“And far too many people,” she says. “Far too much risk. Grey will assess how many rebels may have escaped, but it is easier to keep aremote bakery secure than a boarding house in the middle of town.” She pauses, and a note of uncertainty enters her voice. “Especially as we have no idea how deeply this insurrection runs.”
An insurrection I was a part of. I swallow, twisting my fingers together.
Again, I think of little Nora.
I remember telling Alek that I’d hang beside Jax.
The queen notices my fretting, and she puts out a hand on the table between us. “I’m not going to harm your sister,” she says. “Nor you. But I am going to need you to tell me everything that has happened here in Briarlock. With Lord Alek and with Lady Karyl.” She pauses. “And with your friend Jax.”
I swallow and nod. “Yes, Your Majesty.” My voice is rough. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
But I rub my healed fingertip against my thumb. The tiny injury has disappeared so completely that I might have imagined it. I probablydidimagine it.
I do tell the queen everything she asks.
But for now, I leave that part out.
CHAPTER 63
TYCHO
It’s been two days, and Prince Rhen and his forces have yet to arrive.
By now, there’s little left of the battle in the woods. To avoid suspicion, we’ve begun allowing people down the lane for business at the bakery or the forge. Callyn warns the queen that she’s had much business from nobles due to Lord Alek, so Lia Mara stays out of sight, listening to what’s said. I sit sentry during the day, waiting in the woods, walking a perimeter with Mercy as I watch to see who comes and goes. Grey relieves me at night.
This battle might be over, but there’s a tense aura of a bigger one coming, and all of us feel it. When I change shifts with Grey and walk down to the bakery for dinner, even little Sinna asks me when the war will begin.
The second night, Grey doesn’t appear until midnight. Once he takes watch, I return to the forge, where I learn from Jax that once the sun went down, the king sat in the workshop for hours, asking questions.
“Interrogating you?” I ask.
“At first,” he says, “I was worried that’s what it was. He’s very forthright.”
I laugh without any humor.
Jax hesitates, and his tone turns slow, thoughtful. “He was just … asking. Asking about the people we see, the rumors we hear. He had many questions about Lord Alek and his notes. About Lady Karyl and her guards.”
“Hmm.” I still can’t make all those puzzle pieces fit together. If Lord Alek left a message about an attack on Grey, it never came to pass.
And we haven’t seen Lady Karyl. She wasn’t among the dead.
Besides which,nomessage has ever mentioned an assault on the queen.
I’m too tired to figure this out tonight. I run a hand through my hair, then rub at my eyes.
“You need to sleep,” says Jax. “Have you eaten? I saved you some boiled eggs. And there’s bread from this morning. Go disarm. I’ll bring you some.”
I’m struck by the calmness in his tone, as if this tiny house is a brief respite from all the tension that swirls in the lane.
Or maybe it’s just a respite from the tension between me and Grey.
But no, it’s not just that. It’s a quiet stillness I usually find when I seek out the infirmary with Noah.
Minutes later, I’ve removed my boots and armor and washed my face. Jax appears in the doorway, a crutch under one arm, and a plate in his opposite hand. He sets the plate on the table by the bed and shifts to leave.
“Where are you going?” I say in surprise.
He gives me a rueful look. “Da’s room. The king was very clear that he expects you on duty at sunrise.”
