Page 109 of A Kingdom of Magic and Rain

“By the time they’re through with him? Are they torturing him?” I sat up straight in the bed.

“That’s nothing you need to concern yourself with. You should focus on regaining your strength.”

“No. I need to return to Tardor to put a stop to the madness. You’ve got the wrong man. It’s also high time I siphoned Silberium from Adrian.” I threw the covers off me and got out of bed.

When I swayed on my feet, Lady May grabbed my elbow to hold me up. “You’re still weak,” she observed.

“I’ll be fine. I can rest after I have relieved the strain of the ancient magic on Adrian. And saved Finn from torture.” I gave Tom a pointed look.

He only rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you wait for Gray to come to you? He brought you here for a reason—to keep you safe.”

“I need to keep him safe, too. He doesn’t seem to be thinking clearly at the moment. Or he would have realized that the level of Silberium in his veins is approaching life-threatening limits.”

“Let me go talk to him. I’m sure he’ll want to come here to let you siphon the magic from him instead of you returning to the castle before he deems it safe,” Tom demanded.

“You can go talk to him, but I’ll be returning home regardless. My place is by his side, even through the worst of circumstances. I know he fears for my life, but I refuse to be separated from him.”

“Spoken like a true queen.” Tom smiled before he glimmered out.

After everyone else had left the room, my mother and Thea helped me to freshen up and change into a simple emerald gown. I moved slower than usual and felt utterly exhausted by the time I was ready to leave. The thought of reuniting with Adrian gave me a burst of energy as the three of us exited my chambers and found my father, Sebastian, and Miri in the dining room.

“Lorraine and Luna wanted me to convey their regards. They visited earlier to check on you, but left after you came to,” my father said after I had embraced him goodbye.

“And where is Lady May?” I hugged my brother next.

“She glimmered back to Tardor shortly after Tom had left,” Miri replied. I hugged the girl and then my mother.

“I’m ready to go home.” I turned to Thea.

She looked uncertain. “If Lady May has glimmered back to Tardor, she’s probably going to convince Gray to come here, either to collect you or to ask you to stay. Are you sure you don’t want to wait for him?”

“I’m sure.” I had a feeling that he was delaying seeing me. Nearly losing her will haunt him for a while. My mother's words rushed to the forefront of my mind. Adrian must be blaming himself for my almost dying. I needed to go to him to assure him that it wasn’t his fault.

“As you wish,” Thea conceded as she reached for my hands.

A few seconds after she and I had appeared in front of the closed doors of Adrian’s quarters, they flew open, revealing Tom and Lady May on the other side. I could immediately tell by their ashen faces that something was terribly wrong.

“What is it?” I whispered.

The Sorceress and the adviser exchanged a look before the latter said, “Gray is missing.”

“What do you mean he’s missing?” At once, my heart began to sink as I waited for an answer.

“When I returned from Clairborne Palace, he was nowhere to be found,” Tom continued. “Killian said that when questioning Finnian had proved futile, Gray stormed out of the dungeon where the lord is being kept. No one has seen him since.”

“You left Aubrielle not that long ago. How do you know he’s missing? He might be out for a walk in the gardens to clear his head.” The words didn’t ring true even to my own ears. I could sense that something had happened to him.

“He’s not on the castle grounds,” Lady May confirmed my suspicion. “The wards I have around the place allow me to detect his presence. There is no trace of him.”

My heart sank lower. “Is there a way for you to track him?”

During our training sessions over the past two weeks, it had become clear that I had glimpsed only a fraction of her power. I didn’t know the true extent of what the Sorceress was capable of.

“There is a way,” she replied. My heart stopped its descent, beating faster at the prospect of locating Adrian. “I will need a map of the kingdom and your ring.”

“My ring?”

She nodded. “Yours and Adrian’s bands are enchanted. They are linked through magic always to find each other.”