With a roll of her eyes, she faced forward again. “Of course she wasn’t.” She meant to say it in good humor, but it came out with a bitter edge. What was wrong with her lately?
“He and I communicate daily through Berol,” Teryn said as he resumed brushing. “He left his generals in charge of watching Vera’s shores in case the naval fleet threat was real, but he’ll come to our aid in allying with El’Ara. I’m certain he’d prefer to oversee the soldiers stationed there.”
Cora pursed her lips. It was a bit reckless of Larylis to leave Vera at a time like this, but she understood too. He’d never truly wanted to be king. He’d only wanted to be with Mareleau.
Of course he did. Everyone loves Mareleau. Your own husband wanted to be with her at one time. Remember?
Her hands curled into fists at the bitter words. The last part wasn’t even true.Stop it! Stop thinking like that. Mareleau is my friend. These feelings aren’t mine.
“When will you need to return?” Teryn asked. “If we’re going to march Elvyn soldiers from where I imagine the tear is…”
Cora still hadn’t dared state its location out loud. She would save that for the council meeting they’d have tomorrow. When they could post guards around the room and destroy evidence afterward. Even though they continued to whisper, Cora couldn’t shake the fear of having a traitor in the castle.
“I’ll need to leave soon,” she said. “It will take at least two weeks to march soldiers to the border.”
There was still so much more to discuss. Most could wait for the council meeting, but there was something she wanted to get off her chest. Something that filled her with a hollow dread. She wasn’t sure she could share it with anyone but Teryn.
As if sensing her turmoil, Teryn paused his ministrations and set the brush on the bed beside them.
She angled herself around to face him. “The worst part about allying with the Elvyn…” The words dried on her tongue. She swallowed hard and tried again. “Is that we’ll be fighting for our eventual exile from Lela.”
Teryn paled. He opened his mouth, but it wasn’t he who spoke next.
“Not if you ally with me.”
42
Cora’s heart shot into her throat as she whirled to face the stranger in their room. Teryn leaped off the bed at once, pulling Cora with him and positioning her behind him. She reached for her waist, but her hands met only air. Seven devils, she’d left her dagger in the armory. Teryn at least had the good sense to lunge for the fireplace poker and brandished it toward the intruder.
The man made no move aside from tilting his lips in an amused grin.
He was on the late end of middle-aged, tall and slender, his posture somehow dignified as he leaned against the far wall, ankles crossed. His salt-and-pepper hair was swept away from his brow to reveal a strong nose and silver-blue eyes that bore an unmistakable intensity. He was dressed in all black from his trousers to the military-style coat he wore. There was nothing familiar about the coat’s design to distinguish which military he represented.
Everything about his presence screamedwrong, even before she noticed the knife he toyed with.
“I’m glad to see you’ve finished,” the man said. There was something familiar about his voice. “The stamina you young people have.”
Stamina. What was he talking about? Had he…
“Who are you?” Teryn asked, voice deadly calm.
“I’m not surprised you don’t recognize me, but surely Her Majesty would. No? Ah, it’s the absence of bruises, isn’t it? You should pay better attention to the people you have beaten at your command.”
Understanding clicked into place. “You’re…the Norunian spy.”
It shouldn’t have been possible. Even without the bruises, there was little to link them by appearances alone. He seemed taller, and far less rough around the edges. But that voice. It held a more distinguished quality, but he was just as well-spoken as the man she’d interrogated in the dungeon. With a deep breath, she opened her senses.
His energy was one and the same.
This was the prisoner who’d faked his own death. Freed by someone in the castle and replaced with a decoy body. And from what he’d said…
The stamina you young people have.
Nausea turned her stomach. Had he been…watching them? Their most private moment? It was one thing to enjoy the thrill of getting caught by people she trusted. Enemies were different. There was nothing thrilling about that. It was simply violating.
Had he been inside her castle all this time, lurking in the shadows?
Teryn shifted to the side, deepening his defensive stance. He opened his mouth and gathered in a sharp breath, as if prepared to shout, but the spy spoke first.
