Ordidhe believe me and it was too much to take in? But it’s not as if I told him he didn’t have a soul. His reality was real enough to him and he didn’t know anything different. At the end of it all, Draw would lead his life here—I knew he ended the series with a nice addition to his family estate in return for his services to the crown—and I would go home to Mayfair.
I managed to find my way back to the Maidens’ Chamber—which was empty—and crawled into bed. I slept soundly but woke with a clenched jaw. I relaxed my face and stretched in bed. Afternoon light streamed through the high, narrow windows.
It was then it hit me—I had gone to sleep in Landsome and didn’t wake up at home. Though by this point I believed Sorrel, sleep seemed like a natural time for her to return me. Plus, it was still in the back of my mind that perhaps I was dreaming.
My stomach was odd from whatever liquor Draw had given me in his room and I was truly hungry besides, so I meandered through the castle until I found the great hall where we ate last night. It was mostly empty save a few groups of people talking, breakfast and lunch plates long cleared. Perhaps they were strategizing in advance of tomorrow’s departure.
I sat in front of a sad half loaf on a wooden board and sawed a dry slice.
I chewed the plain brown bread and wished I had a book in front of me. I was self-conscious that people were watching me.
Suddenly, I felt alone.
It was the first time things stopped moving long enough that I could think and I found only uncertainty. The work I’d done to correct the plot felt too small against the ghostwriter’s drastic changes. I’d ruined things with the only person who was trying to help me. I’d seen men get killed and the frenzy I’d talked myself into in Lord Draw’s chambers had made me question whether this place was actually fiction.
Besides, not even in a fantasy land was Ironclaw ever going to climb into bed and whisper about my beauty.
The thing was, I didn’t really want to go home either. I’d return to what? Getting fired by Sara’s uncle? Quiet nights in with Mom and Dad? A sister who had to move halfway across the country to find an interesting life? When wasmylife going to be interesting?
Those thoughts shrank me. I felt it immediately.
What kind of person got the chance to jump into a fantasy world and then didn’t have an adventure? I should be shooting arrows astride a horse or meeting a lusty stableman under a drawbridge. A lion should be giving me a friggin’ sword, for goodness’ sake!
Instead, I was doing what I always did: lunching by myself, skirting the sidelines too scared to do anything else, keeping a portion of myself secret from everyone around me. I had to find out how things went with Issa’s capture—I had work to do!
I dusted the crumbs off my hands and stood. Long strides took me to Queen Elthra’s solar—where I belonged.
I nodded at the guards outside the entrance as I imagined a queen’s confidante would. Without a question as to why I was here, they thrust the wooden doors open and I walked in. The room was much brighter than it was last night. The glass mullion windows lining one wall shone with sun. Queen Elthra sat at the head of a long table behind the large queendom map. Even though he clearly thought me a nuisance, my heart quickened at the sight of Ironclaw, his long black hair collected by a leather thong. Just as instantly, that lightness was replaced with dread when I caught Draw’s eye, mouth set in a line. I didn’t know what or if he’d said anything to the others, but I couldn’t focus on that. I had a monarch to impress.
“At your service, Your Majesty.”
The queen beamed and rose from her head chair with her arms extended. Today her hair was left long and strands of ice-white hair mingled with long gown floats hanging from her thin arms. “Exactly who I was looking for.” She gave a weird kind of smile. “I nearly sent a hunting team.”
Her use of the wordhuntingfelt charged. Was she upset?
“Well,” I said warily, “how can I help?”
“It would seem,” said Queen Elthra, “you haven’t been fully honest with us.”
I shot another look at Lord Draw. His olive eyes tightened and he gave a minute shake of his head.
“We received report that the Dark Mage Amédée is gathering his host at Spectral Peak,” the queen said. “Not in the northeastern forests, like you claimed.” She let her voice hang in the air. She always did seem dramatic on the page, and here she was, her ire turned toward me.
“Spectral Peak?” I was genuinely confused. “But the Dark Mage doesn’t turn there until his last retreat, after much of his forces have been decimated with the help of the valley lands. That’s where you’ll ultimately defeat him, but at no point does his entire host go to the island.”
Had my interference in stopping Ironclaw from going south done this? In one way, it was good news—it shortened the war campaign even further—but if Amédée brought all his might to Spectral Peak, he’d have a higher defensive advantage.
The queen knitted her fingers together and stared at me. It felt like everyone was holding their breath, or maybe just me. A chair scraped against the floor.
“Your Grace, this woman is not to be trusted.” My mouth formed an O as Ironclaw went to stand before his ruler and fiancée. “She is clearly a user of dark magic. I found her wandering the halls late last night. She claimed to be walking while sleeping, but how do we know she wasn’t the one who let the Dark Mage’s apprentice in?” I couldn’t help notice his elegant lips, even while they tore me apart. He was the most handsome man in court—not a hard feat, as many of the other men looked like they’d gone decades without any proper skincare routine, but his hair—
“Lady Issa is gone,” he growled. “We should imprison the Mayfair wench before she can seed any other ill-founded plans.”
“Letting Issa get captured was theplan,” I spoke up angrily. “And you all were happy to jump on it as a way to get a spy in—”
“Us all? You mean me? Me and my judgment?”
I tensed and turned back to the queen. “I provided the information, and you decided, Your Grace. I’m only reminding Sir Ironclaw that all I do is in service of you.”
