The Keeper's Flame (A Pandoran Novel, #2) (42 page)

Behind him was a person with a head of familiar white-blonde hair, leaning against the wall.

What is Vera still doing here?

The room waited for Stefan to continue, and he did. “My grandfather refuses to believe what is happening and will not act, which is why I’ve called you all here.”

Stefan had done this?

Alex squeezed my hand.

Stefan walked farther into the room and looked at me. His eyes were full of such sadness—such a deep, affected sadness, and I realized something.

With a king incapacitated, and Dad gone, Stefan was next in line.

“Are the rumors true, my prince? Has Eris really returned?” someone asked.

Stefan swallowed and continued looking at me with heavy eyes. “Daria?”

The entire room turned to me.

“Yes,” I said.

The room went silent and apprehension filled the air.

Brant stepped forward, features tight. “What does he want?”

The fire crackled in the hearth.

“The throne,” I replied.

Everyone looked to each other as though they wanted someone else to tell them that it wasn’t true.

“He’s got the shield and the stone,” said a man about Cicero’s age, with a gruff voice and shaggy face. “How can we possibly oppose such power?”

Stefan stared at the fire, seeming to grow as old as our father had been. “We can’t.”

Chapter 27

A Secret Mission

T
he discussion on how to handle Eris went on for hours. Strategies had been brought up and shot down, names were mentioned—some of which I’d heard, still more I hadn’t. No one could decide on a course of action, or how best to prepare against a power everyone knew would be great, but no one knew to what extent.

Although, they all seemed to agree, without one disparity, that we were no match for the power of the shield.

The course of action they’d decided upon, though, was that each territory would strengthen their fortifications with magic, with arms, and with people.

Not that anyone knew how effective it would prove, but sometimes people needed the visage of strength in order to act bravely.

“I don’t know what to tell the people,” Stefan said later that evening, as he, Alex, and I walked to the dining hall in the castle. I wasn’t hungry, but the distraction had sounded nice. The castle seemed so empty now, with all the people gone from the festival.

Without Dad.

“Tell them the truth,” Alex said.

Stefan raked a hand through his hair. He looked so much like our father, even more so lately.

My heart ached as I swallowed the lump in my throat; Alex grabbed my hand as we walked.

“I’m not ready for this!” Stefan said.

“You don’t have a choice,” Alex replied.

“Stef,” I said.

Stefan glanced sideways at me, and I stopped, holding his gaze.

“You
are
ready for this,” I said. “You
care
, which is what will make you great—just like Dad.”

He just stood there and stared at me a long moment. His eyes turned glassy, and he looked away. “Thanks, D,” he whispered.

We kept walking while Alex squeezed my hand, not loosening his grip. We walked into the banquet hall. It was mostly empty, except for a few guards and other people I didn’t recognize. Brant, Sturgis, Phin, and Flanders were all seated at the end of one table, huddled over mugs and plates of food. Brant noticed us and waved us over.

“We’re going to have a weak corner with Orindor.” Phin took a sip.

I saw the strain on Stefan’s face right as Brant knocked the bottom of Phin’s cup, spilling ale all over Phin.

“So you’re back, eh, Del Conte?” Brant changed the subject.

“It appears so.” Alex arched a brow, but not without a grin. “Worried?”

“Nah.” Brant smirked, taking a swig. “But I guess my chances with the princess are over.”

The boys laughed—even I laughed. But Stefan didn’t.

He was still, sitting there but not really there, staring absently at the table, twirling a fork. He was so worried, just like Dad had always been. Taking the weight of the world and placing it upon his shoulders, as if he were solely responsible for the fate of it.

If only there was something I could do to help him.

Had I missed something? Some detail—anything? A word, a thought…something Danton had said, even in passing…?

Think…think…think…

I jerked to a stand, startling the others.

Alex touched my hand, his brow knit together as he gazed up at me. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah.” Of course! Why hadn’t I thought of it sooner? “I, uh…I’ll be right back.”

Alex’s lips tightened, but I climbed over the bench before he could say a word and tried to keep myself from running out of the room, feeling Alex’s gaze on me the entire way.

Once I got into the hall, I sprinted all the way to the king’s chambers. Two guards were there to block my entry.

“Let me through,” I demanded.

“Sorry, princess, but the king—”

“—is going to have to deal with me, whether he feels like it or not. Now, let me through.”

They looked at each other.

I stood tall. “I command you.”

They pushed the door open.

Huh. It had worked.

I stepped inside and closed the door after me.

The king’s chambers were dark but for a single candle lit beside his bed. I’d never been in here before. I’d never been allowed, but even if I had been allowed, I would have stayed far from his corner of the castle.

I still couldn’t see much in the dark, but the shadows about his room were enormous.

“Get out,” said a raspy voice.

Where was it coming from? I searched the shadows. “I need to talk to you,” I said, “
sire
.”

“Get out!” he growled.

He was in the far corner, sitting in the windowsill. I could just see the shimmer of his eyes in the shadow, like a ghost.

Don’t be afraid now.

I clenched my fists at my side and walked toward him. “No.”

The candle burned brighter as his anger flourished. Well, he certainly wasn’t
that
incapacitated.

“I’m sorry,
sire
, but you forfeited your right to make commands when you decided to lock yourself in your bedroom while your kingdom is about to be attacked,” I growled.

“How dare you chastise me?” he hissed.

“What do you want, then?” My voice grew louder. “Praise? For what? For keeping the games going when you knew the danger and ignored it?”

“You—”

“For blocking my magic because you were afraid my power would challenge yours?”

He stood then, the window illuminating his shadow. “You dare—”

“For hiding in here while your grandson is forced to deal with
your
problems when he just lost his father?”

His fury boiled inside of me. “You will pay—”

“I already pay!” I screamed at him. “Every day he’s gone.” My throat clamped down as I fought against tears.

Silence.

“I came here because Stefan needs help.” My voice rattled.

“But the shield’s already been taken,” the king said, his voice shaken. “I can’t help him.”

“But you can help me,” I said.

He stood perfectly still, watching me.

I took a slow step forward. “What do you know about my mother?”

His shock rammed into me first, followed by something else like dread. “What is it that you want to know?”

I kept my breathing steady. “What do you know about the box of Pandor?”

He swallowed, and for a long moment, he was silent. “Only your mother would know about that.”

“My mother is dead.” I let my last word linger in the air, and the more it lingered, the sourer the air became: toxic and poisonous and difficult to breathe.

At last, the king turned away and stared at the window. I thought he wasn’t going to speak further when he said in the softest whisper, “It…contained knowledge.”

“What kind of knowledge?” I asked.

His shoulders rose slowly with a deep breath. “Knowledge of power.”

I thought of what the Pykans had said and Danton’s words. “Would it say how to use the shield?”

His head tilted to the side. “Possibly.”

It did. I felt it deep in my gut. My heart raced. “Where is this box?” I asked.

The king turned around and gazed at me. “That, I do not know. Its whereabouts were kept secret for centuries, known only by those in your mother’s family.”

“And where are they?”

King Darius looked away. “They no longer exist. They died in Pendel during the war.”

Silence.

“Thank you,” I said curtly.

I had started walking away when he said, “Daria.”

I stopped.

“I loved your father.” His voice cracked. “I loved him more than anything in this world.”

My eyes stung and I clenched my jaw. “Then you can show him by loving his children.”

I wiped my nose on my sleeve and left.

I rounded the corner to my hall and was stopped by Alex. He grabbed my arm. “What’s wrong?”

“We need to talk,” I said, pulling him after me into my room and shutting the door. “I’m leaving tonight.”

He pulled back. “Where?”

“Pendel.”

He dropped my arm and stared at me for a long, silent moment. “Is this about…?”

“Alex, listen to me,” I started. “I know how we can beat Eris.”

He looked doubtful and folded his arms.

“I can’t explain it, but it has to do with my mother. Her family. The Pandors.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re planning to go to Pendel because of a hunch.”

I shook my head. “No. I’ve been thinking over everything and the more I think about it, the more it all makes sense. Remember when Lord Tiernan first captured me?”

Alex set his jaw.

“He was looking for a box. Pandor’s box.”

Something sparked in Alex’s eyes.

“He thought I knew where it was, and Dad said it held the knowledge to the power of Gaia. And when you rescued me from the Pykans—they promised to break down the barrier to my magic if I helped them find the stone. They said they needed me because I was a Pandor—and then Danton said the same thing. And if they were planning to take the shield and stone, they knew they’d need that knowledge to use it.”

I saw my dream, again—the little rectangular black box in my hands.

“But they’re already using it,” Alex said.

“No, they’re not.”

Alex arched a brow. “How do you know?”

“Nothing has changed. There’s no difference in magic like everyone said there would be. I can’t tell a difference—can you?”

He stared hard at me.

“Stealing the shield and stone was only one piece of it,” I continued. “Having command over it is another thing, and right now, Eris doesn’t have command over it.” I stopped before him, holding his arms. “That was why Eris wanted me.”

Alex breathed in slowly. “But you don’t have that knowledge.”

“I’m going to find it.”

“Daria, no, it’s too—”

“It’s our only chance. If I find the box and figure out how to use the shield, I can stop him. Besides, he’ll be back for me. It’s safer for everyone if I’m not here when he comes.”

Alex’s jaw clenched. “But where would you even start? People have searched for decades—died searching for it.”

“Alex.” I placed my hands on his face. “I
know
that I can find it.”

He held my gaze a long moment and sighed into my hand. “When are you leaving?” he whispered.

“Tonight.”

He swallowed and raked a hand through his hair. “Will you tell Stefan?”

I didn’t want to, but it would be cruel if I didn’t. “Yes,” I said. “I’ll tell him what I’m doing, but not where I’m going.”

He nodded. “Where were you just now, anyway?” he asked.

“Talking to the king. I had to ask him some questions about my mother.”

Alex tilted his head. “He let you in?”

“No.” I grinned.

Alex grinned back, and then placed his hand on the wall right behind me, leaning against his arm, his face close to mine. “You know, Daria, I just got you back in my life. I’d like to keep you there for a while, and you’re not making that very simple.”

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him lightly. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulled me close and held me there, my face buried in his chest. “What about Fleck?” His voice rumbled through his chest.

I sighed. “I need to say goodbye to him—he’ll be safe with Master Antoni…and Tran is nearby.”

He released me, tilting my chin toward him. “You know I’m not letting you go alone.”

I didn’t bother hiding my relief.

He kissed me softly, still holding my chin. “After you, love.” He pulled his lips away and stepped back.

My heart fluttered, and suddenly all I could think about was that I wanted him to kiss me again. Like he had in his room. I noticed my bed out of the corner of my eye, and my breath hitched. Maybe we could stay just a little longer…

No, you need to get out of here.

Why, oh, why aren’t you ever on my side, Conscience?

I noticed that the candlelight in my room had dimmed—significantly. I arched a brow at Alex. “Did you?”

“No,” he said. “That was you.” He smiled, eyes gleaming.

My lips pulled into a smile as I held his gaze.

Alex followed me out my door as I ran to Fleck’s room. It was still guarded, but not as heavily as before. More for safety than imprisonment this time.

I walked in and Fleck glanced up from an enormous manuscript he was poring over. “Lady!” he shrieked. He leapt up from his book and wrapped his little arms around me. I squeezed him back, ruffling his hair.

“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” he asked, pulling back and looking at me with his big eyes.

I grabbed his hands. “How did you know?”

He looked thoughtful and wrinkled his nose. “Tran said you might.”

“Tran? When did you see—”

“Good evening, dear,” said a familiar voice beside me. Tran stood off to the side, smiling, but it was a sad smile. “Thought you might be leaving soon.”

He held his arms out to me and I hugged him, careful not to squeeze too hard. He hated it when I squeezed him too hard.