She studies me for a long moment, thinking. “Abaker. You’re the baker Tycho met, aren’t you? Does that mean we’re in Briarlock?”
“Lord Tycho mentioned me?”
Something in her gaze sharpens—or maybe it shatters. Her eyes gleam in the dim lantern light. “Is Tycho a part of this, Callyn?” she whispers.
“I don’t know. I don’t think so.” I pause. “It’s Jax who’s seen him more than I have. He’s the blacksmith.”
She doesn’t look reassured. “Jacob said that the blacksmith was found with marks of the Truthbringers, too.”
I bite at my lip. “We wanted to break the seal. We wanted to see what kind of messages we were carrying.”
“And what did you discover? What are they planning?”
“I don’t know! Truly. We were only able to open one letter, and it looked like a plot to kill the king—”
Sinna gasps and sits up. “Da!”
“Hush,” says the queen, and her voice is soothing, no hint of tension. “This is all part of our game, remember? We need to solve the puzzle.”
Sinna lies back down, but she doesn’t look convinced.
“The message from Alek saidFather will be on the fields to observe,” I say to the queen. “Use your best arrows, and do not miss your target.”
She goes very still. “Fatherhas been a reference to the king.”
“But Lady Karyl didn’t take the message,” I say. “She told me to burn it. So I don’t know if the plot was real—or if she was trying to mislead someone else.”Like Alek, I think. I pause, trying to work that out in myhead, but it’s too complicated. “That’s the day she arrived with the guards.” I think of the covered wagon, which was clearly hiding the queen and her daughter. “The day you arrived here.”
“They’re holding us here for a reason.” She presses a hand to her abdomen like it pains her. “It doesn’t matter. Grey is days away in Emberfall. They must know that.Everyoneknows that.”
She’s right. Even I know it. And if Jax is able to get to Emberfall to share the message with Tycho, it’ll take days—maybe weeks!—before he’ll be able to return to Briarlock. And even then, there’d be no reason for the king and his entourage to stop here. They’d head straight for the Crystal Palace.
I think of the clanging I’ve heard at the forge. I don’t know if Jax went at all.
The queen is stroking her fingers over Sinna’s hair now, and the little girl’s eyes drift closed. I watch the motion for a moment, then remember something Alek said about the king’s magic only being extended to a select few.
“Do you not have rings like Tycho’s?” I say in surprise.
She looks at me ruefully. “I did. But they were smart. They attacked Sinna first. I was forced to remove them.”
“Won’t people in the palace know you’re missing?” I say quietly.
She sniffs, then swipes at her face. “Most everyone of importance went to Emberfall with Grey. Lady Clarinas thought a series of spring visits to my Royal Houses would be an enjoyable way to pass the time. That it would give Sinna a bit of fresh air since the baby—” Her voice breaks, and she drops to sit on the hay bale. “I was so foolish.”
The guard opens the door. “That’s enough time,” he barks.
I shift to leave—but hesitate. “I’m going to figure out a way to help you,” I say. “You weren’t foolish. I was.”
She looks up at me. “I always wish for the best for my people, Callyn. I alwaysexpectthe best. I know it is seen as a weakness. I haveheard the gossip. The rumors that I am not as strong as my mother. That my husband has somehow tricked me or is using his magic against me.” Her voice turns to steel, and she glances at the guard in the doorway. “But expecting more from my people is not a weakness. It is hope. It is patience. It is grace. But those virtues don’t mean the absence of viciousness. The true weakness is to think a queen is powerless.”
“Just wait,” calls the guard. “We’ll see who’s powerless.”
“Yes. You will see. Because when you fail—and youwillfail—you will learn that I am stronger than my mother. You will learn that the king’s magic reaches farther than you even imagine.” Her eyes flash with danger. “And you will learn that instead of standing here pointing a weapon at my child, you and the rest of the traitors should have been finding a place to hide.”
CHAPTER 48
TYCHO
The scraver’s eyes catch a gleam of light from the dwindling fire. It feels like he’s got one knee on my chest, the other pinning my right arm. His claws are like five daggers against the skin of my throat. I have no magic, so he could kill me with a twist of his wrist. My throat is parched, my lips chapped from hours of riding in the wind.
