I put my hand over hers where it rests on my waist. “Talk,” I say again, more gently. “Help Sephran. Help Leo.”
“Oh,” she says. “Oh, yes.” She sniffs, then must gather her mettle, because she begins talking.
I watch the guards’ faces shift in alarm. They begin calling orders to each other, and then one lights a torch that they use to signal another sentry station. The activity is quicker than I expected.
“Jax,” Molly whispers against my shoulder. “They’re going. Please. Take me to the Shield House.”
I do. I tether Teddy out front, then wake Lola to help her. Lola tuts over my face when she draws close with a lantern, but I wave her away. It’s just a few scratches, and I have to put Teddy away.
I expect to find the stables dark and quiet, but armored soldiers are calling for horses, and tired stable hands are running to get them saddled. They must be riding to help the others. I want to know if I should go with them, if I should help somehow, but again, I don’t know how to ask, how to evenexplainthat I was there.
Everyone ignores me anyway. When a breeze pulls through the aisle, I go stock-still—but it’s nothing. Just the wind. I hope for Master Hugh, because I feel desperately alone, and I need to talk to someone about everything that has happened.
But it’s late, and if he’s here, he’s helping prepare horses somewhere else. I only see soldiers and scurrying workers.
A woman barks an order near my ear, and I jump. I need to get out of the stables.
Molly must have disappeared into her room, or she’s being tended by Lola, because the main room of the Shield House is empty. When I reach my quarters, the room is so quiet that the silence presses in against me. I have no way of knowing when the soldiers will return. Willanyone tell me? Can I inquire after Sephran and Leo? What about the others?
My stomach tightens when I think of the scraver swooping out of the sky to tackle Niall. I remember the spray of blood. I remember my flare of panic when I found my quiver empty, the way the scraver ripped me right off Teddy’s back and flung me to the ground.
I remember Sephran saving my life.
I light my lantern and move to the washbasin in the corner of my room. It’s too late to call for hot water for a bath, though I desperately need one. I doubt I’ll ever sleep again. I pour water in the basin and splash it on my face, then hiss when I remember the scratches left by the scraver.
I grab for a washrag and blot the water away, then look in the mirror.
Twin scratches run down the left side of my jaw, nearly from my ear to my chin. They don’t look deep enough to need stitching, but they’re long. They’ll probably scar, too.
I stare at the marks. If Tycho were here, they’d be gone in a heartbeat.
But he’s not. They’ll have to stay.
I close my eyes and take a breath. It’s not fair to keep wishing for Tycho to return. To keep thinking of how things would be different if he were here.
He’s not. I am.
So I dry my face, douse the lantern, and wait for morning.
CHAPTER 34
TYCHO
The day after our fight, I’m sore and hung over, so when guards rap at my door at sunrise, they’re not welcome atall. Unfortunately, the king has issued more orders: Malin and I are to move to new quarters in the distant wing where we met on the night we arrived.
We gather our things and all but stumble down the hall.
“Is this a punishment?” Malin says, wincing every time we pass a beam of sunlight.
“Not for you,” I grumble.
The new rooms are just as plush and opulent as anywhere else in the palace, but they’re far from court, and far from everything. No chance of accidentally encountering the queen or the princess—or anyone else.
So I guess Grey was serious about staying out of sight.
Fine.
That spike of tension in my heart has shifted into a wedge of bitterness. I don’t even go to visit Noah.
