But I can’t say any of that.
“Lord Tycho has returned,” Alek is saying. “Under very suspicious circumstances, too.” He glances at me. “And apparently the king is not speaking to the queen, which is why our worries are prudent.”
I snap my head around and stare at him.
He looks back at me implacably. “Della is loyal to the queen as well, Callyn.”
Della nods. “I am. It is disturbing to think that the queen was attacked as a means of capturing the king.” Her eyes flick to Alek. “I have never been involved with the Truthbringers, but many of us were alarmed at what happened when she was taken. If the king’s magic has made her a target of malfeasance, then we must work to separate them. Lord Tycho was stripped of his magic and sent away, but if the king has brought him back, I am worried that the queen is in even more danger than we thought.”
My eyebrows go up. “No—I don’t know if that’s why Tycho is back—”
“Does it matter?” she says. “The young man can access the king’s magic at will, can he not?”
I hesitate. She means that Tycho can access magic with hisrings, but I know that he’s not dependent on them anymore—just like the queen isn’t dependent on them anymore. But if I tell them the truth about Tycho, does that mean it would implicate the queen, too? This has all gotten so complicated.
Alek is watching me. “He can,” he says.
“And I remember that day at court, when the king was interrogating you”—her lip curls—“how you indicated that Lord Tycho was the one working with these Truthbringers.”
I inhale sharply, but Alek cuts me a glance.
“So the king has a magical ally,” Della continues, before I can say anything.
“Yes,” says Firena. “And our queen may yet be a prisoner in her own home.”
I frown. “I don’t know if she’d consider herself a prisoner.” I shoot a dark look at Alek. “And Tycho risked himself tosaveher in Briarlock, so I don’t know that he’s allied with the Truthbringers.”
“But it seems that the Truthbringers may have divided,” says Della. “Don’t you think so, Alek?”
“I do,” he says. “I believed Lady Clarinas was loyal, but then she and her followers attacked the queen and her daughter. No one has seen her, but she has contacts throughout Syhl Shallow—and she was employed in the palace for a time. She could still have connections who are close to the queen.”
I wonder if he means anyone in particular—and then I realize that Lady Clarinas would have known Nolla Verin. Again, I try to make that connection work in my head, but it doesn’t quite fit. Maybe I only want her to be a villain because of the way she treats me.
Alek is still talking. “Perhaps Tycho did risk himself to save the queen, but it may have been due to his loyalty to theking.”
I falter. Last night, Lia Mara said she didn’t want to speak with Tycho—for that exact reason: his loyalty to King Grey.
“There have been rumors of magical attacks,” says Firena. “From creatures similar to what our armies once faced in Emberfall. Could the king’s magic have summoned them as well?”
“Magicalattacks?” I exclaim.
“You remember the old stories,” says Della. She glances at Alek. “What were they called? Surely you had some in your storybooks.”
“Scravers,” he says, and his voice is cool. He glances at me. “I’ve heard that they also appeared when the queen was kidnapped. You were there, Callyn. Is there truth to that rumor?”
Scravers.“Yes. But . . . but scravershelpedthe king and queen—”
“Did they? Truly? Or much like Lord Tycho, were they there at the king’s summoning becausehewas in danger?”
I think back. The events in Briarlock are so muddled, because I remember the scravers appearing—but I was so focused on Nora, who had a sword thrust through her chest.
“All I know,” I say evenly, “is that they helped save my sister’s life.” I pause. “We were trying to protect the princess, and when we wouldn’t let the Truthbringers get to her, a soldier tried to kill Nora instead.”
I mean to fling this like an accusation—or maybe a justification. I mean for it to explain that the scraversdidhelp, and that we wouldn’t have been at risk if not for the people trying to kill the king.
But Della nods sagely and reaches out to put a hand over mine. “As I said, I am glad the queen has seen your qualities, my dear. Those of youandyour sister.”
Firena nods, too. “The perfect example of why the king’s magic should not remain here. Previous queens would not allow these magesmiths to reside in Syhl Shallow, and this is exactly why. These creaturesare too dangerous. Thismagicis too dangerous. If the king were not here, we would not have conflict atall. Your sister never would have been at risk.”
