Orry shook his head. “Your sister’s note said she’d found something in Agraboda. I didn’t realize it was the shroud. Did she find anything else?”
“Some writing I didn’t understand. In the chamberIfound where the shroud was hidden.”
“Youfound?” Orry asked with a wink.
“Yes, man, Ifound it! Did she mention in the note she sent we were attacked by Magi?”
“What?” Orry exclaimed and leaned back. “No, she didn’t! Did you not read the note you sent me?”
Croak shrugged. “I never read the notes.”
Orry ran a hand over his face. “Magi. Incredible.” He shook his head. “What were they like?”
Croak looked at him sideways. “Fucking terrifying. Everything turned black. It was like fighting in a void. Which is something else you should ask Terena about. They came out of nowhere, screamingand brandishing scimitars. Oh! I took one; I’ll show you, but I left it back at Benson’s. Thought it might attract some unwanted attention.”
“Well, at least now we can all go north together!” Orry said happily.
Croak rose with a loud groan. “Fantastic,” he said, grabbing his sword belt and fastening it.
“Wait! Where are you going?”
“Going to get a drink, Orry. Want to come?”
“I can’t,” Orry grumbled. “Peleon wants me to stay close to the bathhouse. He only let me out because I was coming here.”
“Fine. I’m off, then.”
“Well, where are you staying? Where shall I find you?”
“Find me at the inn on Pitts Lane. Or leave word with the blacksmith.”
“This is exciting, isn’t it?”
“Thrill of a lifetime,” Croak called out as he held up his hand, giving Orry his middle finger.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Get up!”
Sonah Yahn gasped, springing up in bed as cold water sloshed over her head. She sputtered, then yelped when the drapes snapped open and light beamed into her dark chamber like rays from Hades’s eyes.
“What the fuck?” Sonah screeched. She wiped at her eyes as she was yanked from her bed. The sound of bedding being ripped off and dumped somewhere behind her was the only response to her query.
The grip on her forearm gave her some insight as to who had started her day so rudely, but the question remained. Sonah was sure she had two hours left of sleep before she had to wake.
“Language!” Lady Maranou, her Matron, hissed. “Prince Lerek is breakfasting early today. You are to be in the dining room by half-past five, so you are already late.”
“Why so bloody early?” she whined as two more maids set about dropping a day dress over her head and tugging at her arms and waist to fit it dangerously tight.
Sonah groaned and glared at her torturer, Lady Maranou. “Couldn’t you just bring me his dish and send it back with word I did not die?”
Lady Maranou scowled at her as the others dropped quick curtsies and left.
“The last time you did that, I was pulled into an uncomfortable audience with His Excellency I do not wish to repeat. Now,” she said, turning Sonah by the shoulders so her back was to her, “pretend to be a young lady worthy of your family’s name and do your duty.”
Sonah rolled her eyes as the older woman pulled her hair back roughly to plait it, securing it in a bun at the nape. She followed the matron out into the corridor, making faces at her back all the way down the stone steps of the Diamond Tower and across the courtyard separating the guest chambers from the rest of the palace.
It was still dark, and Sonah had to rub her eyes to stay awake. The early morning mist still hugged the walkways and turned the topiaries in the courtyard into ghosts.
