Grey studies me for the longest moment. After a while, he turns to Jake, and his voice is lower. “Go with Nolla Verin.”
Jake nods and turns away from the doorway. “I’ve got your back, T,” he yells over his shoulder to me.
“I’m counting on you to curb her temper,” Grey calls. “Not to provoke it.”
But Jake is already gone. Grey glances at Solt. “Return to the fields. I’ll join you shortly.”
The general departs—followed almost immediately by Noah, who says he needs to fetch some fresh turmeric from the kitchens. It leaves me facing the king alone. That should be better. In a way, it is.
In a way, it’s not.
Grey puts out a hand, indicating the cot. “Sit.”
I don’t need to sit. I don’twantto sit. But I feel like I’ve earned a reprimand, and there’s no give in his tone, so I obey.
Once I’m seated, Grey unbuckles his cloak at his shoulder and drops it unceremoniously on the cot across from me. Then he drops himself right next to it and runs a hand across his jaw.
“When the guard station sent their first report,” he says, his voice low, “they told me your horse brought back a body.”
I go still.
“You were covered in snow,” he continues. “Barely breathing. Blood everywhere, Tycho.”
“I’m fine!” I hold up a hand. “Truly, Grey. I’m fine. The ring worked. I was exhausted, but Mercy got me—”
“You were half frozen to death,” he says. “Your lips were blue. Another hour and you might have lost your fingers to frostbite.”
I flex my hands. “Noah didn’t mention the frostbite.”
Grey gives me a look. “So you’ll forgive me for sending Nolla Verin to fetch Lord Alek.”
What did Alek say?I think the queen would be interested in hearing that her trusted messenger is having secret meetings. Lia Mara wouldn’t believe him—but he wouldn’t tell her in a private conversation. He’d say it in whatever way cast the greatest doubt on the royal family.
But if they haven’t heard from Alek, then that means he hasn’t been here to spread rumors aboutme.
“Tycho,” says Grey. “Talk.”
“I got to Briarlock earlier than I expected.” I twist the mug in my hands, but I don’t take a sip. “I’ve become friendly with a few people in town since Mercy threw a shoe, and I wanted to see if Alek had returned. He took me by surprise,” I say. “But … I misread the moment. I thought he was there to hassle me. He was merely asking for a message that had been left for him.”
Grey waits, studying me. When I say nothing more, he says, “And?”
“He provoked me,” I admit. “And I … may have provoked him back.”
“It must have been one hell of a provocation.”
I wince, thinking of all the things Alek said. Since the moment I first met him, he’s always known the right words to say. Every verbal taunt feels like it’s a breath away from drawing blood. I can defend myself with blades and arrows, but when Alek whispers things likewhipping boy, it always seems to crawl under my skin and turn me into a sniveling child again.
I don’t want to share any of that with Grey. “We fought,” I say. “He had guards with him.”
He had his hands around my throat.
Grey knows my history, what happened to me when I was a child, but I don’t want to share this detail either. I have to shake off the memory. “I threatened him with magic,” I say. “I used it against him. He retaliated.”
Grey thinks about that for a moment, studying me.
“Please,” I say. “There is already enough tension over magic here. Don’t go to war with the Royal Houses because of one incident.”
I wish I could read his expression, but much like his brother, he’s very good at schooling his face to hide everything that matters. “I will speak with Lia Mara. But I still expect Alek to explain his actions.”
