Page 128 of Sworn to the Shadow Throne

My mouth went dry. I forced myself to breathe evenly. “Is this your craft? Are you an artificer—or an enchanter?”

Mireille tore her curious gaze from me and slid the ring off, setting it reverently atop the cloth. “An artificer,” she said. “I imbue metal and stone with magic.” A faint, rueful smile touched her lips. “To varying degrees of success.”

“She’s very good at blowing things up,” Reina added with a smirk.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell if that was a joke or not.

Guess I won’t be touching anything for fear of losing a limb.

Mireille’s fingers hovered over the ring. “But this…” She shook her head. “I could never achieve something so discerning. This is the work of a grand mage at the very least.”

“Or an artifact,” Reina said softly.

Mireille inclined her head. “Or that.”

A heavy, contemplative silence settled between them. In the rush to get me ready for the luncheon, and then the haste to get to the Tir, I hadn’t told anyone about the device I’d seen Thibault using on the king.

“Have you ever heard of an object that can distort magic?” I asked carefully into the quiet. “Or maybe drain it?”

Both women went completely still. Reina’s voice, when she finally spoke, was unnervingly calm, each word delivered with deliberate slowness. “Lady Lunette, have you seen such a device, or is it something from another of your Fae books?”

“This morning.” I nodded. “In the king’s chambers.”

Mireille went as white as fancy candle wax.

Reina’s attention pinned her with a glare just before she snapped at me. “Do not say another word—not here.”

Uh oh.

Mireille swallowed. “We’ve been friends for thirty years, Reina,” she said quietly. “I swear on my life, not a whisper of this will escape my lips. I know you wouldn’t hesitate to slit my throat yourself.”

“Promise I’d make it quick,” Reina confirmed, delivered with the same calm one might use to comment on the weather. Then, so quietly I almost missed it: “I’ve buried enough people I loved who died slowly. I wouldn’t do that to my oldest friend.”

Another chill ran down my spine. Reina’s gaze on Mireille had the exacting measurement of a master artisan deciding where to make the first cut. This wasn’t a joke between friends. It was setting expectations.

Except I was the only one shocked at this. Mireille only inclined her head.

“I’ll leave the ring,” Reina added. “Send me a report on it tomorrow.” Then, as if a curtain had dropped on the conversation, Reina turned brisk. Her choices were swift and expensive. “We will take that,” she said, pointing to a collar of woven gold set with deep green stones. “And that. Those three. And bring me your best emerald.”

Within moments, the selected pieces were wrapped and sealed. Mireille handed them over to Reina’s waiting servants without further discussion or money changing hands. I moved to follow Reina toward the exit, reeling and more than a bit frightened of what might’ve just transpired in the space between the words.

Before we left, Reina paused and cast one long, pressing look at Mireille.

Mireille smiled back weakly.

The ride to the castle blurred into a wash of motion and noise. I tried to mark the streets—the crooked baker’s chimney, the red awning of a weaver’s stall, the fountain carved with images of the forgotten gods—but my mind refused to anchor on any of the sights I wanted to remember.

It circled instead around Mireille’s pallor. Reina’s alarm. The device used on the king. Worst of all, the fact that Thibault hadn’t bothered to conceal it from me at all. I’d known the mystery around the device would be bad, but I’d convinced myself it wouldn’t be any worse than bloodletting, a regrettably common practice among mundane healers.

And then I saw a man in a dark cloak, his form a silhouette against the building opposite the gatehouse, where the guards stood watch over the drawbridge. He was watching us with undisguised interest. Still as a post while the crowd moved around him. His clothes were plain but too dark for the bright streets of the Tir. His hands were empty but held as if he would summon magic at any moment.

I looked away before he could feel my attention. My heart knocked against my ribs with rising dread. Something about him told me to be wary.

I didn’t mention it to Reina, but I could tell by the way she hadn’t looked at him that she’d already seen him.

My heart only started to calm when the portcullis rose, allowing us back into the safety of the keep.

Reina quickly ushered me through corridors I hadn’t yet explored. “Where are we going?”