“That’s silly.” I studied the whiteboard. “And not very efficient. But it’s good for us; we can hide in the crush to get through the portal. Will they keep their glamor on when they get to the other side?”
“Of course not,” Cress snorted. “They love themselves far too much to hide their true form in their own realm. They will deactivate their glamor immediately.”
“Then what? Won’t they notice us straight away? Since we’re not, y’know, horses?”
“There will be other humanoid creatures there,” Donovan said. “The centaurs have many willing human servants and the odd fae guest in their realm. Our presence will not be suspicious.”
“Great.” I wrote Goal 3: Find Audrina. “We need a plan to find her as soon as we get there. It sounds like the centaurs are going ahead with the whole ‘town hall debate’ thing, so I’m guessing she’ll be held in a greenroom until she can be shoved up on stage to debate with Connor.” I chewed on my lip for a second. Something about this whole thing didn’t feel right.
“We will find her easily. The centaurs are fools who think they control everything.” Donovan slid a couple of daggers into the sheathes at his ribs. “My brother, unfortunately, is no fool. He would know by now that the centaurs have taken the wrong Chosen One.”
“Will he show up?” I still couldn’t understand why he would bother.
“He will. Purg would have told him that we were chasing the berserkers to get Audrina back, so he knows she’s important to us. He’ll be there because he knows we will come,” Donovan said grimly. “I can only assume he will use this opportunity to attack us.”
“Okay.” I studied my information board and wrote Goal 4: Fight Connor. “Let’s talk about our odds of winning if it comes to a fight. Will the centaurs let him enter their realm with his assassins and his banwyn army?”
Donovan shook his head. “Not the banwyn, they’d never make it through the portal. Their energy is too chaotic. He will find a way to bring at least one of his assassins with him. Purg will still be recovering, so it will be Agarthon or Grisela, or both.”
Something was bothering me, something I couldn’t put my finger on. “If Connor already knows the centaurs have stolen the wrong girl, then why would he go through with their charade?” I clicked the cap of the marker off and on obsessively. “He knows where I live. He could just bring his entire army and all his assassins here to fight us.”
“I wish he would,” Cress growled. Her mood had gotten worse. “But hopefully this immature fool of a Domicile has learned her lesson, and will keep him—”
A floorboard snapped up and smacked her in the face.
I gasped “Violet!”
Cress, recovering quickly, whirled around, kicking the oak floorboard just before it sank back into place. “You vicious little hussy,” she snapped, pulling her knives and stomping her foot on the floor. “Try that again, I dare you!”
“Violet, no,” I said sternly. “And Cress…” I pointed at her. “Stop it.”
“She started it.”
“You insulted her. She can’t talk, so she responded the only way she could. And besides, you are the adult in this situation. You need to learn better coping mechanisms for your rage.”
Donovan nodded, his expression serious. “The Lady Bronwyn will help you. You have an appointment on Tuesday, Cress.”
I made a mental note to text Bronwyn and cancel it.
“I have my coping mechanisms right here,” Cress said, twirling her knives on her palms. “And your Domicile needs to know her place. She is a servant—”
A tile fell off the ceiling, breaking over her head.
Cress let out a screech of outrage. “You impudent brat!” She dropped to her knees and started stabbing the floor. “How dare you!”
The floor opened up under her feet, swallowing her. The sound of Cress’s outraged scream faded into the distance.
“Violet.” I let out a huge sigh. She quivered under my feet. “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed. We’ve got a lot of things to get through right now, and I can’t have you two fighting. It’s very distracting.”
I looked over the information board and felt that niggling feeling again. “There’s something I’m missing,” I said, compulsively clicking the marker lid again. “I still don’t understand Connor’s motivations. Maybe he’s just going there to find and devour their spark stone.”
Cress kicked the door open and stomped back into the room. I gave her a warning look, then, in a bid to distract her from brawling with my House, I asked her a question directly. “Cress, what does the centaur spark stone do? Does it have powerful magic?”
She grudgingly sank into a sofa and crossed her legs. “The centaurs have some generic magic, a little enhanced physical strength, too, because they have the power of horses as well as men. But most of their magic lies in their mental conditioning. They believe, without a doubt, that they are superior to everyone else in every single way, and that has allowed them to rise to the top of the class structure in the human realm.”
I nodded thoughtfully. “So, Connor might be going for their spark stone?”
“He already thinks he is superior to everyone else in every single way,” Cress said. “I cannot imagine that the centaur spark stone would be his priority.”
“So… what is it, then? What is his priority?” I chewed on the side of my thumb for a second.
“It is you, of course, Chosen.” Donovan said. “He wants you. He knows we will come for Audrina. He is waiting for us.”
“But why?” Oh, that sounded a little whiny, but I was getting annoyed. “When he came here the other night, he said he was hoping to talk me into joining him, but he knows I won’t. He said my loyalty had already been solidified.”
“That is why he devoured the seduire stone, Chosen.”
It made sense, but… it still didn't feel right. I bit my lip, trying to remember that terrifying moment when Connor was choking me to death. “He said something else, too,” I muttered. “What was it? Oh, that’s right.”
I turned and saw all of them looking at me expectantly. “Okay.” I took a deep breath. “You’re going to have to tell me about the prophecy.”
Donovan’s expression turned stony. “The prophecy does not matter.”
“I need to know, Donovan. I know that prophecies aren’t real, but Connor is taking it seriously, and the centaurs are entertaining him because of it, so I need to know what it is.”
Donovan put his head in his hands.
“I’ll tell her!” Cecil trotted over. “Can I tell her, please, Your Highness?”
