Phoenix Flame - Sara Holland Page 0,94
you think?”
I’m almost speechless. Postponing the summit, directing Havenfall’s resources to stopping the soul trade and gathering the silver? It hadn’t even occurred to me that that was an option.
“Why are you asking me?” I manage.
Marcus holds my gaze. “Because I care about your opinion. You’re going to be the next Innkeeper, if you still want to be. What we do here affects you.” He looks down then, suddenly becomes very still. “Which is something I should have learned a lot earlier. I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.” I sit up straighter, genuine excitement squiggling through me. It’s almost an unfamiliar sensation. I’ve spent so much of this summer being afraid or shoving down my fear. But with the whole year at Havenfall, with the phoenix flame armor and Mom and Nahteran and maybe others too, I suddenly feel like there’s nothing in all the worlds we can’t do.
“There are things we have to take care of here first,” Marcus continues. “The peace treaty, for instance. We still need a few more signatures each from Byrn and Fiordenkill. And we don’t have any at all from Solaria.”
Momentary panic shoots through me, then embarrassment. In all the chaos, I’d almost completely forgotten about the peace treaty. “But the delegates are already gone. How can we …”
“We have the phoenix flame armor,” Marcus says with a wry smile. “Willow is going to be going into Byrn with Sal, since it might be unstable after the Prince’s death. But if you ask very nicely—and do some self-defense training with Sal—I might let you go into Fiordenkill and Solaria, as long as you take a buddy.”
I stare at him, almost too shocked to be excited. Instead, the hope is like a tidal wave on the horizon—only a tiny ridge in the distance now, but growing bigger, closer, and I know it’ll be overwhelming when it hits. I could go back to Fiordenkill, not in secret this time, but on a diplomatic mission. I could go to Solaria with Taya and Nate.
Marcus comes around to my side of the counter and leans against it with his arms crossed. His expression is carefully neutral. But no matter how much he tries to hide it, I think he’s excited too. I can see the spark in his eyes.
“We need to repair the ballroom, at the very least fix the roof before it rains. Replace those gold plates that mysteriously went missing.” He cracks a smile. “And we need a more secure way to keep the phoenix flame armor. I’ve been calling around. Thinking maybe we could get some kind of built-in vault downstairs, like they have at banks.”
“Sounds expensive.”
“Very.” He massages his temples. “Just one of the very many things you’ll have to deal with as Innkeeper.” Raising his head, he smiles crookedly at me. “I won’t be sorry to pass the mantle when the time comes. But you have a lot of learning to do in the meantime.”
I nod, resisting the urge to say something snarky about how I managed well enough before. But I can’t stop the grin from spreading across my face. “Just tell me what to do.”
“To start with,” he says, “I think you should call your dad.” He pulls my cell phone from his jeans pocket and comes over to slide it across the table to me. “I mean, finish eating first, but it’s past time he heard about Nahteran.”
I stare at the phone, my heart thudding. I’m excited by the prospect of sharing good news, but—
“What do I even say? How do I even begin to explain all this?” I gesture vaguely around, trusting that Marcus will get what I’m trying to say.
Oh hey, Dad, remember how your ex-wife snapped out of nowhere and murdered your adopted son? Turns out none of that is true at all. She lied to protect me from the magical bounty hunters who actually kidnapped him and sold his soul to an evil prince. But I found him. Nate is alive and he goes by Nahteran now and is actually a shapeshifter from another world. Oh, and there are other worlds.
Annoyingly, Marcus just says, “You’ll figure it out.”
When I stare at him incredulously, he adds, “Tell him the truth. Your dad’s a good guy; I trust him. Invite him to the inn if you want. I don’t think Nahteran will be venturing out anytime soon, so if your dad wants to see him it has to be here.”
“Are you serious?” I ask, holding my breath.
Keeping the inn