“We will see he has the best medical care, Tessana. We will not let those bastards get the better of him.”
It was the kindest my uncle had ever been. I closed my eyes as gratitude and relief washed over me. The night was far from being over, and I did not relish spending it here in this gown. I would much rather be recovering in the hottest bath I could tolerate. But I was not ready to be alone either.
Not after that.
I wished for Taelon, but when I looked around, I found only Hugo and Anatal. Hugo offered a short shake of his head. Taelon must have left immediately after speaking with me. At least he had not been injured. I may not wish death on Caspian, but had Taelon been the one riddled with arrows, I could not have borne it. Thank the Light, he’d escaped unharmed. Even if all I wanted was for him to be back with me now with his strong arms around me, giving comfort that would be void until his return, settling the violent nerves now trembling through me. It was better that he had left. That he was gone.
But Gunter was gone too. Caspian’s presence had been a fluke. A providential coincidence.
My life was in danger, and I was the only one left to protect it.
ChapterNine
The night rolled on with all the haste of a green-webbed tree slug. My peers were used to pampering and plush accommodation. Maids who would undress them. Servants to draw baths for them. Someone to turn down the covers. And bring them warm glasses of milk should they require a sleep aid.
Trapped in the ballroom while the royal guard searched the palace for the perpetrators, the party quickly dissolved from something beautiful and elegant to the inner realm of Denamon.
And it grew hot. We’d been moved to the room's inner wall, away from the glass windows and secret entrances. The guards had pushed us into a sweaty cluster and surrounded us with weapons and might.
I had spent the remainder of the night on the floor, my back pressed against the cool stone while an elderly statesman crushed my shoulder and sweated all over my once breathtaking gown. Oliver was to my other side. He was much less sweaty and offered a comforting shoulder for my body to smother.
At first, I was too concerned with Caspian’s state to care much about the claustrophobic nature of our rescue efforts. But when word came from the master surgeon that he would be fine, I was forced to focus solely on all the bodies pushed against mine and the sticky roll of sweat down my spine.
I wouldn’t need just one bath after this night. I would need several.
When dawn broke through the glass-paned windows, we all rejoiced. Surely light would mean release.
My uncle had disappeared with his contingent of the guard. I wasn’t sure if he was hunting intruders or using his influence as King Regent to sleep in his own bed. But when he finally walked back into the ballroom, he looked refreshed and bathed.
How dare he.
He whispered something to the guards protecting us, and they began to help women and elderly men off the floor. It was apparently safe for us to return to our rooms.
“Thank you for being so patient with my guards,” Tyrn said, addressing the large crowd. “We prepared for something like this to happen, but clearly, our enemies have more wiles than we gave them credit for.”
“You mean,herenemies,” the king of Aramore growled.
I felt the room of people collectively turn their glares on me. I was still on the floor, so the effect of Nine Kingdoms worth of royals, dignitaries, and states people looking down on me was poignant.
“An attack on her is an attack on all of us,” Tyrn reminded the room. “Tessana represents the future of the realm. They are not simply attacking a girl. They are attacking our peace, our future, our power.”
Well, that was a surprise. Tyrn usually acted with only cold disdain where I was concerned. To hear him speak about me and what I represented made me feel... surprisingly warm toward him.
The crowd did not exactly rally around his words, but they did disperse with quieter grumbles. For now, that could be considered a victory.
Oliver held out his hand to me so I could find my footing in the silky folds of my gown and helped me stand. My uncle moved toward me once the white-haired sweaty gentleman with many medals walked away. I was positive I smelled like a horse trough now. And I blamed him.
“Tessana,” Tyrn greeted.
I staggered into a stiff curtsy. “Uncle. Were the men caught?”
He rubbed a hand over his jaw at my question, looking fifteen years older than he ought. “Yes, er, some of them. It seems they... were instructed to end their own lives before capture. We weren’t able to restrain as many as we would have liked.”
“How many?” The question felt important to me. There were a hundred other things to ask, but I needed to know this answer. When he didn’t immediately reply, I clutched his forearm with both of my hands and pleaded. “How many, Uncle? How many were you able to capture?”
He held my wide-eyed stare. His pale-blue eyes drooped in the corners. “One.”
“One? Out of—”
