The White Sheep's Disguise ✓

Chapter 53

The cold dagger bites into my throat, the blade slinking up to meet the base of my jaw. I grip onto the sides of the book in hopes of that keeping me alive and sane. The magic roiling underneath my skin wishes to push out through my fingertips, but I dig my nails into the leather to keep that second life quelled.

A warm breath cascades into my ear, laughing viciously underneath a veil of silence. This is it. After surviving this long living in the palace and traveling back to the village every two weeks, I'll meet my end by a stranger that has possibly stalked me from the beginning. I hate to think this is Cloak's doing after he spoke so strangely in his chambers, but the dagger's cold press keeps me from thinking far into it.

The back of the chair traps me from falling backward, as does the crouching beast threatening to take my life. I think my heart might pound right through my chest. Then, a touch of familiarity in their laugh. A dark rumble that I heard right before Aela launched me over the bridge and into serpent infested waters. I scowl and reach up, shoving the blade away.

Aela appears around my shoulder, smirking broadly, and flips the dagger back into the sheath at her hip. "Leave me alone," I snap.

She makes no promises. I look back down to the open page of the book, the illustration of the Raven Queen looking out her balcony into the distance, hoping to spot her sister. The swoops of the brush bleed into my vision, but I can't focus on them. Especially as Aela comes around to the other side, still chuckling about instilling fear, and slouches down into the other chair.

Her arms drape broadly over the armrests and she crosses her ankles together, chin forming double as she looks down at the rug below our chairs. "I wouldn't dare spill blood in the library," she contests. "Truthfully you had nothing to worry about."

If I ignore her, she might grow bored with my company and leave on her own. Propping my temple against my fist, I flip the page to Wyetta surrounded by a group of armed forces—loyal members of the Void Forge she abandoned to become queen. She changes them into Luminaries, all-powerful members of magic, and urges them to do the same. Kidnap children and young adults, leave the old to die but take their youth. Build an army and bring them to her. The sharp tilt of the words scribbled over the page scream dictator instead of the former queen. A woman out for revenge.

Aela pouts. "Are you still angry at me for tossing you over the bridge like a sack of potatoes?"

Hot air blows out through my nostrils. "Actually, I am," I grumble. "I almost died, and you did nothing to help. You left your brother, and the rest of the Panjandrum Corps, to save my life."

"Truthfully, I didn't believe you'd survive that little mess, but I wanted to test your strengths. When I saw you surface after disappearing so long, I figured you might stand a chance out in the real world instead of your hole of a village." She toys with the fringes on the armrest, sticking her nail underneath the brass buttons.

I give a deadpanned stare. "Should I be grateful that you are showing some acceptance of me?"

"Of course not. I still hate your guts."

At least she doesn't lie about her lack of care for others. Ignoring the burning rage ready to strike like a viper in my stomach, I force myself to turn the page. Both on this conversation and the book. The two queens meet after Wyetta overcome her fear of the palace. She arrived, alone, and met with her sister. They shared a meal of wine and cheese, and the eldest told of her days building up her forces to combat enemies.

Millicent Terravale didn't agree with the kidnapping of children. The killing of their parents. Things got out of hand, Wyetta promised. They survived, that is all that matters.