Thana shot to her feet. “You can’t be serious. Queen Earnhiltallows this?”
He flinched. “Well…she doesn’t exactly investigate when ithappens.”
“Spirits above!” Thana paced, hands atop her head, face flushed.“It’s murder.”
“She can’t control the nobles,” Ivar said.
“Most of the stubborn mules wouldn’t listen if she tried,” Illisadded.
“Begging your pardon, Lady,” Dina said with a beatific smile.
“Not necessary,” Sylph muttered out of habit. She could barelythink through her own elation and fear. She wasn’t alone, wasn’t anabomination?
Except she’d been right to be afraid. If her father knew of sucha grisly tradition, would he follow it? But most of her family’s wealth andlands were newer, acquired long after the pyradisté rebellion. Perhaps they’dchanged too much to remember such casual murder.
“We don’t do it, Thana,” Prince Gunnar said. “The Umbriels don’tkill their pyradisté relations no matter how close to the throne they are.”
“Where are these relations, then?” she asked with disbelief thickin her voice.
“And why target me if you don’t kill your own?” Sylph asked,anger taking over. “Did the queen seek my death simply because I am not amember of her family?”
“You’ve already met one relation.” Prince Gunnar motioned toCalla, who flipped her straight blond hair over her shoulder.
“Distant cousin,” she said with a smile that was more a baring ofteeth. “Trotted out when needed.”
“And,” Prince Gunnar said loudly over Thana’s exclamation ofdisbelief. “My mother overreacted to you, my lady, because you lit the palaceon fire, and she thought you part of the greater pyradisté problem.”
Ah yes. That.
* * *
Thana couldn’t believe her ears. It didn’t matter that the eventsGunnar spoke of were over a hundred years in the past. She couldn’t believe noone remembered.
But the victors had written the history, and they didn’t wantanyone to remember, and what the nobility did was so far outside of the normalperson’s sphere anyway…
“I can’t,” she said. “It’s so hard to think of, let alonebelieve.” But if he was telling the truth, the proof sat just across the fire.“Why me, Gun? If you already had a pyradisté you trusted, why am I themonarch’s choice?”
He looked pained. “Because I wanted it to be you, Than.”
Calla snorted and rolled her eyes. “They need to keep my lineagesecret, remember?” And that clearly didn’t sit well with her, but something inGunnar’s eyes said he wouldn’t have had her anyway.
Thana’s cheeks grew hot under the weight of his trust, hisaffection. “Thanks,” she muttered. Before he could smile too widely, she added,“But how could you keep this huge secret from me? All the times I had to listento garbage from the courtiers and nobles.” She pointed to Sylph. “And all thefear she had to suffer.”
“None of that would have changed if you’d known, except you wouldhave been tempted to mock the courtiers with the information.”
She ground her teeth. That was true. And the fact that she had tokeep quiet would have eaten a hole through her stomach. But she couldn’t shedher anger so easily. “Keeping the whole thing secret was a stupid solution.”
“I agree.” He smiled softly. “But the nobles and monarchy thoughtthe lack of a possible noble leader would keep the pyradistés from revoltingagain.”
“As if we’d need one,” she said with a snort.
He gave her a flat look. “Whether they were right about that orwhether it was lack of access to crystal that stopped the rebellion, thesituation has changed.”
“Because of the new crystal,” she said, arching an eyebrow.
He sat back, hands pressed together. “And because the pyradistésof Marienne have another noble to guide them.”
Thana’s heart thundered. Sylph had gone white, her eyes huge.They said, “What?” and “Who?” at the same time.
He looked between them. “I’m hoping you can tell me.”
“It isn’t Sylph,” Thana said, her ire rising again at the thoughtof Sylph being accused.
Gunnar looked at her as if she was an idiot. “I know that.”
And there was that embarrassing flush again. “Sorry.” But Sylphgave her an affectionate look that made the embarrassment worth it. Sylph hadto be off-guard indeed for her mask to have slipped that much.
“Tell us about this crystal,” Gunnar said.
Thana told the little she knew, happy to unburden herself. Sherelated what had happened at the academy, that all the pyradistés seemed toknow about and be excited by the crystal. She left out Sylph’s desire to bringthe building down and spoke about the attack at the manor. She downplayedSylph’s struggles there, too, and said that the attackers’ pyramids had goneoff and that she and Sylph had decided to trace the rumored pyradisté attacksin an effort to find the source of the new crystal.
“We think the early attacks and explosions could have been causedby pyradistés like Sylph, who are more sensitive to the crystal and hadaccidents when it came near them,” Thana said.
Sylph had been sitting stiffly but quietly, and now she shook herhead. “I’m not sensitive, Prince Gunnar,” she said as she stared into flamesthat made strands of gold dance through her hair. “I’m inexorably pulled to it,captivated, imprisoned. It’s terrifying and yet so beautiful to touch. I couldtear the world apart with it, and that would feel…right.” She finally looked upwith tears in her eyes and an expression of horror that became a snarl. “Theperson who attacked us at the manor? I set off his pyramid made from this newcrystal, and it blew up the others, and at the moment I did so, I’d never feltso free. No remorse, no thoughts for anyone’s safety, not even my own. I wasjust so happy to merge with it and so relieved to stop resisting.” Her voicehad climbed until she was nearly shouting.
Thana couldn’t move, caught by the raw emotion in Sylph’s voice.Not even when they were kissing had she seemed so open.
“If there are others like me,” she said quietly, “I pity them.And I hate those who would use this crystal after knowing what it does to us.”
Gunnar stared for a few moments. “I am truly sorry, Lady Sylph,for what you’ve endured. Will you help us
