Darkwielder by Sarah Zimm

Author:Sarah Zimm [Sarah Zimm]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sarah Zimm
Published: 2023-10-11T00:00:00+00:00

Kier stared down the forbidden west wing.

The walls seemed to lean in, waiting to see if he had the courage to defy the king.

He stepped forward.

A trilling between his ears made him veer off balance, and Kier nearly plunged down the winding staircase where just hours ago he’d met Ahren.

It trilled louder, and he nearly dropped the vase in his arms.

Grimm Hermes’s summons was a siren compared to Delphine’s. Kier was forced to sit on a step and let Grimm into his mind’s eye.

With no preamble, the Spellcaster snapped, “Stay where you are,” as his grave expression filled Kier’s vision.

He could tell Grimm was in the castle, somewhere close.

“No.” Kier gritted his teeth, getting to his feet again, trying to sever the connection.

But Grimm wasn’t a Spellcaster easily shaken, and Kier wasn’t an ascended Magie yet. He lurched forward, bracing a shoulder against the wall to keep himself upright as he walked into the hall, the thought of Delphine driving him onward.

“You’re planning to leave with the girl,” Grimm said, and Kier stilled, hearing footsteps and the stamp of a cane coming up the stairs behind him.

A moment later, his mind cleared, and there stood Grimm in his fine robes, dressed as his uncle had been, for a party.

“I was with the king when he received the daw,” Grimm explained quietly. “Come.”

Grimm glanced behind them, but it was late; the nearest sounds in the castle echoed far off, from the laundry and kitchens.

Grimm pulled Kier into a narrow alcove just around the staircase. There, his lips murmured and he raised his spellstaff.

When he did, Kier felt a shudder of energy through him. It lingered, tingling in his fingertips and feet. “What was that?”

“Assurance we won’t be seen or heard.”

Kier’s heart hammered as he followed Grimm into the hall. Beyond the staircase from where they’d come, two kingsguards were marching their way. Kier froze and readied himself to run or draw his shadows, but Grimm merely stood there calmly until the guards passed them.

For a moment, Kier forgot his mission and looked at Grimm in awe. “You just—”

“Cloaked us, yes,” Grimm said. “I overheard what happened in the woods. What did the king do to you that you’d risk everything now?”

Kier swallowed around the lump in his throat. “He killed a boy to punish me. Delphine’s brother. I begged him to punish me instead, and he refused. Now he’s put her somewhere, and I…” Gripping the vase in one arm, he raised his free hand, then let it fall again. “I can’t go lead my uncle’s army and pretend he’ll ever care for me. I can’t leave her here. I’m getting Delphine out, and—”

“You’ve every right to be livid, but fleeing would be an irrevocable mistake.”

Kier’s hackles raised. “Don’t say my uncle was teaching me a lesson—that he loves me in his way. Jory beat you to it.”

Grimm shook his head. “On the contrary. He was too much in love once and it made him afraid.”

“My uncle loves no one. He only cares about keeping his crown.

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