Sev gives a brisk whistle through his teeth. A call for them to come to order.
They all fall sharply silent. Shuffling hoofbeats return to an even cadence. But I canfeeltheir agitation.
Any other night, this would be lighthearted teasing, especially from Roman. Of all of them, he’s the most easygoing, the slowest to anger, the last to argue. Tonight, everyone’s voice bears an edge. I can only imagine what they’ll be like in a few hours.
“Five more miles,” I say to Sev, and I make sure it’s loud enough for them all to hear it. “We’ll find an inn for the night.”
“We left the palace to find aninn? What are we going to do with the prisoners?”
“The princess isn’t a prisoner,” I say tightly. My own agitation is flaring, because I don’t know what to do with Asher yet. “And I’m not convinced Asher is working for the Draegs at all—though maybe this Hunter’s Guild is. Either way, Dane’s claims don’t quite fit. He’s been an ass all along, and if there were any truth to those orders, he could have been protectinghimself.”
“Sure—or this assassin and the princess could have been working together. Holding you there. Waiting for others from Draegonis to claim you—or your body.”
I think about that, turning it around in my head. Jory definitely believed Asher—no question. Her worry for him was genuine, too. When we rode back to the palace, her emotion—hertears—seemed real. I saw her flare of panic when Dane issued Asher’s sentence.
And she was worried forme,too—at first. I heard her breath shaking when we first emerged from the tunnels under the palace. She stepped in front of Asher when he had a dagger in his hand.
Asher! Stop hurting him.
So that leaves Asher himself. While I might believe that a skilled mercenary could convince a young woman to help him kidnap a king...that doesn’t seem to fit any of what happened. He left me in the snow—and it wasmychoice to follow them. He didn’t even want me there. He felt he was risking something to protect Jory. Not just from assassins. From me, and from her brother. That all seemed genuine, too.
But he was so worried about going back to thoseslavers. I heard it in his voice when we spoke, and I saw it in his face when Dane set the price of his crime to one million silvers.
My fingers tighten on the reins when I think about that part.A million. I doubt any man could work that off in a lifetime. If I’m understanding their justice system correctly, the funds would go right into the royal family’s pockets. It’s almost enough to make me think Prince Dane set this entire thing up himself.
The thought strikes me like an arrow, and I freeze.
But then I shake it off. Too complicated. And IknowAstranza needs my magic and my army. Why risk the alliance? He could set Asher up for an attack on anyone else in the palace without needing to risk everything we’ve been working toward.
I don’t trust any of this.
“Do you want to have any of this deliberation out loud?” Sev says, and his voice has the same edge as before.
I don’t want to bicker withhim, so I say, “It wasn’t like that. Asher wanted the princess to leave me behind. He wanted her to run.” As I’ve been turning over the events in my thoughts, I keep tripping over the fact that Asher really didn’t kill Nikko.
“And he left Nik alive,” I add. “A Draeg spy wouldn’t do that.”
“If he wanted to run, what stopped them?”
“They weren’t prepared.” I pause. “He had ample opportunity to kill me, Sev. We know what the Draegs would do with me. There’s no way they would have let me go. And I don’t like how quickly Dane laid the blame at their feet. It’s too easy.”
“Well,youdidn’t hire an assassin to kill the princess.”
“No.” I keep thinking of that moment Asher said one of my men could have hired a Hunter. But I can’t makethatwork out in my head either. I’ve known them too long. We’re too close.
Sev is still musing. “If you think he lied about Draegonis, does that mean Dane hired one to killyou? Why bother? We were outnumbered in the palace. You had no fire. He could have set the army on us when we arrived.”
“I know.” I glance over again. “That’s why we’re getting the hell out of here. But the princess could still be a target. That’s why I brought her with me.”
He falls silent again, contemplating.
Behind us, Callum calls, “Why’d you bring Stripes?”
I glance back. “Stripes?”
“The guy with the lines.” Garrett gestures at his face. “If we’re not sending him back to the border in pieces, what are we doing with him?”
I inhale to answer—before realizing I have no idea what to say.
