Oh right.“Dark blue means—”Hell, what did blue mean?“—that you’re calm.”
“Calm?” the queen echoed defiantly.
“Your internal body is getting ready for sleep.”
The queen harrumphed as if she didn’t believe any of this, but still, she held her hand out before her quite stiffly and I knew I had her.
“We leave in two mornings,” she finally said, still staring at the ring. “We’ll rally the valley, then head north to take on the Dark Mage. All of us.”
It was exactly what I wanted, but I didn’t want to leave a castle with the fictional man of my dreams for mud-splattered tents. I had to make my move that night.
Everyone was dispersing, the queen’s orders given, and some of the court was already at the door. I walked closer to the board to get a good look at the pattern of pieces, try to memorize the map. Then I saw it.
“Your Grace!”
Queen Elthra spun, furious. “What, Lady Dottie? My internal body is trying to calm itself!”
I pointed at the black piece that hadn’t fallen with the others. “Aren’t you worried that the Dark Mage’s apprentice is this close by?”
Ironclaw stepped around me to look, grazing my upper arm with his elbow. I shivered.
“What of it?” The queen drew my attention back. “She’s nothing without the Dark Mage. Probably fleeing north as we speak.”
I shook my head. It was true the Dark Mage’s apprentice wasn’t a major threat until she returned to Amédée’s side and completed her training in the hours before the final battle, but she still had enough umph to harass the supply lines and cause minor chaos. More than that, an event was going to happen sooner than I thought. Earlier, I didn’t know exactly when it would because it was only referenced in the books as a background event. For whatever reason, the ghostwriter had passed over it, but I’d always thought it should have been a full chapter. I could make that happen right now. Looking at the map, it was clear tonight was the night. “The Dark Mage’s apprentice is going to attack—here. It won’t be a defining blow, but they’ll move under the cover of night and take one of your greatest supporters to use against you.”
Her blue eyes blazed. “Who?”
“Lady Issa.”
“Issa?”
There was a rumble through the room.
This was a perfect way to give Issa more screen time.
Issa’s voice was light enough. She tucked a blond curl behind an ear. “You hear that, sis? I’m your greatest supporter.”
“Oh, shove it. All right.” The queen nodded at two guards. “Put her in—”
“The Vale Tower is fully fortified.” Sir Aaron Key put forward.
“—the stable,” the queen finished.
The handsome Master of Horse stepped forward, a line between his brows, tugging his embroidered doublet straight as he spoke. “But she’ll be utterly unprotected.”
“Issa loves horses. It wouldn’t be unusual for her to wander the night in order to see her only friends in the world.” The queen smirked.
If I was going to make this happen, give emphasis to Issa’s character development, I needed to voice support. “I, for one, support the queen’s good strategic judgment.”
Lord Draw shot me a look. He clearly thought putting the queen’s sister in the stables to be kidnapped by the Dark Mage’s apprentice wasn’t a compelling idea.
“We’ve been trying to get a spy in among Amédée’s convoy for ages,” the queen said. Her blue eyes widened with an idea. “Give her a talking mirror or something. Or one of those stones that glows. She can send back a message.”
“I...don’t have anything of that nature.” I tried not to sound like an amateur.
She rolled her eyes, then looked at her sister. I had to give Issa credit—she looked a little excited at the thought of being captured by the Dark Mage’s apprentice. “You think you can figure out a way to send news back?”
“No need to worry, sister. I’m your greatest supporter, remember? I’m sure I can figure it out.”
