His face was set in stern lines. “Yes. The crown prince himself. He’s told everyone at the castle about his love, and her departure. A little young for a woman your age, don’t you think?” I was tempted to stab him again for joking at a time like this, but his concern was evident. “The man is in Vilkurn’s hands. In fact, every one of the Mirrenese contingent, with the exception of your aunt and her three mates, has been contained in locked rooms, their bags being loaded onto wagons.”
But not Serak? I let it go. “Who was the boy?”
“Junel, a seven-year-old idiot princeling of Mirren. He’s been placed in the dungeon for now.”
“The dungeon?” Verity gasped.
Fire burned in his dark eyes. “He tried to kill the prince. Would have, if the boy hadn’t already been gone. A night in chains will help him see the error of his ways. They won’t kill him, but he’ll be sent back in disgrace.” He muttered, “In Pict, he’d feed the maw.”
I didn’t know what he meant, but it sounded severe. I held a fist to my stomach, guilt swirling so fast I thought I might vomit. “This is my fault. Vilkurn was right. I’m a liability. I killed the boy’s cousin, and should’ve known he’d do something to get revenge. The Mirrenese are obsessed with it.”
“That’s true,” Serak said, and my stomach lurched again. “Not the part about it being your fault. But if the royalty inMirren have a crippling flaw, it’s their insistence on vengeance. It could be why their ladies bear so many princelings. They need heirs, and many spares, since they encourage them to throw their lives away over petty squabbles.”
“Why aren’t you locked away as well?” Rand asked, suspicion in his tone. “You came here with them.”
“General Vilkurn sent him here, Captain,” one of the guards replied before Serak could speak. “He’s been cleared. Though once the prince is located, all guests are to return to their countries of origin immediately.”
The thought of Serak leaving bothered me more than it should have, but nothing could hurt more than the knowledge that I’d been the reason Dash had been attacked. “I have to go find the prince.”
“I’ll help,” Serak said, falling in behind me alongside Robert as we ran out the door.
We combed the city, reports coming in from my network of spies as I moved from one neighborhood to another. Serak pretended not to notice the whistles and hoots that came from windows and darkened alleys as we ran past, or the flashes of light that sparked from rooftops.
We searched for hours, my panic increasing by the second. I’d sworn to keep the queen’s children safe, and I’d killed assassins and would-be abductors from all over the continent, but I’d always imagined it would be one of the girls who might be taken. They were the ones everyone thought might grow into Omegas.
Omegas…Something made me look to the southern end of the city, to the river. A series of flashes from that direction must have been what had caught my eye, and now had my blood going cold. I shouted across the rooftop to Serak. “I have to go.”
“The prince?” he called back.
“No. But… an emergency.”
It was too dark to see his expression, but I was sure it was incredulous. There was only one call I would answer right now, though.
Grabbing hold of a scrap of leather at the end of the building, I flung myself off the roof, holding the leather strip at both ends after it was looped on one of the reinforced “clotheslines” my crew had installed across the city for travel. I zipped through the air, using lines, gutters, and then my own feet to run to the new safe house.
Winna stood at the top of the glass factory, hanging out the window, the mirror in her hand. I climbed the gutter, careful to place my feet and hands where it was safe, and whispered, “What’s wrong?”
In her panic, her rose scent had grown harsh and cloying. “Gertie’s gone.”
“Taken?”
She shook her head. “I think she snuck out. She left her bunny’s blanket at the old place. She was crying for it, and I told her we’d try to get it back, but they’re demolishing the place tomorrow.”
“Got it,” I murmured. “Listen, I’m looking for Prince Dashiell. If you happen to see a boy wandering?—”
“Goddess save him,” she whispered. “I’ll go… I’ll go find Gertie. You find the prince.”
“You’ll do no such thing. Stay here; keep the others safe. I’ll find them both.” I was gone before she could answer, on my way back to the old building.
It was obvious that whoever was planning to tear it down had already started the job on Solstice Eve. The side door was blocked by a cart already filled with rotten wood, so I circled around. The front door the women had never used had been removed, along with the strips of wood that might have some value, possibly as kindling.
I stepped through the open doorway and peered around. They’d done some work in here, too, and the air smelled of rock dust and old mortar. I couldn’t see well enough to know if they’d taken all the usable bricks away, but it smelled like it. As I stepped on the floors, my foot went through a board, and I cursed quietly. There was a basement here, one we’d never used. It had given off a nice, pervasive stench of mold and dank earth for camouflage, and I’d made sure the floorboards I installed above the old ones had been newer and solid. But if they’d scavenged those, and left rotten wood atop the supports, there was no telling where it was safe to step. Possibly nowhere.
I heard something that sounded like a mouse scurrying. Or maybe… “They always want us in cages,” I called out softly.
There was no answer but a small sob.
“Gertie?”
