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Silver
As Silver left the castle, cool air stirred around her, disheveling her hair. She wiped at her eyes—perhaps a little too roughly. Keelen wasn’t the same, yet she trusted him with her whole heart. His memory had to be buried somewhere within himself.
Afton deserved the same protection she’d gotten from Javan for the last twelve years. Besides their parents, there had been several incidents in the past that proved people couldn’t be trustworthy. Her parents’ old guards had attempted to murder Afton within her first month as queen. Javan, Silver, and Afton had ended them together. The bones of those guards still resided in the tunnel below the castle. After that, Afton refused to keep any other personal guard except for Javan.
To all of Ketill, Silver was the younger sister, the one with the scarring. And it didn’t matter—she wore her scars proudly.
Like her sister, she had a dark side—everyone did, whether it remained hidden or not—and hers would often surface when she caught wind of someone spreading lies about Afton. Sometimes, she would incite rumors about the gossiper. Silver had no qualms about doing so—she would always protect her sister.
The setting sun illuminated the cobblestone path, catching brighter on the steps leading down to the meadow. Silver descended them and peered out at the field, blooming with ivory edelweiss flowers aglow in the fading light. The sweet scent they gave off drifted past her with the gust of the wind.
Midnight would be waiting for her in the meadow. He always waited for her. His onyx hair and knowing dark eyes shone brilliantly under the pale hues of remaining light as she spotted him.
His gaze met hers then, yearning for the same thing she did.
Silver rushed to his side and hopped atop his firm and steady back. “The sun’s going down,” she whispered, stroking his head, “so are you ready for our gallop beneath the moon?”
In understanding, Midnight let out a whinny and threw his head back.
She laughed, lacing his mane with her fingers and holding tight as he lunged into a canter, the cool wind dancing through her hair. When Javan had given Midnight to her as a child, it was one of the happiest days of her life. Midnight had been so small then, frail and underfed, but she’d nursed him to health with Javan’s help.
The entrancing woodsy scent of the outdoors enveloped her as Midnight stomped his hooves against the grass, skirting around the edelweiss. Out of all the horses in the stables, Midnight was still her favorite. He would roam around the castle on his own, never once choosing to flee. Midnight’s hair appeared pure obsidian in the darkness, allowing him to practically become night itself. All he needed were specks of stars sewn into his coat to resemble a night sky.
As she rode her horse beneath the silvery moon, its light casting shadows across the field, she thought about Keelen resting in the palace. He was patient, kind, funny—at least the one she knew before was. And even though she hadn’t known what his true face looked like, she’d loved him anyway. She still did...
A strange feeling washed over Silver as she thought about where things could lead while Keelen was Afton’s guard—his new lips brushing against her sister’s, him kissing down her throat, his hand drifting higher and higher up her thigh. With a tug of his mane, Midnight came to an immediate stop, a soft neigh his only protest.
“Enough,” she told herself, pressing her eyes tightly shut. “Enough. Enough. Enough.” What in all the spirits was wrong with her? Afton was in love with Ragan. “Stop being a fool. He’s been in his body for less than a day.” Perhaps it was a sign, telling her to go and discuss him with Afton.
Blowing out a breath, she was almost certain that Afton had bathed, gone to Ragan, and was back in her room, possibly writing in her diary. That was how well she knew her sister.
Silver’s body shivered against the cool night air, a sudden gust of wind lifting her thin gown around her legs. Hopping off Midnight’s back with one swift movement, she led him into the stables where Shani was pouring small buckets of water into the troughs.
Shani glanced over her shoulder, her long dark braid falling to her waist, and smiled. She mouthed a “hello” while Midnight trotted to his trough to drink.
“You’re working late,” Silver said. “Go relax for the evening.”
Shani batted her away and released a silent chuckle. After Silver’s parents removed Shani’s tongue, and took away her vocal cords by forcing a concoction down her throat, no words could be heard from her any longer. Even now, Silver shuddered at the thought of how Shani must have felt as her tongue was yanked forward and sliced clean off.
Giving her one last smile, Silver headed back toward the castle. She passed through the entrance, the high vaulted ceiling with its sparkling black chandeliers above her. A hint of honey hit her senses, and her stomach twitched at the sweet delectable aroma.
One quick stop first.
Silver padded her boots against the marble floor to the kitchens, where she found Ragan topping off pastries with golden honey. And appearing ... a bit rumpled. His chestnut hair was still pulled back into his leather strap but several locks were loose. She rolled her eyes.
“Did you at least wash your hands?” she asked, snatching a tart from a ceramic plate. Not that it mattered what his answer would be as she shoved the sugary dessert into her mouth. She practically salivated while chewing the treat.
“Unfortunately, that wasn’t necessary.” He smiled, his shoulder nudging hers. Silver never would have guessed her sister could fall for anyone, not until Ragan. She knew he’d loved Afton early on—it was in the way his eyes followed her sister, the way he chewed on his lower lip while studying her, the way his fingers rubbed against one another when she stood close.
Silver wondered what that would be like, having someone love her back equally... Besides her sister. But that was a different sort of love.
She then thought of Keelen. A raven... Now a man...
Taking a deep swallow, Silver’s heart beat wildly in her chest. She grabbed another tart, then another and another. No one could control who their heart would beat for, the blasted organ would do as it wished.
As she peered up at Ragan, she thought again about him and Afton, knowing he hadn’t told her sister the words. Silver placed a hand to Ragan’s face, his warm cheek dotted with flour. “Confess to her all you feel,” she said gently. “Your heart deserves to hear her words in return.”
“Perhaps I’m waiting for her to tell me first.” He smiled again and handed her another tart. “One for the journey to your room.”
“You know I can’t refuse that.” She bit into the dessert and wandered out of the kitchens toward Afton’s room instead. Her sister would never eat sweets, not even when they were younger and Silver had tried to share.
“You know not to take those,” Afton whispered.
“Just try one.” Silver shoved the blueberry tart forward.
“No.” Afton gently moved Silver’s small hand from her face, then her voice came out softer. “You eat them, Silver. And bring the dolls with you. Hide them before our parents take those away too.”
Silver would try and sneak her dolls into Afton’s room to play, but her sister would only sit and watch, as if staying alert to protect them. The dolls were made from hay or weeds since neither were allowed to have such nonsense. Most of the time, their parents kept her and Afton separated, trying to prevent them from bonding, always pitting them against each other. None of it worked. After Afton finally found a way to murder them, she had already become more of an adult than anyone in the castle.
At night, Silver would look up at the stars which studied her in return. She’d realized that while a bit of darkness existed in everyone, the glistening diamonds were the true merciless ones because they remained up there watching and doing nothing as people suffered. In one of her favorite dark tales, the stars didn’t belong to the people of her world—they belonged to another realm known as Valgmyr, where a single villainous king ruled, awaiting his perfect match, while bringing destruction on each person who entered his kingdom.
One night after gazing up at the stars, Silver had decided to dip into the darkest part of the magic within the wax to create a live raven by placing pebbles inside. It was a shot in the dark, but it had worked. On subsequent tries she'd used leaves or animal hearts. She’d seen her parents utilize these things when they conjured black magic, though they'd never brought something to life. Silver had somehow known she could control the darkness, that she wouldn’t become what her parents had. And although her spell worked, it had always been temporary. She supposed Keelen’s memories were temporary too.
As a raven, she remembered the way Keelen’s waxy skin felt against her fingertips and the stories he told her. She’d never introduced him to Afton, fearful that her sister wouldn’t allow her to use the wax anymore if she discovered what kind of darkness Silver had used to give him life.
Now, running her hands down the skirts of her dress, she noticed the mud caked along the hem. Silver ignored the brown stains and knocked on Afton’s door. A rustle came from inside before the door swung open.
“What?” Afton’s blonde hair was pulled back in an erratic knot on top of her head. Her stiffened shoulders relaxed. “Oh, it’s you. I thought you were Javan.”
Silver pressed her hand to the door and pushed it open the remainder of the way. “Oh, hello, Afton, fancy finding you here.” She bit the inside of her cheek and smiled. “I come bearing gifts.”
Afton cocked her head and blinked several times, appearing skeptical while studying Silver’s palms. “Your hands are empty.”
“To be clearer, it’s in another room.” Her heart slammed against her rib cage, as if telling her to stop. A part of her still feared that Afton might do something to Keelen since Silver had brought him there with dark magic. But she was older now and she would make her sister understand.
Afton’s dark brows lowered and she shook her head. “That can wait. I was actually going to come looking for you.” She tugged her hair free of the tie and started to braid the front while leaving a sheet of it hanging in the back.
Stepping away from the door, Silver waved her sister to follow. “I need to show you this first. Trust me, it’s important.”
“You’re acting strange.” Afton gritted her teeth. “Besides, the things you say are important rarely are.”
“It’s not food.” Silver sighed and smiled. “Just come on. It won’t take long.”
Afton rolled her gaze to the ceiling but followed Silver down the halls to Keelen’s room. One of the servants was dusting the statues and iron butterflies on the wall.
Pressing her fingertips against the metal handle, Silver peered over her shoulder. “Try not to get angry. Your study got incredibly messy, but it should be all clean now.”
Afton’s brow remained furrowed and her lips pursed as though she was ready to start removing heads, appendages, and hearts from someone.
At least it wouldn’t be Silver’s.
As she opened the door, Silver’s heart accelerated, and she wished she could make it stop. Her duty tonight was to arrange fate, not think about herself.
“I have a guest here,” Silver whispered.
Afton’s gaze scanned the dusty room before settling on Keelen’s sleeping frame, her nose wrinkling upward. Silver scanned his pale skin, defined chin, strong nose. He was just as beautiful as when she’d last seen him. Silver wondered what it would be like to bed him, what kind of lover he would be, and the thought caused her cheeks to heat. There had never been a time where Silver had lain naked with anyone. She would rather tear the life from an enemy using her teeth and claws than be with some of the males in Ketill. Yet she’d always been curious, so she’d kissed a few, but nothing had gone much farther.
Silence gripped the room. Afton tapped her foot, waiting for Silver to continue.
Before Silver could shatter the quiet, Afton yanked her out into the hall by the arm. The only other sound besides the air slipping out of Afton’s flaring nostrils was Keelen’s soft snoring.
“What is this?” Afton asked, not bothering to keep her voice low. “You show me a man in a bed as though I’ve never seen one before?”
Silver placed her hands on Afton’s shoulders. “He’ll be your new guard. Your weapon.”
With a scoff, Afton shrugged out of Silver’s loose grasp and glanced back into the room. “Mine? My mace, my hands, and my teeth have done well enough over the years. Besides, I already have Javan.”
“Javan isn’t going to be around forever.”
Afton ran a hand across her brow and squeezed the bridge of her nose. “Where did you pick up this vagrant? Or did you get him from a pleasure house?”
“No, I didn’t go there. I made his body from the wax and used organs from one of the dead guards... And brought his soul here...” she breathed, taking a step back.
Silver watched as Afton’s eyes became the thinnest of slits—she knew that look all too well. The vein along her sister’s neck beat like a drum.
Moment after long moment passed before Afton finally spoke through clenched teeth. “You didn’t just conjure with the land’s magic, did you?” Her dark irises expanded, swallowing the white outer layer, making her eyes almost entirely black. “You dipped into dark magic, am I correct?”
Silver didn’t hold an ounce of fear, even though Afton had never used the hard, icy stare on her before. Afton had never once, on her own accord, hurt Silver. Only when their parents had forced her. After their parents died, Afton never raised a hand to her again.
If it were anyone else besides Silver, Afton would have used her teeth to bite through their throat, then snap their spine to remove their head and yank out their skeleton. This was strictly forbidden. Dark magic could lead to losing oneself forever. Silver was always careful, though, and she couldn’t explain it, but she was somehow able to weave through the menacing parts that wanted to latch onto her.
“As I told Javan”—Silver straightened so she was as tall as her sister, staring her straight in the eyes—“it’s not dark with me. It’s never been dark.”
“So you’re telling me this isn’t your first time! That you’ve done this before?” Afton seethed, the walls around them vibrating from the stirring in the magic she’d summoned. “Silver, I should rip your head and appendages from your body right now, or I should take you to the dungeon. Have you even thought about where you pulled his soul from?”
“I took it from Torlarah,” she said slowly, trying not to wince as the magic pulsed harder, seeming to bend the walls. “And I promise you, he isn’t evil. He doesn’t remember me this time, but I’ve brought him here again and again in raven form with the wax.”
“That doesn’t mean anything!” Afton snapped. “Torlarah doesn’t just have good, Silver. Everyone goes there once they die.” She rested her head against the wall, biting her lip to the point where a drop of blood blossomed to the surface.
Her sister was right, but Silver could feel his heart each time she roused Keelen. It wasn’t a tarnished one. There was hurt in there but not hate. “Please, be with me on this. He’s my friend, and I trust him as much as I do you.”
Afton exhaled loudly, relenting, the strength of the magic lessening around them. “This isn’t the end of the conversation. But I have a more important matter at hand at the moment. I have a demand.”
“All right.” Silver arched a brow, her interest piqued. Perhaps Afton wanted her to kill more enemy guards, go out and hunt with her hands for a wild beast’s heart, decorate the tunnel with the skulls and bones resting there.
“Two things actually,” Afton started. “First, I need you to come with me now. Next, you will accompany me to meet King Thorin very soon.”
Silver pursed her lips. “You don’t plan on actually following through with marrying the toad, do you?” She assumed Afton would go to the kingdom, kill him, and be done with it.
“How dare you speak about my future betrothed like that?” A wicked grin—with her teeth bared, the second sharp set lowering—spread across Afton’s face. “When we arrive to see King Thorin, I’m going to need my sister to pretend to be me.”
