There were grim faces all around.
Lord Horn said something Sparrow couldn’t read, then he was escorting his son out. Curious, Sparrow flitted over a few sets of windows to Lord Horn’s suite and her suspicions were confirmed when the two entered. Again, their tones were low, but now, with both of them side-on to her, Sparrow could read a bit more… and a bit less.
“I do not like hiding things from my mistress,” Horn said. He’d turned away from his son for a moment toward the window, and Sparrow saw his lips clearly. She also saw the pain on his aged and weathered face. “You’re certain the queen does not wish her daughter to know?”
Hale was hard. “Yes. She must not know the truth. She believes this war to be just and we must keep up that façade.”
Sparrow was stunned. So, the queen was behind the war in the North!
“For the sake of the Mists,” Horn said.
“For the sake of the Mists, yes.” Hale came and laid a hand on his father’s shoulder. “No one likes this, but we are doing what we must.” They were both facing the window now, Horn still unable to look at his son.
Horn nodded. “And Maverick?”
“Our plans went awry; we could not get ahold of Legs. As Merlin has seen, Legs will end all of this for us, she must be stopped. And if that means eliminating an entire Noble House.” He sighed heavily. “We’ll do what we must.” Those massive shoulders shrugged. “They are small, some new Noble will easily be able to rebuild the South.”
So, Lord Horn was fully aware of what was going on, and a part of the treachery, though, to be fair, he didn’t seem to like it much.
And what was this about Merlin seeing things? Merlin was the second-in-command of House Owl, the right hand to the queen. Did she have some ability to see the future? Perhaps a spirit-gift? If so, that was dangerous indeed.
Horn nodded again, stoic. “I do not like it…” Then he sighed heavily. “…but we’ll do what we must,” he repeated what his son had said a moment ago.
“For the Mists,” Hale said. Sparrow found it interesting they kept repeating that phrase.
“For the Mists.”
They spoke only of familial matters after that, and Sparrow flew away once Hale had left.
Her heart was racing; she needed to tell the others… This was far larger than they’d expected and the entire nation was turning against them.
They needed to get out of the capital and warn the others, now!
Chapter 17
Fin poppedinto the great hall, distracting Amber just at the right moment for me to slip past her guard with my spear. I stopped myself with the long blade of the spear at her neck.
“Finally!” I gasped.
Amber eyed the weapon and smiled. “I’d say you only won because I was distracted, but distraction is no excuse. There are many distractions on the battle-field. Good for you. We’ll practice more once we’re in Vauphan.” She carefully pushed the haft of the spear away from her, and I let her, drinking in the praise. I’d excelled well with the spear in the two days I’d been training, relentlessly. Dove had been practicing as well, but between the two of us, I’d been the only one to get past Amber’s defenses, though not often. This was only the third time I’d been able to do so.
I put the spear aside and ran over to Fin, but the prince wasn’t with him.
The large man looked like he’d lost a little weight, still barrel-chested and large, but with a little less of himself hanging over other parts.
“Looking good, Fin. Is everything set in the North?” I asked.
He nodded with a smile. “Eager to see your little prince?” he teased.
I think I blushed. I was just a little excited. I hadn’t seen him in a while, and now that I’d talk to Silence and Sparrow, then next time I did, we could be together.
Fin lowered his voice. “He’s excited to see you, too.” He winked.
That shocked me just a little. I didn’t think Alvere was one to share such things, but he and Fin had been together for some time, perhaps they’d formed a bond?
“Now, run and get your things, I’m having a bath and a good meal — I’m sick of trail rations — then we’ll be off.”
I nodded and ran back to Dove. She and I hurried to my room. She’d mostly recovered from her harrowing ordeal with Hale, but she still hadn’t wanted to be too far from me. So she’d stayed in my rooms, sometimes sleeping on my large bed, sometimes on one of the comfortable couches. I had already gathered most of my things in a travel bag, but I quickly checked it.
