When the Lord of Tongues reached our table, he bowed. “Princesses. Friends.”
“Hello there. Where did you come from?” I asked with a teasing smile. “You smell of the docks in Avaldenn.”
“I was with Vale as he fed the gryphons. Some of the fish juice may have splashed on my pant leg.”
“I’m afraid thereisa faint whiff of fish about.” I chuckled, an effort to soften how my twin was glaring at the spymaster. “Is all going well out there?”
“Indeed.” He swallowed and an unplaceable look flashed across his face before disappearing so quickly I questioned if I saw it. “I came here to speak with you.”
“Go on then.” I leaned back in the chair.
“Actually, I had hoped to talk with you and Thyra. Alone.” Vale’s father peered around. “Is there a more private space?”
“The library is small enough that you’d be heard no matter what corner we crammed ourselves into,” Thyra answered, her tone perfunctory though it softened as she turned to thosehelping us search through books. “Do you three mind giving us the room?”
“I won’t take long,” Lord Riis assured them. “Wait next door? I can tell you when I leave.”
The others grabbed the tomes they were skimming and left the room, the door shutting behind them.
“Take a seat,” I said as that same look rippled across his features again. The faint pursing of the lips, the tightening of his throat alerted me that something was very off. “What’s going on, Leyv?”
He let out a long exhale. “I have something to tell the two of you. Something that Inga wishes for me to divulge.”
The queen. Was she going to hand over information that would make defeating her husband easier? Vale’s mother and I were not close, but he loved her. As did Saga.
What was more, Queen Inga didn’t love her husband. Their marriage was purely political. Between the love for her children and the dislike for her husband, I could see the whisperer queen giving us information we might use to great effect.
I placed my elbows on the table. “I’m listening.”
“As am I.” Thyra leaned back in her chair.
Lord Riis cleared his throat. “You’re aware that the queen was a handmaiden, even a sort of friend, to your mother?”
“Yes.” Emilia, the human slave I’d met in the hidden bowels of Frostveil Castle, had said as much.
Thyra nodded, too. She might not have been in the castle since we lived there, but my twin had connections, and she had gathered a lot of knowledge about the place over the turns.
“Well . . .” he trailed off and looked away.
“Can you please stop with the dramatics?” Thyra hissed.
“Thyra!” I placed a hand on her forearm. “He loves her and, well, I don’t know what’s going on, but clearly it’s not good.”
“It’s not.” Lord Riis swallowed. “The queen harbors great remorse over her actions of the past. I hope you both will be able to see this.”
“Who knows? First you have to tell us what she did.” Thyra growled, and the spymaster and my sister exchanged heated glares.
Lord Riis folded first, the fullness of his gaze landed on me. “The kingdom at large knows that Inga is an excellent mind reader, but she is much, much more. She’s the strongest whisperer this kingdom has seen since the time when those with her magic were permitted to live long, full lives.” He looked at my twin. “That power?—”
“I am aware of such magic,” Thyra interrupted coldly.
She’d known of the queen’s whispering powers since Ratha told her after interrogating Vale the first time. Ratha had known for decades, and Thyra was the first person she’d told. My twin had never brought up using this information against the queen. Perhaps because she considered King Magnus the real enemy.
“Fae with that forbidden magic can readandcontrol minds,” Thyra added. “They’re far more dangerous.”
“Right.” Lord Riis spoke slowly, perhaps shocked at the depth of Thyra’s knowledge. If that was the case, he didn’t question it. “Inga not only has impressive control over her power, but she knows how to use it so that no one detects she’s in their heads—from her studies on other whisperers, very few can do that.”
“So?” Thyra asked.
