“Inadequate preparation is never acceptable,” my father declared with another stern look for my crestfallen brother. “Get moving!”
I stifled a chuckle as Tegil darted through his bedroom door. “What training?”
“Let’s talk in our room,” Mama said, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward it. Wary confusion was pouring out of her.
Instead of allowing my mother to open her own bedroom door, the guardsman standing to my right stepped in front of her. We abruptly stopped, waiting to see what was going to happen next. He opened the door, stepped inside their room, did a full turn then walked back out stiffly. He resumed his sentinel position outside, not meeting any of our eyes.
Bewildered by the behavior, I followed my mother, her pace now noticeably slower. What was going on? Why were guards trailing us in the castle? And what, in the name of magic, had that inspection of the room been about?
The interior of my parents’ room was nearly identical to mine, except that there was no door leading to the adjoining room like in the queen’s chambers. On the table by the hearth sat a spread of fruit, bread, and cheese, with a carafe of mead glinting in the sunlight streaming through the open windows.
More of Darreth’s generosity, I thought bitterly.
Emrys had somehow brought my family out of Caervorn, draped them in luxury, and filled their bellies. While I’d stripped him down to nothing, possibly making his condition worse than it had been before.
Mama pulled out a chair for me, Papa for her. The easy way they moved together was comforting in a way I hadn’t realized I’d needed until I sat down. The three of us were quiet for a long minute as Mama started making me a plate of food. My appetite was still nonexistent, but rejecting this offering from her would be tantamount to rejecting her love, so I took the plate with thanks and started nibbling. Each bite was tasteless, wholly lacking in its usual joy.
“So…” My voice came out thinner than I’d intended. “How are you all here?”
They traded a glance. My father set down his cup, his false leg creaking softly as he shifted. “Ten guards wearing red and gold arrived in the middle of the night. Eyes bloodshot like they’d ridden with demons on their heels.”
“Before we could as much as say ‘good evening,’ they piled right in, packed in tight, and shut the door behind them,” my mother said as she passed my father a plate. “I thought for sure we were set to be murdered.”
Her hand trembled slightly before she stilled it in her lap. The memory still scared her, even though she was no longer afraid of the soldiers surrounding them.
My heart hammered. Soldiers in the middle of the night. Secrecy. “And then?”
Finishing his long gulp of mead, my father said, “Their captain said only that you were in danger. That if we stayed, you couldn’t be protected.” His eyes flicked to me, a bit of his old hardness returned. “So we left, no questions asked, one bag between us.”
Protect me? “But I wasn’t in danger…” I started, though even I could hear the lie.
The Assembly must’ve moved faster than I’d realized. Emrys and Nisien must’ve known.
My stomach turned, making me regret the few bites I’d managed so far.
Mama’s eyes sharpened with the same stern look she’d given Tegil earlier. “You’re telling me that the Assembly wasn’t using our safety to keep you in line? We’re poor,not stupid, Isca.”
Her words were sharper than any sword.
“And so you’re here,” I forced out.
Mama studied me, the way she always did when she suspected I was hiding something. “We’re safe because of you, love. The maid who cleans our rooms said that this is the dowager’s part of the castle.”
Papa refilled her cup. “Your brother trains with the squires half the day, the farm manager the other. He’s taking to the fighting work more than we expected.”
This was so much information, so fast. My mind was spinning. “Tegil has been busy, but what have you all done since you arrived?”
“Waited for you, mostly,” Mama said, brushing crumbs off her gown. “They had bolts of cloth waiting in our room. Our maid said they were for me to wile away the hours. I suppose you told someone I couldn’t sit stillandthat I enjoy needlework?” She raised one brow in question.
“I…talked about you all, of course.” My throat went dry.
I’d talked to Emrys about them during our hours of chatting those glorious few nights in the tent. He must’ve been corresponding with Nisien via couriers the whole time.
Papa’s voice broke the silence of my retreat into memory. “For me, it was five days of fittings with an artificer and learning to use it.” He touched his false leg as if it were some holy relic. “I tried to turn down Prince Nisien, but he is a hard man to deny. The joints are enchanted. It almost feels like walking with my own leg again, Isca.” The smile that spread across his face was as warm as his satisfaction at feeling close to whole again.
I should’ve been relieved. Instead, guilt carved into me. They’d given my father back his stride. And I’d given them both nothing but lies, doubt, and one broken heart.
Everything my parents had told me was happy news. But I still longed to pace away the restless weight in my chest. Or bury myself under the sheets in my bed and disappear. Or both.
