He pulled the object from his cloak, looking defeated, before passing it to me. It was a rolled up piece of parchment tied with a black ribbon, a wax seal with the stamp of a raven embedded into it. Cold dread washed over me, and I immediately cast a look towards the rooftops. Nothing but empty shadows.
“You’re a Raven,” I said—a fact, not a question. He was awfully young for his line of work, but the spymaster was known to take in orphans and beggars off the streets, employing them in her network of spies and assassins.
The boy didn’t speak, so I unrolled the parchment, reading the scribbled words as fast as I could, sucking in a hissed breath at what I found. At the bottom, signed in deep red ink, was an X. I rolled it back up, pushing it into the boy’s hands before grabbing him by the collar and pulling him towards me roughly.
“You say nothing of this to anyone, do you hear me?” He nodded frantically, his face turning red as my grip continued to tighten. “Leave this city before the sun rises. Tell your master she can expect a warm welcome upon her arrival.” I shoved him away, and he stumbled, barely catching himself before he fell. “Go!” He broke into a run, heading past me, down the narrow alleyway until the shadows swallowed him up.
Wasting no time, I made my way out of the darkness, blending in with the crowded night market, hurtling through Nexus with one goal in mind. I needed to warn my contacts that X was on her way to our city.
I’d never seen the spymaster in the flesh, but it was said she was beautiful in a haunting sort of way. Rumor had it she was a cold, cynical woman. Only the Ravens knew her face, but getting information out of the likes of them was next to impossible.
It was pure luck alone that I happened upon the boy tonight and luck that he hadn’t used a silencer—a poison powder turned into a small tablet that, if swallowed, would kill you in seconds, your secrets dying with you.
That was the lad’s first mistake. He must have been new to the job because if he’d been more experienced, he would have memorized the contents of the letter, making his life infinitely more valuable. He should have burned the parchment, making sure it never had the chance to fall into the wrong hands, especially in an enemy kingdom.
Now, all I had to do was wait and watch. X would be here any day now.
Xmara
It took a week of traveling to reach the border of Nexus. Remus and I were camped atop a hill that overlooked the walled city, the lights in the distance flickering like jewels against the backdrop of the night sky.
We would leave the horses behind tonight and make the rest of the journey on foot, cloaked in simple black, crafted of silks from Nexus. We wouldn’t blend in, but perhaps we could stall for as long as possible before whispers turned into gossip that eventually reached King Basillius’s ears.
Nexus’s king was rumored to be a kind man, strong in the Source, who valued the hard work of the common people, unlike King Animus. Basillius had a large family, including six younger brothers, two sisters, and plenty of allies. I’d done my research on our neighboring kingdoms years ago. It was always smart to know your enemy inwards and out.Enemymight have been a strong word for it. Maybe they were the King’s enemies, but outside of my official position, I had no such allegiances.
“It’s time to go,” Remus said, joining me as I stood at the highest point of the hill, letting the wind blow through my loose hair, carrying with it the smell of lush crops that thrived tinder the Source’s influence. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked when I remained in place.
“There’s beauty in the darkness too,” I said, taking my time as I pulled my gloves on one by one. “You just have to learn how and where to look for it. But you’re right, it is beautiful. Let’s hope we can manage to keep it that way.”
Worry festered in the back of my mind. I was sent here to collect information for the King. We hadn’t known war since the cleansing, and even then, it was over before it even began.
Kingdoms closed their borders for years while Avedin withered under the absence of the Source. But Animus was a paranoid man. Always watching and waiting for the moment when his precious empire would fall under attack.
So here we were, on the verge of entering foreign territory, tasked with luring King Basillius’s war council advisors into a trap, where I was to feed my chosen man a potion that would have him babbling in no time, feeding us his secrets.
I didn’t personally believe that Nexus was gearing up for a war, but the King wouldn’t listen to me. I had a job to do, and the sooner I saw it through, the sooner I could return to Avedin and find out what happened to my Raven.
“What will you do if the King's suspicions are confirmed?” Remus asked, standing beside me with his arms crossed over his broad chest, narrowing his eyes out over the view of Nexus. When I didn’t answer, he glanced at me, raising a single dark brow. “You don’t know, do you? What would happen if tomorrow Animus ordered his army to attack Nexus? There are millions of innocent people behind those walls. Would you see them dead because of a madman’s paranoia?”
His green eyes were more serious than usual, lacking any sort of wry humor behind them. I clenched my jaw tight as he turned to face me, taking a step that brought our chests nearly flush together.
“What are you doing?” My words were whispered as he neared. I hadn't been this close to a man since Waylan.
Remus took my hand in his and squeezed gently. I could feel his warmth even through the leather gloves I wore. “I don’t believe for a second that you’d stand behind a king like Animus. A king who’s committed endless atrocities against people like me…people like your Ravens.”
I tore my hands from his grip. “You don’t know a thing about my Ravens.”
His lips pulled into a wry smirk, but I didn’t move when his fingers skimmed the side of my face, his eyes flitting between mine rapidly. “I think I do. Even with your potion running through me, I’m still a shifter. I can sense when a Source user is near, and there were plenty of them in that temple. Do you expect me to believe that you, X, the spymaster herself, didn’t already know that? You collect strays and give them a purpose, even the ones you know Animus wouldn’t think twice about putting to death. I know you’re better than that.”
“You don’t know me either…” I was getting lost in the sincerity of his gaze. The conviction of his trust in me, which made no sense. He knew who I was and what I did for the King. He saw my work with his own eyes, yet I was somehow better than Animus?
I opened my mouth to tell Remus he was wrong about me when the sound of hoofbeats broke us apart. Turning towards the intruder, we drew our daggers, hiding the blades beneath the cover of our cloaks.
“Get behind me,” Remus hissed, moving to stand in front of me. A shadow in the distance approached fast, the hoofbeats getting louder.
I laughed, shoving him aside as I stepped towards the oncomer. “You forget your place, shifter. I’m not some damsel that needs a protector.”
He made a noise under his breath that sounded like an animalistic growl, once again confirming what he truly was. If my potion hadn’t dulled his power, I imagined his eyes might be glowing bright with irritation. The moment was broken when the shadowy rider rode into the light of our campfire. I took one look at his face and lowered my dagger, however, Remus kept a firm grip on his.