He moved to leave, but Petra hung on for just a moment longer. Trying to summon her courage, she whispered, “Okay. Just… be safe. Please.”
“Oh, I’ll be very safe,” he replied, gently breaking away to stride toward the door. “It’s everyone else you should worry about.”
Petra wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do while she waited for Silas’s return, so she sat on the bed and tried to be as quiet as possible. Time crawled by as she strained to hear any small sound, but there was nothing except the gradually increasing noise of the crowd outside.
Minutes stretched too far as she picked at her blankets. Her mind ran in every direction, working through all the possible ways their plan could go right or horrifically wrong.
She was just contemplating being verynot goodand hunting Silas down when the sound of familiar, rapid footsteps reached her.
Petra shot up from the bed, her heart jammed into her throat, as the door to her suite eased open. Rushing out of the bedroom and into the sitting area, she held her breath as she waited for a sign that it was Silas out there. That sign came not a moment later when the shadows around her throat pulsed twice.
Robert’s dear face, pasty except for the blotches of red on his full cheeks, peered out from behind the door. “Your grace?”
Knowing he wouldn’t be able to recognize her through the glamour, she whispered, “It’s me, Robert.”
Gasping, he threw himself inside and nearly slammed the door in Silas’s face.
“Watch it,” her mate growled, shoving her assistant farther into the room.
Robert hardly seemed to notice. He stumbled toward her, and Petra met him with arms extended. His crimson ceremonial robes fluttered with every hasty step.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he wheezed, gripping her hands, “but what are youdoinghere? It’s not safe!”
“Don’t worry about that. Tell me what’s happened since I’ve been gone!” She shot Silas a questioning look, hoping he’d give her some good news and they would get to call everything off. “Are Antonin’s soldiers still here?”
Silas leaned against the door and crossed his arms. He shook his monstrous head. “They’ve taken over a wing.”
Dread washed over her. Searching Robert’s expression, she asked, “What have they done? Did they hurt you? The initiates?”
Shaking his head vigorously, Robert answered, “Nothing! That’s the bizarre thing. They haven’t doneanything.”
She hardly had time to feel any relief when the strangeness of his statement immediately put her on edge. “What do you mean?”
“I thought after the Protector, uh, disappeared and you left, they would ransack the place or try to find you or interrogate us or— But no. Nothing happened. They’ve just acted like nothing’s wrong. All they do is watch us and patrol the grounds. I nearly had a heart attack when one of them asked me what time the ceremony would start yesterday. They hadn’t said a word for weeks.” He leaned in close to whisper, “Your grace, I don’t even think they’ve noticed he’s gone.”
Uneasiness rolled down her spine. “How is that possible?”
“They’re brainwashed, and no one’s been around to change their instructions,” Silas interjected with a shrug.
She and Robert turned to give him identical horrified looks.
Frowning, Silas waved a hand in front of his eyes. “You didn’t notice? There’s nothing going on in there. Every soldier I’ve seen has had the same look, and the one in the bathtub died when whatever it was keeping his brain on a leash hit my wards.” He snapped his shadowed fingers. “Went out like that.”
A chill ran down her spine. “And you never thought to mention this?”
“Never came up.” Silas shrugged. “And I’ve been… distracted.”
Petra opened her mouth to vehemently insist on a later discussion about what information he deemed important to disclose to her, but instead found herself asking,“Bathtub?”
Robert waved away her high-pitched question. “I took care of it, your grace. Don’t worry.”
“Took care ofwhat?A body in a bathtub?” Petra covered her eyes. “Good gods, I’ve got to figure out how to get you a raise.”
“The brainwashing makes sense,” Robert gravely informed Silas. “I’d heard rumors about something like that, but I always thought it was a scare tactic used to keep dissenters in line. And there’ve been stories about luminists being forcefully recruited for years. The more talented, the more likely they were to just disappear one day. The way they’ve acted, though… It’s like they’re toy soldiers just waiting for someone to play with them.”
“That’s exactly what they are,” Silas replied, “and they’re about to come to life.”
Robert squeezed her arm reflexively. “Why? What’s happening?”
