he hissed, shooting me an angry stare.
Sidyan was in a foul mood now, and I knew why. We were getting closer to the Master of Darkness, and that meant we were getting closer to solving the Spirit Bender mystery. Sidyan was terrified of what we’d discover once we reached the root of this problem. So was I. If the underlings were this well versed in a magic they should never have had access to, we could only imagine what the more senior Darklings were capable of. We’d already seen some of Petra’s skills, and they were… troubling, to say the least.
We followed her through one of the service doors and up a dimly lit spiral staircase with damp, smelly walls. It went up and down, connecting multiple levels of the palace. I doubted even the staff used these passages much, considering how decayed and musty they were. Petra pushed through a massive iron door, its hinges wailing angrily.
We were somewhere on an upper floor. A quick peek through a nearby window told me we were on the second level, and I started to wonder who Petra had come to see. It was the Master of Darkness, sure, but who was he?
Petra was stopped by a Rimian servant, a wiry fellow in a black suit, paler than others from his species. “Milady, you’ve come a long way, haven’t you?”
“Indeed I have, Milos. What news do you have? I noticed quite the commotion outside,” Petra said, smiling. The other members of staff saw her, but no one seemed to react to her presence. She was supposed to be on the empire’s most wanted list, yet all she got here were subtle bows and an overall air of indifference.
“Why hasn’t anyone jumped her yet?” I whispered as we stayed back, close to the iron door.
Several gold guards passed through, and they didn’t even look at her. She wasn’t invisible or anything, since Milos could obviously see her. Petra was being treated like just another face in the palace’s tapestry and not the wanted criminal she was supposed to be as Whip of the Darklings. This was a major red flag.
“Something tells me the Aeternae aren’t as upset with the Darklings as we’ve been led to believe,” Sidyan replied.
“Milady, Her Grace the Lady Supreme convened a gathering outside earlier,” Milos explained, hands behind his back and a faint smile settled on his thin lips. “The foreigners kidnapped Prince Thayen, so Her Grace decided to teach them a lesson. She offered a huge reward for the capture of Lady Crimson, and another reward for the safe return of the prince.”
“They took Thayen? That was bold.” Petra raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise. Not that it mattered, but I did feel a bit proud that our people could still impress her.
“I wonder what that’s all about,” I mumbled.
“I wouldn’t dream of defending the foreigners, but Her Grace did imprison Derek Novak when he returned to the palace to speak with her,” Milos said. “I believe the foreigners were merely retaliating. Unfortunately for them, they left the witch’s body behind, so the Lady Supreme burned it for everyone to see. A message for the foreigners, milady, that she is not to be messed with.”
My knees went weak. Milos’s words felt like a punch in the gut, and the air had been knocked from my lungs. Sidyan sensed I was about to drop and caught me, his arms firmly wrapped around my waist as he held me. My skin burned despite the chill surging through me like a winter storm.
“Nethi…” I could barely hear myself.
“They burned Nethissis,” Petra said, utterly astonished. “Damn. That was cold.”
Milos chuckled. “Yes, milady. But it did work out in the Lady Supreme’s favor. She said the foreigners were out there tonight, lost in the crowd. She did it so they would see for themselves that she would not be bullied. She destroyed all hope for any kind of leverage they might have against her.”
“But they still have her son,” Petra replied. “Shouldn’t she be worried they could hurt the boy?”
Milos shook his head. “No, milady. The foreigners are good and ethical people. They would never hurt Prince Thayen, and the Lady Supreme knows it.”
“By the stars, she never ceases to amaze me,” Petra muttered, crossing her arms. “And how is she doing? She is newly widowed, after all.”
“She has seen better days, milady, but Her Grace is strong. She is very focused on the Black Fever outbreak.”
“Yes, I’ve heard it has begun spreading