Venick had not been back to the stateroom since his first night here.
It looked much the same now as it had then, besides the sunlight streaming in through tall, narrow windows, and the gallery seating, which wasn’t just half-full of elves. No, this audience was packed shoulder-to-shoulder. It reminded Venick of the mainlands whenever there was a dispute between men. Fights in Irek were settled with fists. Someone would throw the first punch. A crowd would quickly gather, shoving and jeering, alerted to the smell of blood like wanewolves on a hunt.
Another difference, then: these elves didn’t jeer. Didn’t move much at all, except to lean towards each other as they whispered. Venick couldn’t hear what they were saying. Couldn’t even guess what theymightbe saying. Their expressions were too guarded, the murmurs too soft. They sounded like dried autumn leaves, skating and hissing around Venick’s boots as the guards marched him towards the room’s center.
The queen wasn’t there yet. Farah was. She stood on the raised dais, silent and watchful. At her signal the guards and Dourin moved away, leaving Venick to finish the trek alone. Venick scanned the audience as he walked, seeing no one else that he knew, no one he recognized, exceptthere, Raffan in the front row. Venick locked eyes with that elf, then let his gaze move on, searching for…someone.
Someone. Sure.
Venick no longer trusted himself to see things clearly. He had been sosure. In the forest when he’d kissed Ellina for the first time, he could have sworn he saw the same feelings in her that he felt in himself. He remembered listing his reasons, as if tallying them would amount to an answer. She broke her laws for him. She killed her kin for him. When he kissed her, she kissed him back.
Then he’d learned the truth, and he began rethinking everything he thought he knew. Ellina didn’t save him for him. She did it for Lorana. She spared his life in honor of her sister’s memory. It was as good an explanation as any…yet still Venick found himself doubting. Was that really the whole of it? Or was there something more there?
He couldn’t seem to let go of his damnedhope. He went around and around in his own head, questioning everything. He didn’t know what to think, and that was worse, so he’d finally begged Ellina for the truth. In the everpool, he’d admitted his feelings. He’d asked for hers in return. She had pushed him away, and maybe that was answer enough…except he still didn’tbelieve it.
The uncertainty of it all was maddening. He should have demanded Ellina’s answers in elvish. He wished he had. Maybe then he’d be able to yank his mind out of the past and concentrate on what heshouldbe concentrating on: the scent of cool stateroom stone, the clink and rattle of guards’ armor, the soft buzz of conversation.
Venick tried. He brought his gaze back to Farah and did his best to focus on these things, and on what he knew would happen next. The queen had returned to the city. She would soon reclaim her place on that dais. Venick would be given a chance to repeat his warning in elvish, and the queen would hear him and—
Please, reeking gods.
—believe him.
And then they would do what they should have done already, which was to gather more soldiers. Start training their own army. Send scouts south to spy on the southern forces, to report back on their weapons and their position and their leaders.
This was what Venick expected. Hell, it was what they had been waiting for. A month of staring at the same vaulted prison walls, of recovering from a knife-wound to the hip, of squinting at books and maps until he was half-blind from it—all in preparation for the queen’s return.
And so Venick was unprepared when Farah lifted her hands to draw the audience’s attention. More unprepared for the words she spoke next, or for the way that no one—save Dourin and himself—seemed surprised that she was starting his trial without the queen. “I have summoned this court to bear witness to the sentencing of the human Venick,” Farah began, “who has been brought to answer for his crimes—”
“Wait.” Venick’s voice sounded sharp, even to him. He glanced between Farah and the elven audience, not understanding. “The queen is back in the city now. She summoned this court. I will answer toher.”
Farah gave a huff of an almost-laugh. “No.Isummoned this court, and you will answer to me for your crimes.”
“But you and Ellina agreed—”
“Not those crimes,” Farah said, and this time she did laugh, low in the back of her throat. “My mother might forgive you for entering our city, but not once she learnswhy. So tell us, human. Why did you come to Evov?”
But her question made no sense. “You already know why.”
“Remind me.”
Venick felt it then: a strange, simmering doubt. The way his mind stretched for an idea that hadn’t quite formed, hovering there, just out of reach. Again, he glanced between Farah and the audience, seeking some hint, some clue that might reveal what he was missing. “I came to warn you about the southern army.”
“But that was not your only reason.”
“It was. It is.” Venick worked his hand over the pommel of his sword like he’d seen Ellina do a thousand times. He realized what he was doing and forced his hand down. “I came to Evov because of what I witnessed in the south. The army. They are coming north. I came because I can help you prepare to fight.”
“Youcamefor Ellina.”
Venick blinked. Felt the earth open under his feet. Felt the world fracture and shift, his thoughts rearranging at dizzying speeds. “No.” Then, louder. “No. This has nothing to do with Ellina.”
“A pretty sentiment, but not helping your case. Tell us, is it true that you two traveled the elflands together?”
“Yes, but that’s not—”
“And is it true that when Ellina returned to Evov, you journeyed here so that you could be reunited?”
“No.” Venick felt suddenly ill. “No. That’s not why.”
