The Book
Richard stepped over to join me, leaving Adriana in the arms of Cowal. They were talking to each other, and it was obvious from the tension in her body she wasn’t comfortable, but she also wasn’t stupid enough to push him away. I hated seeing them together. Knowing who she was, and how he could use her, it was all I could do to stay where I was, so I wouldn’t break cover. She didn’t know I knew. It was something she kept to herself, scared of people who might use her.
Scared of people like us. I raked a hand through my hair, looking at Richard.
“The time has come, brother.” He smiled. “You know where you need to go.”
Nodding, I breathed in deeply, telling myself this was the only logical choice to be making. Adriana needed the book if she was ever going to be able to fulfil her potential. Getting the book meant stealing it from Cowal, because he was the only one with a copy of it we could get to without ending up dying. Unless, of course, he realised what we were trying to do, which was a possibility.
Walking through the crowd of people I did my best to seem nonchalant, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be watching me. I couldn’t see anyone, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there, and all I could do was hope Cowal was understanding of the choice we’d made. There was a time when I’d called him a friend. It was in the past, but, maybe, he still felt the bond we once had.
Glancing back, unable to stop myself, I saw no sign of Adriana or Cowal. Leaving her with him wasn’t the right choice to make, but it wasn’t as though I had any other options. Not if I wanted to get to the book before he realised what we were doing. Fortunately I still remembered my way around. It didn’t change the fact I needed to avoid the servants, in case they stopped me, because the person they’d call then was Cowal, for wandering around in places they knew I shouldn’t be. I was, to them, nothing more than one of his guests. I doubted any of them would remember me from before.
Slipping into the shadows, I thought of Adriana. The woman I loved. I shook my head. She’d never told me the truth about who she was, so maybe it was wrong to still love her. Then again I’d never pushed her to tell me, when it became obvious she’d rather keep that to herself, and considering what Richard learnt I wasn’t surprised by her choice. All it took was the wrong person learning the truth… like my brother. I raked a hand through my hair. Of course he was going to want to know everything about her. The moment she became a part of my life he started asking questions, and they were often questions I didn’t have answers to. So he found them.
Learning the truth led us back to Cowal. He was the only person who had a copy of the book we could get to easily, and his decision to have a masquerade ball made getting into the building simpler than it would have been otherwise. Richard was willing to break in. I was less inclined, because we both knew how strong the wards were, leading to our argument. He wasn’t willing to ‘give up’, even though I wasn’t talking about giving up at all. I was talking about being logical. We received the invitations before it got to the point where I couldn’t talk him out of actually trying to slip through Cowal’s wards.
Bringing Dria was Richard’s idea. She needed to see the book, and remember who she could be, rather than walking the path she was one. He didn’t understand the choices she’d made. In a lot of ways I had the same trouble. Why didn’t she want the power that was her birthright? There was so much good she could do with it, but it seemed she’d made the decision to walk away from her magic entirely. Nibbling my bottom lip, trying to work it through for what had to be the hundredth time, I continued along the hallway to the library. She had never been the kind of person I could imagine running away from anything. Richard said that was exactly what she’d done, after, according to his informant, believing for whatever reason she didn’t have any other option.
Crossing paths with her was pure luck. If she hadn’t made the choices she did… well, maybe it was all for the best. Now we knew each other, and I might be able to help her find another way, because when I looked at her I saw who she could be. The power within her… it was like nothing I’d seen before. Richard said the same thing, but he had other reasons for his choice. I had no reason to think he was doing anything for Dria. She’d never liked him, told me he’d do anything to get power, and he would. He’d use her, if it got him what he wanted. I wasn’t willing to do the same thing. This was all for her, and hopefully I’d be able to convince her it was time to claim her birthright once more.
Reaching the library, a room I’d once spent hours in, I stepped through the door, unable to keep my mind from turning back to the past. Richard, as a teenager, learnt the truth about the book. Father, by then, was already actively working against Cowal’s father, having made the decision he was the man who should be the Duke of West. The two of them talking through the plan to claim power by any means necessary as though I wasn’t there. Even after Father lost his life to the previous Duke of West Richard didn’t give up, and I had no reason to think this didn’t have something to do with claiming the power of West, with Dria by his side. Our side.
The book, like it always had, sat where anyone might touch it, but everyone knew better than to do something that stupid. Anyone who got close to it was able to feel the power exuding from it. It was part of the reason Richard was fascinated with it even before we knew the truth. Moving closer, emotions swirling, I pulled my gloves on. They’d be enough to keep the magic from changing me. We bought them with this plan in mind. Getting closer I could feel it wrapping around me, drawing me in closer, trying to tempt me to use it. Hence it being in the hands of the Wests. They were meant to protect it from anyone who might be willing to steal it.
Before I could take the book I heard footsteps coming toward the room, and there was only one person it could be. Richard said he’d send Dria to me when she was done dancing with Cowal. I breathed in deeply, feeling her using her power for what had to be the first time since I’d met her. She’d done that for me, because she believed she had to save me from the book. I was her priority. Even though I doubted she was going to believe it, my choice being to steal a book from the Dike of West without telling her about it before we arrived, she was my priority. This was for her, and what I had to do was convince her of that truth.
She entered loudly enough to tell me she was there, and I turned to look at her. I didn’t know what to say. How did I get Dria to understand why I’d done what I had? There were probably no words I could use. That was part of the reason I hadn’t told her before we stepped into the building, because how could I tell her we were doing something she was obviously terrified of, even if I didn’t understand why. She’d made her decision, and, whatever I might think, she believed it was the right choice. She’d believed it so deeply she’d made choices I didn’t imagine she ever thought she could make, because it was how she kept herself from having to go back home. They’d led to us meeting, a lucky moment, the woman more special than she realised.
I wished right then I was able to read her mind, to know what she was thinking, because then I might be able to find those words. Instead I waited. Eventually she was going to break the silence between us, wanting to save me from the book. Touching it with bare hands would change me. I knew enough about it not to do something that stupid, but she hadn’t seen the gloves. She thought I was going to make the stupid choice. A thought I couldn’t understand. Dria knew me better than to think I would, but this was a strange time. We were both learning things about the other we hadn’t known before.
“We need to go.”
A tremor shook her voice slightly, and I looked at her. She was staring at the book, eyes wide, making it obvious there was nothing I could say to put her mind at ease. “Not yet.”