hands flying to her head.

“Stop,” I said. “Don’t push it.”

She breathed through the pain, slowly lowering her hands. “He made me open pathways. Again and again. Forced me to tear at the edges of the veil until I thought I’d shatter completely.”

“To keep it open?” Kerralyn asked.

Addie shrugged.

“That’s what’s making you flicker,” I said, horror dawning. “Each crossing damaged you.”

“Thorne got me out before it became permanent. But the healing is slow.” She looked at Trew. “Fenmark is alive. I can feel him. But I don’t know where he is and neither does Nim, my drake companion.”

The parlor door opened, and Thorne entered carrying a tray laden with tea and small biscuits. A pot of jam sat on the tray beside them. He distributed cups, watching Addie carefully, concern etched in every line of his face.

I sank deeper into the velvet settee, the weight of the cushions pressing against my thighs like a physical reminded that I didn't need to be ready to strike. For the first time since I’d fled my father’s court, the tension in my shoulders began to unspool. The steam from the herbal tea rose in lazy, perfumed curls, carrying the scent of dried herbs and honey, the exact aroma of my mother’s chambers on a rainy afternoon.

Addie reached for a biscuit, her fingers fumbling with the small jam pot. When the lid finally gave way with a stubbornpop, she let out a startled burst of laughter, a genuine, bell-like ring that echoed off the white stone walls. A sound from our childhood that I’d feared was lost.

Trew’s hand found mine, his thumb tracing a slow, rhythmic circle across my palm that matched the steady crackle of the fire in the hearth. The clatter of spoons on porcelain and the simple, unguarded joy in my sister’s eyes made the wasteland outside feel like a nightmare from another life. Here, behind my mother’s wards, the air didn't taste like rot.

It felt, for the first time in sixteen years, like safety.

“Did you know about our grandfather?” I asked Commander Thorne. “About what Mother could do?”

“She told me enough.” He settled into a chair, cradling his cup in his scarred hands. “Your mother confided in me when you two were small. She told me to watch over you both, that you’d inherited abilities that would make you targets.”

“Is that why you trained me?” I asked.

“I trained you because you were strong enough to take it. Because someone tried to hurt you, and I wasn’t there. And, yes, because Marlane asked me to ensure you could defend yourselves.” His gaze grew distant. “She knew something was coming. Knew the peace wouldn’t last.”

CHAPTER FIFTY

ISI

“Ineed to check the perimeter,” Thorne said, rising and setting his empty tea cup on the tray. “Your ward breach may have been noticed.”

After he left, I poured more tea for everyone, noting how Addie’s hands shook too badly to manage it herself.

“Tell us how you broke in,” she said. “Mother’s wards were impenetrable, even to those with the right bloodline, if they didn’t know exactly how to approach them.”

“They were beautiful,” I said, remembering the intricate lattice I’d seen with my veil-sight. “Three layers, each more complex than the last.”

I described the wards with my hands, tracing out the patterns in the air. “The first was a simple barrier, designed to repel. But the second fought back, creating a defensive line that tested intent as much as ability.”

Our friends leaned forward, caught by my description. Even Trew, who’d held me while I worked, appeared mesmerized by hearing it from my perspective.

“As you must know since you breached them yourself, the third was the most elegant,” I said. “A blood ward, a handprint of magic that could read lineage.” I smiled, remembering the moment it yielded. “It sang when it recognized me.”

“Like bells,” Addie said softly.

“Yes. Crystal bells.”

Trew watched me with undisguised pride, his golden eyes lit with admiration. “My fierce queen,” he said, the words meant only for me but carrying enough for Addie to hear.

Her eyebrows rose, and a smile played across her mouth despite how tired she appeared.