“Brick walls are ofteneasier,” Quint says, and Tessa laughs softly.
For some reason, that makes me blush, just a little. “No—I meant—” I break off. “Never mind. It’s cold. We should go inside.”
But Corrick frowns. “You meant . . .” His eyebrows go up. “You thought I didn’t know?”
I stare back at him, but the words catch in my throat and refuse to form.
They don’tneedto form, because he bursts out with, “How could I not know? You made eyes at that stable boy formonths!”
“What?” I sputter.
“Every single time we went into the Wilds.” His voice drops to a mockery of mine. “ ‘Go find a game of cards, Cory. Doesn’t that look like a lively dance, little brother? I’m going to go see some horses. Why don’t you join those boys by the fire. I’ll be back in an hour.’ ” He rolls his eyes. “I was young, but I wasn’tstupid. Lord, Harristan. No one likes horsesthatmuch.”
Quint bursts out laughing. Even the guards look like they’re trying to hide a smile.
I look between the two of them. “Don’t tell me. You knewthis, too?”
Thorin and Saeth exchange a glance, but it’s Saeth who shrugs. “There was that one footman who always seemed to make you tongue-tied. What was his name?”
“Murphy,” Thorin says immediately.
Corrick’s eyes light up. “That’s right! You used to spill your tea every time, too!”
I simply cannot believe this.
Quint leans over to give me a kiss on the cheek. “So charming.”
“All right,” I snap. “Enough. Let’s go inside with all of you. I’ll take the crown back if this is how it’s going to be.”
Quint heats some mulled wine while we sit by the fire. At first the guards moved to take a position by the wall, but I urged them to join us, too. It settled something in my heart to see them look to Corrick first, to know he’s won their loyalty the way I did. Corrick gave me a sly look and said, “Of course you should sit with us. You’re friends of Sullivan’s.”
“I’m so glad to see you both,” I tell them. “Adam, are those a captain’s bars on your sleeve?”
Saeth nods, then glances at Thorin. “I’m trying to make sure no one has cause to close ranks againstme.”
Thorin smiles. “Only when we play cards.”
“And you,Wolf?” I say. “Do you still see Alice?”
His cheeks turn pink. “I do.”
“They’re getting married,” says Saeth.
Thorin’s blush deepens. “I’d invite you both to come, but I expect you’d be recognized.”
“I could say the same thing about mine,” says Corrick, and my eyes snap to his.
“Very likely,” I say, and my voice goes a bit rough. There’s a pulse of longing in my heart that I’ve felt ever since news about theroyal engagement made its way to Mosswell. “I don’t think I could go anywhere near the Royal Sector. Not for some time yet.”
But I glance at Quint and wonder if I could convince him to go. We argued for a week over sending a letter, and it was worth it. Convincing him to sneak into the Royal Sector might take a month.
I glance across at Cory, and he’s watching me like he knows what I’m thinking. His blue eyes are intent and daring. It reminds me of a thousand moments when we were younger, sitting across a table, waiting until dark when we could escape the trappings of the palace to race across the gardens and sprint through the tunnels into the Wilds.
Tessa looks between us, and she smiles. “I’ll have an invitation sent anyway,” she says. “If any of you are good atanything, it’s sneaking.”
“On that note,” says Saeth, “how on earth did you escape? I saw the rubble from the explosion. Did you make it to one of the tunnels?”
“Yes—by sheer luck,” I say. “After we lit the fuse, we ran. We got to the stairwell we used to escape that night, which was farther than I expected. But Annabeth was right. The palacedidcollapse into the lowest levels. We were trapped below for a time.” I hesitate and meet Quint’s eyes across the room. “Two days. Maybe three.”
