“Yes,” says Lord Alek. “She was. And my mother was a general in the Queen’s Army. When that creature attacked, it tore through the officers first.”
“That’s what I heard as well.” My voice is a broken rasp.
He hesitates, and his voice is very quiet. I don’t know if we’ve simply surprised each other, but the air between us has somehow changed. “What was your mother’s rank?”
I have to clear my throat. It’s weird, and startling, to learn this about him. He must think so, too, because the way he’s looking at me is different. It’s no longer so calculating. Maybe that’s what makes me answer. “My mother—she was a captain.”
He frowns, his eyes tight. “So many good people were lost. Too many.” His jaw is tight. “The old queen would have retaliated.Wasgoing to retaliate. But after she died, Queen Lia Mara allied us with them—withhim—less than six months later.” He shakes his head and looks away. “My sister was a true loyalist—and she was slaughtered for it. When people air a grievance, they’re accused of sedition. When we speak out against the king, we’re accused of treason. Meanwhile, his power grows by the day. We’reluckythat he was not raised among the magesmiths, that much of his power still remains a mystery. And the people of Syhl Shallow are simply supposed to yield to this? We’re supposed to forget those who were lost?” He runs a hand across the back of his neck, and for the first time, I realize there are burn marks along the leather of his bracer, stretching up along his sleeve. “I come here to talk, and you pick up a knife because you thinkIam a threat. Yet you allow Tycho to sit in your window as if you’ve known him your entire life.”
I don’t know what to say.Tycho frightened me too.
“What happened to your arm?” I say quietly.
He blinks as if startled, then drops his hand to his side. “I demanded answers from the King’s Courier, and he attacked me with magic.”
He says this so evenly, but it makes my heart pound again, for an entirely different reason. Too much has happened. I’ve seen too many sides to this. Tycho may have saved Jax’s hand—but now he’s used his magic to attack Alek. Alek may have threatened Jax—but he once saved me and Nora.
I hesitate, then reach for his arm. “Are you burned? I have some salve.”
“First you were going to kill me, and now you’re going to mend my wounds?”
“I probably owe you for saving my life.” Those words sound too heavy, and I dodge his gaze as I add, “But don’t worry. I might still kill you.”
He smiles, then offers his arm. The bracer looks like it took most of the damage, but at the bend of his elbow, his shirt has burned away to reveal a three-inch stretch of reddened, blistered skin that reminds me too much of the injury Jax received from the forge.
I fetch my jar of salve from under the work table, then smooth it onto the damaged skin.
He hisses a breath, and I fix him with a look. “Oh, don’t be a baby.”
“Don’t be so cruel.”
“If you don’t like such dangerous games,” I say, imitating his tone, “you shouldn’t play.”
He doesn’t smile, but his eyes don’t leave mine. The air is heavy and quiet between us. I grow very aware of the weight of his forearm in my hand, the curve of the muscle under the burn I’m treating.
I swallow and let go, then swipe my hands on the rag. “There. Now we’re even.”
“Indeed.” After a moment, he takes a step back. “You say Jax is trustworthy. I think your friend is hungry for silver.”
“No! He’s just—we’re—”
“It doesn’t matter.” Lord Alek pulls a folded piece of parchment out of his pocket and tosses it on the table. There’s a smear of blood across the cream vellum, just a drop on the black-and-green seal I’ve seen before.
My breath catches. I don’t touch it.
“Open it,” he says.
My heart is pounding. We’ve been desperate to know what’s inside these messages. Jax has been trying to re-create the seal fordays. And now Alek just … wants me to open it?
“Go ahead,” he urges.
I hesitate, then reach out for the folded paper. I slip my finger under the seal, and the paper tears slowly, then gives all the way.
2Full bolts of damask-purple
3Full bolts of silk-white
7Full bolts of muslin
