“Callyn.”
“I would! What would you do?”
“The kinghasshown up on my doorstep.”
Of course. He’s probably had all manner of royalty on his doorstep. I almost laugh—but something about his expression stops me, and I study him carefully. “And what did you do?”
“It was years ago. He’d just returned from claiming his throne in Emberfall.” Alek hesitates. “He and the queen arrived with news that my sister was a traitor. That she’d been killed during a skirmish with soldiers from Emberfall. That she had worked against the throne. They wondered if I was doing the same. If I was disloyal.”
I roll up on one arm to face him. “And were you?”
“No. I’m not disloyal now.”
I feel like we’re finally speaking truths. There’s a part of me that wants to back away from this conversation. So much that we’ve said would already be considered treasonous. But ever since Jax took that handful of coins from Lady Karyl, I’ve been desperately wondering what was in these notes. What they’re planning. What I’ve become a part of.
“Would the queen think the same?” I say carefully.
“My sister was an adviser to the queen. She was never disloyal.” He pauses. “But … she was never loyal to our new king. Our mother was a tactician in the army. A strategist. Her death … it hit us hard.”
“I know.” My voice is soft yet full. My mother’s death hit me equally hard.
He lifts my fingers to lay a kiss across my knuckles. “I know you know.”
“So you’re hoping to avenge your mother and your sister?”
“I am hoping to restore Syhl Shallow to what it once was. When the magesmiths first crossed the Frozen River, the queen refused to allow them to settle here. When they settled in Emberfall, you’ve heard thestories of what happened. Their former king tried to kill them all. Only a few survived—and look at the trouble they caused. Look at the deaths, the destruction. There’s a reason they were not allowed to settle here, and now one is married to ourqueen?”
He’s right. I’ve read the histories a dozen times.
“Are you the leader?” I say.
His eyes flash to mine. “Me? The leader of the Truthbringers? No.”
“You’re so … assured. I assumed.”
“I was only seventeen when my sister was killed. My family has the old texts. Several of the old artifacts. I was recruited early. Because of my access to the royal family, I have some power. Some sway. But like you, I am but a soldier for the cause.”
“And your messages are about killing the king?”
“No. Nothing so overt. We learned from the first attempt that the king cannot be overtaken by sheer numbers. So we have discovered … other methods.”
Other methods. So there must be a limit to his willingness to share information. He strokes a finger across my cheek. “Have I shared enough to earn your trust yet?”
“Maybe.”
He grins. “That’s an honest answer if I’ve ever heard one.” He leans down to brush his lips over mine. His fingers drift across my breast, pulling a gasp from my throat before I’m ready.
But then he stops there, and speaks low. “I’ll earn your trust one day, lovely. For now, you need your sleep.” He pulls his hand free and kisses me on the forehead.
I don’t know if I should be disappointed or relieved.
My body isdefinitelydisappointed.
My head is, too, when he slips out of the bed to take a seat by the window again. My entire body seems to be humming.
He picks up a book. “Sleep. I’ll keep watch.”
“I’m not scared of Lord Tycho.”
