I force a nod.
He finally moves away. I can draw a full breath for the first time in a while. I lock my eyes on the edge of the table so I’m not tempted to shoot him again.
Prince Rhen stops by the doorway. His voice is very quiet. “This may not make a difference to you, but I hate myself for it.”
I think of Tycho’s strong hands, his quiet voice, his kind spirit. I think of the way he stood in the woods and gently folded my fingers around an arrow, encouraging me as I learned how to shoot—and then later, the way he dragged my father off me before the man could kill me. I think of the way his thumb brushed tears off my cheeks and how he told me of everything that had been done to him when he was a child. I think of his trust, so honest and pure. His loyalty.
How itmustbe a curse, because that’s what Prince Rhen so thoughtlessly chained to a wall to torture.
“Good.” My voice is tight and hard and vicious. “I hate you, too.”
Prince Rhen goes still, drawing himself up, and I brace myself.
But then he seems to deflate. He gives me a nod. “Noted.”
Then he’s gone, and I collapse into the chair and put my face in my hands.
CHAPTER 26
CALLYN
Two days after I return from my visit with Alek, the Crystal Palace is alive with rumors. Nora and I usually have breakfast with little Sinna in her rooms, so we rarely hear much of anything before midday, but even the serving girls who deliver the food are gossiping under their breath to each other as they pour tea and spoon sliced fruit onto the delicate porcelain dishes.
“I heard they attacked the guards at the main gate,” one is whispering.
“I heard that, too!” the other says in a rush. “They had to call up a full regiment to stop them!”
“What happened?” I say.
“A full regiment!” Nora exclaims. “And we didn’t hear anything?”
“What’s a regiment?” says Sinna.
“A group of soldiers,” I say. “Here. Have a sweetcake.” I move away from the table and drop my voice. “There was an attack?”
The serving girls exchange a glance. One of them says, “The rumorssay two soldiers from Emberfall attacked the main gate, and that the king himself had to confront them.”
Apparently we didn’t drop our voices enough, because Sinna cries, “Da!” and the worry in her voice is clear.
“He’s fine,” says Nora. She points out the window, where the sun is shining down on the training fields. “Look, you can see him with the soldiers. Just there.”
“Oh,” says Sinna, her worry forgotten. She goes back to her fruit.
I frown and shoo the serving girls toward the door, but I follow them. I haven’t seen the queen yet this morning, but perhaps she’s dealing with whatever happened. I’ve been engaged to make sure Sinna is safe, however, and if there are rumors about soldiers from Emberfall attacking the palace, I want to know.
“Has anything been confirmed?” I whisper to them once we reach the door.
They exchange another glance. “Nothing yet,” one says.
“The baker says it’s all a bunch of gossip,” says the other. “The king wouldn’t be out on the fields like it’s just another day if anything were wrong.” She pauses. “Though I heard in the kitchen that he sent a summons for half a dozen nobles to be brought to the palace—to be questioned.”
Her voice drops when she says this, and she exchanges a glance with the first. I wonder ifquestionedreally meansinterrogated.
The first servant adds, “My cousin is a stable hand, and he said that the one who attacked the gates was the King’s Courier in disguise.”
“The King’s Courier!” I exclaim, though a thread of worry stitches its way through my heart. Tycho left Briarlock with Jax a few weeks ago. “That’s impossible. He was just sent to Emberfall.”
“Exactly,” says the second. “Andhe’s a personal friend to the king.” She scoffs. “Why would he be in disguise? Why would he attack the gates?”
