The first morning after Alek visited the bakery, I was relieved when Jax didn’t wander down the lane, because I didn’t want to feel like I was keeping a secret from my best friend. Alek’s warnings kept pounding against the inside of my head. I don’t know what to think about any of it. The message he showed me wasn’t anything concerning—but I know they wouldn’t be paying this much silver if they were all this innocuous. Was this a trick? A test? Did Jax fail? Will I?
And …do Iwant to carry these messages? Alek saved my life. Do I owe it to him? Jax was willing to do it forme. Does that mean I owe it tohim?
But what was he doing with Lord Tycho? The last time we discussed this, Jax was going to try to fashion a new seal so we could discover the contents of these messages … but then he spent hours with the King’s Courier?
I don’t know what to make of any of it, and I don’t like the way my stomach has begun to twist with feelings of distrust and betrayal—on both sides.
By thethirdmorning, I’m beginning to wonder who’s keeping more secrets: me or Jax.
He comes down the lane at midday, easing his way into the bakery with soot on his knuckles and an unconcerned expression on his face. “Hey, Cal,” he says, like we just saw each other hours ago.
“Jax,” I say in surprise.
Nora tackles him with a hug, and Jax smiles, letting go of a crutch long enough to give her braid a tug. “It’s good to see you, too,” he says.
Then his eyes meet mine, and I find a spark of wariness there. The distance between us feels like a hundred miles, and I’m not sure if it’s on my side, or if it’s on his.
My tongue feels tied up in knots.
He frowns and straightens. “I … wanted to talk to you,” he says to me.
I swallow. “Sure.”
Nora sighs dramatically. “I’m not going to collect eggs again, Jax. So don’t even think about it. I’m tired of being left out of your gossip.”
He rolls his eyes, but I shrug and say, “Fine, Nora. We’ll go get the eggs. You watch the bakery.”
She stares at me as I stride across the floor. “But Cally-cal—”
I hold the door for Jax, and then I let it slam in her face.
“She won’t follow?” he says.
“She knows I’d cut her braids off in her sleep if she left the bakery unattended.”
A bitter wind tugs at my skirts when we cross the barnyard, and I grab one of the milking buckets when we slip through the door. The hens do peck at my wrists, but I’m quick, easing the eggs into the steel bucket.
After a minute, I realize Jax hasn’t said anything.
Neither have I.
“What did you want to talk about?” I ask him.
“I think I owe you an apology.”
Of anything he could have said, that surprises me the most. I stop and turn to look at him. His hazel-green eyes are shadowed in the dim light of the barn.
“An apology?” I say. “Why?”
“Because I think I’ve lost the trust of the Truthbringers.” He pauses. “I don’t think they’ll be having me carry any messages anymore.”
I’m such an idiot that I almost say,Oh! I knew that. But Alek warned me to keep his visit a secret. Would I be putting Jax in danger if I revealed this? Would I be puttingmyselfin danger? And where would all that leave Nora?
I don’t know how this all got so complicated so fast.
I stop my thoughts and clear my throat. “Why not?”
“Lord Tycho came to the forge,” he says. “A few days ago.” He tells me how Tycho told Master Ellis a story about a broken carriage, how they spent the afternoon talking.
