The Last Sorceress by Bonnie Wynne

Author:Bonnie Wynne [Wynne, Bonnie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780645163056
Publisher: Talem Press
Published: 2023-03-04T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

THE HIDDEN KING

His words were so nonsensical that for a long moment, Gwyn could only stare, certain she must have misheard.

‘Silas … What?’

Enoch ran a hand through the wisps of his hair. He looked to have aged five years since Gwyn had seen him last. Deep grooves lined his mouth and eyes.

‘Vim – Gwyn, I tried to tell you. I wanted to tell you. But she wouldn’t let me, and I couldn’t … I couldn’t …’

His distress brought the world back into focus, and Gwyn rose, reaching out to steady him. The wizard was shaking beneath her hand.

‘Just tell me slowly, Enoch. What did you want to tell me? Who stopped you?’

‘Ailbhe!’ He spat the name like a curse. ‘I found out about Silas while I was with her. She’s known the truth for months. But she put a … a binding on me, and I couldn’t tell anyone what I knew. I couldn’t whisper it. Couldn’t write it. If I even thought about telling someone, the pain would almost split my head in two. The only way I could function was to put it completely from my mind. To tell myself that speaking the words to anyone was the absolute last thing I wanted to do.’

Gwyn wanted to shake him, but she forced her voice to remain steady. ‘What are you saying, Enoch? That Silas is on Ailbhe’s side?’

She had been expecting him to say yes. Somehow, it wouldn’t have surprised her, that the dark-clad, silent king – her husband – was a traitor; that he’d bartered with Ailbhe to reclaim his throne.

But Enoch shook his head and sucked in a few long, even breaths. They seemed to calm him. When he met Gwyn’s eyes, his gaze was steadier.

‘He’s not on Ailbhe’s side,’ he said. ‘Gwyn – he’s not even Silas. I wanted to tell you, but … the real Silas has been dead for years. He’s been dead ever since you freed the Scions.’

His words hung on the air, heavy as a blow. Gwyn felt the ground tilt beneath her feet.

‘What are you saying?’ she heard herself ask. ‘What are you saying, Enoch?’

‘Gwyn … Silas is Yotha. He has been since the beginning.’

This time, it was Enoch who had to reach out and steady her. Gwyn thought she might be sick. Her stomach leaped into her throat, filling her mouth with bile.

‘Silas is a Scion?’ She understood what Enoch was saying, and yet she had to speak it aloud; had to hear it from her own lips. Otherwise, she couldn’t quite believe it was real. ‘Enoch … that doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t have any powers. Nobody in the army does, aside from the wizards. Molech’s followers could call thunder, and Iahta’s could change their faces, but … no. No, it must be some mistake.’

Enoch had started shaking his head before Gwyn was even done speaking. ‘It’s no mistake. I was there, Gwyn. I saw him. He sent the wizards into the city first – to clear the way, he said – and then he turned the army against them.

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