Motion around us resumes, and I look for whoever called out to stop the fight. It’s one of the soldiers who was with us from the beginning. He’s a first lieutenant named Kutter, and he’s sitting by a fire, fletching arrows with two other young soldiers named Sephran and Malin.
To my surprise, Jax is with them.
I shouldn’t be startled, but I am. The firelight bounces off his eyes, and his long, dark hair is bound into a tight knot at the back of his head. His crutches are on the ground beside him. They’re far enoughaway that I can’t hear what the soldiers are saying, but Jax’s eyes are on me.
I feel like he’s picking me apart.
He’s noticed the shift in my mood over the last few days, but there’s no privacy here, so he hasn’t pressed. I don’t even know what I’d say. He’s one of the few people who knows everything about my past, but it was so long ago. It shouldn’t matter anymore. Besides, I’m the King’s Courier. I can’t exactly admit that I hate the king’s army.
All of this makes me feel so weak, and I scowl. No wonder I want to punch someone.
Jax sees my expression shift, and he frowns.
But then Sephran gently pokes him in the arm with an arrow and says something that makes Jax look over and smile.
That gives my heart a firm tug. I wonder what Sephran said, whether it was something Jax understood, or if it was just a tone he was responding to.
His smile turns into light laughter, and the tug in my heart turns into a clench.
When he glances back over, I’ve already looked away. But I feel his gaze follow me all the way to the prince’s tent.
Prince Rhen is the only person in the camp with a private tent, and though it’s not large or well lit, he’salone. The sudden muffled silence is welcome, and when I step inside, I feel like I can breathe for the first time in hours. The forbidden magic that was pulsing under my skin finally seems to settle.
The prince sits at a small table, going through a stack of stained and folded parchment. We’re close enough to Ironrose that he must be getting reports from point-to-point runners now.
“Tycho,” he says, without preamble. “We should arrive by sundown tomorrow.”
This isn’t a surprise. I could make this trek with my eyes closed. “Yes, Your Highness.”
“The army couriers have reported that Lord Alek has already been escorted back to Syhl Shallow. I thought you should know.”
Lord Alek worked with the Truthbringers to trap the queen and execute the king. I’m a bit surprised they’re sending him back, honestly. I thought Grey would just leave him in the dungeon at Ironrose—but I suppose he wants to interrogate the man himself. I snort. “Are they dragging him behind a horse?”
“No. He claims innocence. He states that there is absolutely no evidence tying him to these attacks—and he’s not wrong.” Rhen’s voice is grave. “You should be aware that he’ll likely be questioned and released. At least for the time being.”
This news hits me like an arrow, sharp and true. Of anyone in the two kingdoms, Lord Alek is the last person who should be walking free. After the last few days among the soldiers, I didn’t think my spine could grow any colder, but apparently it can.
“Again,” Rhen says, more quietly, “I thought you should know.”
I frown. “Why?”
The lantern light flickers off his blond hair while he studies me. It falls across his face, drifting over the patch that covers his missing eye. “Why not, Tycho? We’ve become friends, have we not?”
He says this like it’s a genuine question—and maybe it is. Maybe he’s really . . . ?not quite sure. Considering everything he did to me, I should probably hate him. I know Jax does, and he’s only seen the scars Rhen’s guards left on my back.
But the prince has a dark and tortured past, just like I do. He doesn’t know my entire history, just his part in it, but over the past few months, I’ve developed a kinship with Rhen that I never saw coming.
Maybe he didn’t either.
I let out a breath and run a hand through my hair. “Yes,” I say. “Wehave. But . . . ?can you send word? He shouldn’t be released. He was obviously plotting against the royal family. Grey interrogated Jax. And Callyn told the queen herself—”
“I’m not sure the testimony of a blacksmith and a baker whowereproven to be working with the Truthbringers—at least in a small way—would hold up in front of Syhl Shallow’s Royal Houses.”
I scowl.
Rhen continues, “When the attack took place, Lord Alek was here, in Emberfall. We were allwith Greywhen news of the attack was delivered—you included. Lord Alek claims he had nothing to do with it—and none of us can prove otherwise. He claims he’s being persecuted for speaking out against the king’s magic, so locking him up will make him look like a martyr. It would give the Truthbringersmorepower. Fear of the king’s magic has been growing, and Grey is on shaky ground with the rumors that have already been spread.”
My fists are clenched at my sides. “Itold youAlek was politically tricky.”
