Phoenix Flame - Sara Holland Page 0,28

every word. “I need you to promise, Maddie. Whatever you find there at this Winterkill place, whatever you see, you will not interfere. No matter what.”

He stops to let the words sink in.

It takes a second.

“Wait, but what if—”

“No,” he cuts in. “No matter what.”

“We’re talking about the soul trade!” I burst out. “The Solarians are suffering!”

“So report back.”

Marcus’s voice is resolute, no wavering in it. “Come back and tell me what’s going on, and we’ll figure out what to do. But you can’t take on all of it alone. None of us can.”

I have to bite my tongue to keep from arguing further. Marcus is right. Logically, I know he’s right. But that doesn’t make it any easier when I eventually say, “Okay. I promise.”

No easier to make a promise I’m not sure I can keep.

My heart is in my throat as I go to find Brekken. Marcus is going to run the plan by Graylin, but it’s obviously on me to put the question to Brekken. No big deal, right? I just have to find out whether he wants to put his life and his future in Myr on the line by helping me sneak into his homeland and spy on a corrupt lord.

There was once a time when I’d have had no doubt Brekken would say yes. When we were kids and he was my partner in every adventure. But things feel different now that he’s a soldier. What if whatever it is we share doesn’t work outside the bounds of Havenfall? What if he doesn’t want to move against his own country for me?

No. I remind myself that when Brekken went missing a few weeks ago, he was working to gather information about the soul trade among his fellow Fiordens. He kept what he was doing a secret from everyone, even me, because he thought Marcus was on the traders’ side. He hates the trade as much as I do. He’ll understand why we have to do this.

I wish I could tell Taya, I realize as I walk through the dark halls. Wish it fiercely. I’ve tried my best to keep thoughts of her at bay these last few days, because I fear that if I allow myself to sink into that morass, I’ll never get back out. Never get past the feeling that it’s my fault she’s gone. I don’t even know if she chose to go through the Solarian door, or if all the magic and blood we—she—shed in our fight with the Silver Prince in the tunnels upset the volatile magic of the doors and sucked her in. She’s in Solaria alone, and while she might be a Solarian, she knows nothing of that world. She hadn’t even known about other Realms before coming to Havenfall this summer. If something happens to her there, how will I ever forgive myself? If I even ever find out?

Now that I’ve let my thoughts run rampant, I feel panic set in. My heart races and my palms sweat. This can’t happen. I have work to do. Turning down the hallway toward Brekken’s room, I take a deep breath and try to break off the thought loop. How do you eat an elephant? Dad’s voice sounds in my head. One bite at a time.

There’s nothing I can do to help Taya right now, with the door to Solaria being closed. Plus, she wouldn’t want me to dwell on it at the expense of helping others. I wonder if she can come back. If she wants to.

There is something I can do. I can knock on Brekken’s door. Brekken can help me move forward. Forward to Fiordenkill.

8

Two days later finds Graylin and me heading upstairs to one of the meeting rooms. We’ve just come from the library and another crash course in the Fiorden language. The strange words Graylin taught me rattle around in my head. Ranir losir a sephe? Where is the entrance?

No matter how many words he crams into my head, no Fiorden who looks at me for more than three seconds will mistake me for one of them. It feels like a waste of time to learn the language. Then again, it’s not like there’s much else I can do. And if I just sit and wait, I think I’ll explode or lose heart.

“I was thinking,” Graylin says as we climb the stairs. “Once we get into Fiordenkill, I’d like an old friend to take a look at the gauntlet. She’s a scholar of matter,