Rise Of The Mirror King

Chapter 15: Guests of the Crown

Odbeara had a way of throwing the worst news at me at the first light of each day. 

I found out the same way I found out about most disasters lately — by walking into a room and immediately regretting it.

The main hall was packed. Every guild master was there, and students had crammed themselves along the balconies above like something worth watching was about to happen.

Vance stood near the front, arms crossed, jaw tight.

"What's going on?" I asked, sliding in beside Astrid.

"You're about to find out," she said. "And you're not going to like it."

Zudrik walked up to the dais, and the room went quiet. He cleared his throat.

"By order of the crown," he said, "and in accordance with terms negotiated following the incident with the Emperor's sons — two new members will be joining the Blazing Sun Guild. Effective immediately."

A ripple went through the crowd. My stomach dropped before my brain caught up with why.

The doors at the back of the hall opened.

I felt them before I saw them. That same crawling heat up my spine from the night of the attack, except sharper now, closer, like the mana already knew exactly whose skin it belonged to.

Zeldryl walked in first. Pale, dark hair still damp, dressed in black and gold that probably cost more than the east wing.

Mazikeen came a step behind him — dark bronze skin against her brother's pale, two curved horns through wet black hair, and that same forked tongue flicking once against her bottom lip like she was tasting the room before she'd even said a word.

"You're joking," I said, out loud, apparently, because half the hall turned to look at me.

"I wish he were," Vance muttered.

Zudrik kept going like I hadn't just announced my feelings to the entire student body.

"This reflects His Majesty's commitment to peace between Odbeara and the Demon Realm. Emperor Callibus has expressed interest in coexistence. The crown has agreed to demonstrate good faith."

"Good faith," someone near me whispered, "or good fear."

They weren't wrong. This had nothing to do with peace. It had everything to do with Zudrik doing the math — me and Lucifero on one side, the entire demon realm on the other, the Twelve Commandments stretched too thin to hold the middle.

Nobody wanted a war they weren't sure they'd win. Somebody very powerful had decided it was safer to let the demons inside the walls than find out what happened if they stayed outside.

Zeldryl's eyes moved across the crowd, bored, until they landed on me. He smiled. It wasn't friendly.

Mazikeen didn't bother with subtlety. She crossed the hall — people actually flinched back as she passed — and stopped right in front of me, close enough that I caught something sweet underneath it all, like fruit gone a day past ripe.

"Symon Wardreth." She said my name slowly, like she was deciding if she liked the taste of it. "We meet again."

"Technically, you tried to have me killed the first time."

"That was Zeldryl." She ran one finger along my collar. I could feel every eye in the hall on it. "I only watched."

"Comforting."

"I found it very comforting." Her mouth curved. "You fight beautifully. For someone dying twice at once."

My blood went cold, and it had nothing to do with her hand on my collar.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing." She smiled wider, all teeth. "A figure of speech."

It wasn't. I knew it the second the words left her mouth, and from the way her eyes lingered a beat too long, she knew I knew it too.

Grey, I thought, as hard as I could without moving my lips. Please tell me she can't read minds.

"Unlikely," Grey said, somewhere behind my eyes. "Her known ability is mind influence through direct contact. Not passive telepathy. Whatever she knows, she found it out some other way."

Great. So she'd worked it out on her own. That was worse.

"You should be careful," Mazikeen said, quiet enough that only I could hear it, "touching things that don't belong to you."

She pulled her hand back. I resisted the urge to check my collar for burn marks.

"Are you always this forward with strangers?"

"Only the interesting ones." Her tongue flicked out again, and I told myself very firmly not to look too closely at the faint shine on her bottom lip. "Careful, or you'll find out what happens to the ones I really like."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's an invitation." She turned to leave, then glanced back over her shoulder. "But I understand. You've already given your affections elsewhere."

Her eyes flicked toward Amelia.

The back half of the hall went very still.

Amelia's face didn't move. Somehow that was worse than if it had.

"Enough," Zudrik said, and for once I was glad for his timing. "Prince Zeldryl, Princess Mazikeen — you'll take quarters in the guild wing and follow standard protocol. No exceptions for rank."

"Of course," Zeldryl said, smooth as anything, though his eyes stayed on me the whole time. It didn't sound like a man planning to follow any rules at all.

Zudrik dismissed the hall. The crowd broke apart fast, whispers already climbing to the balconies. Baron caught my eye from across the room and gave me a look that said, clear as day, you're on your own with this one.

Astrid grabbed my sleeve before I could get away. "What did she say to you?"

"Nothing important."

"You went pale."

"I'm naturally pale."

"You're really not."

I didn't have an answer for that. I was still turning Mazikeen's words over, looking for a crack in them. Someone dying twice at once. That wasn't a guess. That was specific. Precise. The kind of thing nobody outside Grey and me should've known.

Which meant either she was far more dangerous than the flirting let on, or somebody had already told her.

Across the emptying hall, Zeldryl was still watching me, arms crossed, that same bored smile fixed in place like it had never once slipped.

Whatever this arrangement was supposed to be, it didn't feel like peace.

It felt like the opening move of a much longer game. And I already had the sinking feeling I'd lost a piece before I even knew I was playing.

I stood there, not moving. Part of me wondered what Symon would do in this situation. I didn't need to think much because the answer voiced itself behind me.

"It's so not like you not to overreact to this." Amelia appeared behind me. She looked tense, the way her brows creased. 

"Symon would have thrown a tantrum, right?" I asked, my eyes darting towards the dais where Vance was speaking to Zeldryl. Mazikeen turned and flashed me a smile.

"He would have gone to war just now." She said, "Are you okay?" She stepped closer and placed the back of her palm on my forehead.

"You mean I'm fine in an academy with two demons with god-tier strength when my little sister is my responsibility now? No, I'm not"

Amelia laughed. I eyed her.

"What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, it's just, Symon is never scared, but you are."

Maybe she was right. Maybe Symon would not be. But who was I kidding? Grey confirmed we were the same person; perhaps he was scared, after all, his sister was here. How arrogant could the guy be if he wasn't scared?

"Symon, Lucifero, in my office now." It was Zudrik; his voice left no room for protest. 

I turned to Lucifero. I didn't know if the look on his face was the usual resentment toward me or the presence of our new guests. He followed Zudrik first, and I trailed behind.