“That’s a good instinct. Now. Lift Mr. Evergreen up. Please.”
“What?”
“Come. It’s nearly morning,” I said. “You need to do it and do it now. Before the staff arrives. They’ll be in soon.”
His expression changed.“Why?”
“Willoughby!” I yelled at him, snapping my fingers. “Just lift him forward; I need to see his back.”
“His back?” he asked. “You want me toundresshim for you?”
“Iwantyou to bring him forward,” I said, shoveling the motion with my hands.“Iwill pull up his shirt long enough to see if there’s a mark on it!”
Willoughby was confused and hesitant.
“Now!” I ordered him.“Please.”
He nodded. Then he did as I asked, manipulating the swordsman forward. I peeled back his shirt. And there it was. Deep-in-color and raised. It was a perfect replica despite wear and age.
The Eisson Crest.
Chapter 25
Ishrieked so loudly that I was shocked that the whole Palace did not wake at that very moment. I damned my hands to my face, smothering the tail end of the noise, a noise that made Ser Willoughby lose hold of Mr. Evergreen. His head struck the banister on the way back down into the bed with a thud.
“Oh, my god!” I cried, moving to check his face. I pulled open his eyes but he was out. “Youdroppedhim!”
“You screamed like an absolute banshee!” he quipped. “I was concerned about the bats of Hell soaring through the room!”
“Daniel!” I gasped. I wheezed. I half-screamed again, half-whispered.“Daniel!”
“What!” he asked “What is it?” He looked down at Evergreen then back to me, still catching his breath. “Wait. Does this mean-? But I don’t understand. You said that boy was?—?”
I paced the room. Once. Twice. My hands snaked into my braid. “I think…” I waited a few seconds to justify the thought, but I didn’t want to say it. “I need to see it again,” I said. “I need to see that it was there.”
“It was there,” he said.
“I need to be sure,” I said.
“Youaresure. I’m sure. Isawit,” he said. “Isawthe crest. The horse.”
“...What if we were wrong and it is some other?—”
“Some other what? Horse-shaped brand, Svana? That’s your argument? I saw it. I know it. I wear it on my armor! It’s all over the castle! It’s literally on the dress you’re wearing!”
I followed his eyes as he jeered toward the design. I nodded.
“But what if it’s a different design?” I asked anyway. “What if it’s a statement he had done? I’ve heard they have artists for that sort of thing in Harbourtown.”
“This is not the markings they have in Harbourtown, and I saw it. It’s bloody fucking horse, cousin.”
“Willoughby!” I gasped. “Language!”
“You truly did not know he bore this? That he-? I know way too much about your physical preferences now. I–But wait. When he told you his name was Cyrus, did you not put two and two together?”
“When he-? Oh, you thinkI’mthe moron here, yeah?” I asked, dreadfully offended. “The ostler’s boy was namedWillem!”
“Are yousure?”
