We didn’t speak until he stopped at an exit panel. One I recognized.
“Everett, are you sure?” I breathed.
“It’s fine. She’s alone.”
He unlatched the door and opened it a sliver. After checking the hall, he opened it all the way and waved me out. We hurried to Delysia’s door and let ourselves in.
A fire burning low in the hearth of her sitting room illuminated the achingly familiar light pink furniture. The same furniture that had filled this room when it was our mother’s. Delysia had wanted it after her death, and seeing as how I’d chosen to become Renwell’s apprentice, I’d been in no position to argue.
Not that I wanted it, anyway. The memories were too close. Each tufted velvet chair carried Mother’s floral scent. The back window was still filled with the potted plants that she’d nurtured into a tiny forest.
Paintings of me, Everett, and Delysia filled the walls. Her favorite vase full of fresh flowers sat on the mantle.
The whole room felt as though Mother might walk in at any moment. A thought that flung shards of grief at my weak heart.
“Ev? Is that you? What’s—” Delysia scurried out of her bedroom, a pink dressing gown belted around her curvy figure. Her mouth dropped open when she spotted me. “Kiera?”
Her big blue eyes, so like our mother’s, filled with tears as she rushed toward me. She threw her arms around me, but then just as quickly backed away with her nose wrinkled. “You stink.”
I let out a choked laugh. “It’s good to see you too, Lys.”
She smiled, and I nearly wept at how much Mother shone through her face. Delysia had changed in the last few years. Her features had matured, her golden curls were longer than ever, and a newfound seriousness lingered in her eyes.
“Don’t sit down yet,” she ordered. In a cloud of pink satin, she hurried to the door and flipped the lock. “That won’t stall Father for long, but enough to hide if he comes to check on me.”
I frowned. “Does he do that often?”
“He says it’s to make sure I’m safe.” Delysia pursed her lips. “But it’s really just to spy on me, so speak softly and don’t stoke the fire.”
I remembered the soldier entering her room the night I left. “Seems you’ve had a lot of practice at hiding secret visitors, Lys.”
Her cheeks flushed as she grabbed my hand. “That’s none of your business.”
“Trust me, Kiera, I’ve tried to talk sense into her,” Everett spoke from where he sat in a high-backed armchair near the fire.
Delysia continued to try to drag me to her bathroom, but I pulled back. “I don’t have time for a wash, Lys. But I’ll take some mint leaf if you have it.”
“Fine, but take off that dirty cloak before you sit down. I can’t explain away mud stains. And let me get you a wet cloth for—for—” She trailed off, staring at my boots in horror. “Is that blood?”
I winced. “Not mine.”
“That’s what we were going to tell you, Lys,” Everett said, staring into the dying fire. “High Councilor Asher... he’s dead.”
I stared in shock at Everett. When did he start telling our little sister things like this? Normally, he refused to talk about the things Father did.
Delysia sank onto a plush foot stool with a gasp. “No! He was just here at the palace a few days ago! What happened?”
“I can’t tell you everything,” I said quickly. “But it’s—it’s my fault. The work I’m doing... it got Asher killed.”
“Executed,” Everett mumbled while Delysia gaped at me as if truly seeing me for the first time.
“How?” she asked.
“Does it matter? I’m trying to keep you safe,” I snapped, but the platitude felt like the dried bile in my throat.
A hardened expression I didn’t recognize stole over Delysia’s face, and she shot to her feet. “Itdoesmatter. Lies only protect the liar. Keeping me in the dark doesn’t keep me safe. It just makes me easier to manipulate. Henry taught me that.”
“Is Henry your soldier lover? Did you learnnothingfrom my mistakes, Delysia?” My voice cracked. “Shayn, the guards Father sent away... Julian.”
