My heart is pounding. If my father catches us, he might leave the king alive, but he’ll kill me.
I realize the sound of the cheering is growing louder.
“They’re coming back,” I say.
“Weapons, Jax.” He’s breathing heavily again, but his voice is strong. “Now.”
I have to crawl for them, and I start with the biggest blades. He quickly separates a dagger belt from the weapon, double wraps it around the thigh with the deeper arrow wound, and buckles it tight.
Without warning—without even a moment of hesitation—he jerks the arrow free and swears.
Blood flows down his leg. I stare. “You need—”
“I need more weapons. Throwing blades next.”
Again, I scurry. I carry as many as I can at a time, pinning them to my chest with one hand and crawling with the other.
“Can you heal it?” I say to him on my third pass.
“Not yet.” He looks like his skin has paled a shade. “The bow and arrows next.”
I tug the full quiver over my shoulder, then crawl with the bow in hand. When I hold it out for the king, he shakes his head.
“That,” he says, “is for you.”
CHAPTER 54
CALLYN
I was right. We’re able to get into the barn without much resistance. The soldiers are used to me bringing food now, so they let us pass. Nora huddles near my side.
The queen is sitting in the corner with her daughter, and she looks up in surprise when we approach with a lantern. Sinna is in her arms.
“What’s happening?” the queen asks quietly.
“I’m not entirely sure,” I say carefully.
“They say they’ve caught the king,” she whispers.
“I know.” I swallow. “I don’t know how. I don’t know what it means.”
A shadow slides along the wall of the barn. A male voice says, “It means Grey is trapped.”
The queen gasps, but Sinna struggles free of her arms to run across the straw. “Tycho!”
He catches her in his arms and swings her into the air, but the movement is sedate, and his expression is serious. “The king is injured,” he says quickly. “I don’t know what they’ve shot him with, but they seem to have a supply of Iishellasan artifacts. He can’t usehis magic. There are at least four dozen soldiers on the road. I recognize many from the palace guard. They could have more.” He draws close, his eyes narrowing when they fall on the queen, taking in the blood on her clothes and the bruising to her face. “Your Majesty. Forgive me. He ordered me to find you. I could not keep him—”
She strides forward and throws her arms around his neck so forcefully that he takes a step back.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she says, and her voice almost breaks. “We have to save him, Tycho.”
“We will,” he says, but even he doesn’t sound entirely sure.
She draws back to look at him. “How did you get in without being seen?”
“I broke the lock on the back door. Everyone is in the barnyard celebrating his capture,” he says. “It’s barely sunrise. I look like any other soldier in the shadows.” He glances up and around at my barn. “I thought I might need to sneak into the bakery, which would’ve been a bit harder, but I remembered all the repairs I’d seen to your barn.” His voice turns rueful. “I thought perhaps Alek had set this up.”
Sure enough, he did.
