Six of Ruin (Heirs of Irenwell #1) ✔

Chapter 21: Who We Are

My skin prickled with agitation as I stumbled out of the cabin. The sounds from the underground bar were gone, leaving nothing but silence of the forest.

Nickeltinker and Torvald remained inside and I couldn't tell whether what I was feeling was envy or relief. Perhaps they'd be able to convince the mage.

The moment I walked out into the chilly night air, Danilo's large steps reverberated through the ground.

"Where have you been? What has he done?" The knight immediately examined me, checking whether something was off. His piercing eyes searched my face and my body, looking for wounds.

I sighed, "I'm fine. He has an underground-"

My words stuck in my throat, like a huge piece of meat that wouldn't pass through. A hoarse sound left my throat before I realised I literally could not speak of the place.

Rixen stepped out of the shadow, "You look like you're choking."

There was a spark of relief in his eyes though, like a storm calmed behind the yellow irises. Or I imagined it.

I cleared my throat, "He made us swear we wouldn't tell anyone. I guess he didn't trust our word enough."

"You're spelled?" Danilo took a step back, as if moving away from the plague.

But I was too agitated, too distraught to care about his fragile feelings.

"Apparently." I pulled up the hem of my dress and walked away from the cabin.

"Then we must do something about it." Danilo's voice was sickeningly determined.

And perhaps it was the truth liquor, or the mage's words, but I couldn't be bothered to pretend right now.

"Let it go." I said through my teeth, hoping he wouldn't push.

But this was Danilo. Of course he would push.

"Your Grace," his voice followed me, "we must find a way to heal you from this spell. God knows what sort of consequences-"

"Will you shut up for once?" Rixen cut him off. "Irina, why aren't you inside? What happened?"

I turned around on my heel, "I screwed up."

Danilo's eyes widened at the language, "Your Grace?"

"What happened?" Rixen's eyes narrowed, as if he already suspected.

"Oh, you know." I chuckled. "I told him that all of his reasons for not helping are stupid and pointless."

"You are right." Danilo straightened his back and nodded. "It is his duty to help mankind any way he can. And he's failing us."

"He owes us nothing." Rixen shrugged. "If anything, we're the ones who owe him."

"Still." I cut in. "He's fighting a losing battle, trying to teach mankind a lesson. We never learn."

"He owes us!" Danilo raised his voice, making me flinch. "His kind fought ours almost to extinction."

"You came nowhere near extinction." Rixen said through his teeth, but shook his head soon afterwards as if refusing to engage in an argument. "What are we going to do now?"

"Look, he asked for the truth. Right after he made us drink the truth liquor, which literally disabled me from lying." My hands dropped by my sides. "He's no fool. He knows who we are, knows what we want. If hearing the truth is enough to push him away, he's a coward."

Rixen's eyes shimmered with interest.

It was the truth liquor, still flowing through my veins. My carefully created masks were temporarily gone and Rixen caught it. I was in no way capable of camouflaging myself right now, not even in front of Danilo.