Oh, he’d heard a lot, then.
Lucas stepped up close to me. I sucked in my breath and stared him down, annoyed to notice his dark eyes had glints of gold in them. Did he have to be so beautiful? And so close to me? “Listen,” he said, gripping both of my forearms with his strong hands. “I did not harm your father. And I don’t want to harm you. I’m sorry for what happened at the meeting of our courts. It was wrong of me. I don’t share those views. I regret what I said, and I hope you accept my apology.”
We looked into each other’s eyes for a few seconds. His hands were warm; I could feel the heat of his touch through the thin fabric of my sleeves.
“Please?” he asked, then let go of me.
I felt cold suddenly without his touch, and as much as I hated to admit it, in my heart, I agreed with Nix. I believed him. Therewas something desperately sincere in his tone, and while he might have been a pawn of Amador’s, I didn’t take him to be cruel.
“Fine, apology accepted.” I relented, then quickly changed the subject. “So did you find out what’s happening at the palace?”
He shook his head. “I couldn’t get close enough. But...” He craned his neck to look farther down the road to the palace. “No one else seems to be coming. With all the commotion, we could probably just appear in the crowd without anyone questioning where we came from.”
“They’ve probably been looking for me already. Maybe that’s what it is. Someone noticed I was missing.” I was in deep trouble. I’d never escape again after this.
“Okay.” Lucas was contemplating something. “In that case, no big deal. We’ll say we were exploring the gardens, lost track of time, got turned around in the maze.”
“You don’t think they already looked there?” I asked.
“Sure, but there are all sorts of coves and hidden spots. It’s certainly possible to go unnoticed.”
With the stress of the moment, I didn’t think to question why or how he knew that, or else I would’ve been suspicious of him again.
The three of us agreed to the same story—Lucas wanted to discuss relations between our courts, Nix tagged along as a chaperone, we got lost walking in the gardens, and we finally found our way out. Reasonable enough. It could work. Everyone in Biringan trusted and respected Lucas, even outside of the Court of Sigbin, so they’d believe it if he said so. Whether theyshouldtrust him was another story.
We waited for the right moment, when no one was payingattention to what was going on beyond the gates and slipped right into the crowds as nonchalantly as possible. We walked casually to the entrance, where guards tried to stop us.
“Hold on, there!” One of them held out his staff across the walkway, blocking our path, then lifted it within seconds. “My apologies, Your Highness, he said, bowing. He was flustered. “I didn’t know it was you.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “You’re just doing your job.”
His shoulders relaxed, and he bowed again.
“What’s with the commotion?” I asked the guard.
“I wish I could tell you,” he answered. “But I don’t know. I’ve only been told to stand watch.”
I thanked him, and we continued for the door. As we stepped inside, Lucas leaned toward me and whispered, “You shouldn’t show weakness like that.”
I stopped abruptly and snapped at him: “Donottell me what to do.” My jaw was clenched tight. “How did I possibly ‘show weakness’?”
“Oh, relax,” he said, downplaying my anger. That only made me madder. He stepped closer to me and whispered again. “All I’m saying is you never truly know what’s going on with anyone here—who they might have a deal with, who they might trade information with, whether they’re involved with the insurgency. If you act like you don’t know what’s going on, they could take advantage.”
I cut him off. “Fine, got it.” He did have a point, as much as it pained me to admit it. I also wasn’t going to forget the reason I’d been out tonight to begin with. “The same goes for you. Who knows what’s going on with you?”
He leaned back and looked me up and down. “Exactly” is theonly thing he said before continuing to walk into the palace. I was annoyed all over again—what did that mean? He wasn’t even going to deny that he was up to something now that he got me to do what he wanted. Maybe I wasn’t using him to get back into the palace—maybe he was using me.
“Wait,” I said, stopping again. This was very strange. No one had rushed up to me, asking where I was. People were still gathered at the edges of the castle foyer, whispering in groups, guards flanking every single door, their eyes darting around the room on high alert.
Lucas seemed to catch on to what I was thinking at the same time. For a second he seemed a bit annoyed that I was standing there again, but then he looked around, then back at me, and raised his eyebrows. “Something’s wrong.”
He charged forward again. Nix and I followed him. “Are you okay?” I asked her. She had been awfully quiet for a while. She didn’t look great either.
“Yes, I’m fine,” she assured me. She swallowed.
“Are you sure? Because you don’t look fine.” Her hands were shaking.
“Can you tell me if—if anyone looks like they’re from Jade Mountain?” she asked.
