A glance back outside is all it takes for me to see she’s right. My footprints from earlier still mark the snow.
The rain … it must have been Kyor. It’s not just lightning, but the entire spectrum of the storm he controls. I wonder if he even knew he was doing it.
‘You need to get dry.’ Llinos chews on her bottom lip. ‘It’ll be cold, but it’ll be fast, and then you can head to one of the fires to warm up.’
I’m about to ask what the hell she’s talking about when the blast hits me. Pure cold air whips through my hair and dress, covering every inch of my skin in goosebumps and instantly making me start to shiver.
‘Better,’ she says appraisingly as she steps back. ‘But as I said, you need to get warm.’ She grimaces. ‘And give your hair a brush. Come on, let’s find Kay and get you by a fire.’
A quick squeeze of my hair tells me that party trick of hers works well. Wind weaver, seamstress extraordinaire, and walking hair dryer. Some friends come with real benefits.
As I make my way back into the ballroom, it’s almost impossible to believe that this is the same place where, less than an hour ago, the king was attacked and one of the most beloved commanders of his guards was killed. The wine is flowing even more freely than before and the music is beating out a quick, jovial pulse to which men and women are throwing themselves across the dance floor. The sight of it curdles my stomach.
‘Rose, where did you go?’ Jonas is on me before I’ve even had a chance to look for Kay. ‘And what happened to your hair?’
‘It’s a new style,’ Llin answers for me.
‘Have you seen Kay?’
He frowns for a moment, obviously dissatisfied with both our responses, though he replies all the same. ‘I saw her heading into one of the antechambers.’
‘The antechambers?’
‘Down the corridor.’
‘Which one?’ I begin, only to shake my head. ‘It’s fine. I’ll find her.’
I stride towards a corridor with an arched ceiling and gilded frescoes and swing open the first door I come to. The first room is occupied by a group of middle-aged women who all fall silent the moment they see me, but as Kay isn’t among them, I couldn’t care less. The second door is more of the same, but when I open the third, there is a couple whispering together on one of the sofas.
Anger and heat roll through me, though before I get a word out, Hew spots me and jumps to his feet.
‘We thought it was best to move away from the ballroom. You know, with the rebels and everything.’
‘The rebels who’ve already been killed?’ Hew might have gone up in my estimation with the way he protected Kay during the riot, but he’s plunged right back down again. Bringing an unmarried woman alone into a room like this isn’t exactly protecting her reputation. And judging by the way he’s shuffling awkwardly, he knows it.
‘You two must have a great deal to catch up on.’ His voice is bright, unnaturally so considering the evening we’ve just had. ‘I shall leave you ladies in peace. Rose.’ He takes my hand and kisses it gently, though my arm remains rigid the entire time. He then turns back to Kay, who already has her hand out, ready and waiting.
‘Kay, I will call for you tomorrow?’
‘It will be the highlight of my day,’ Kay replies, holding his gaze for a fraction too long for me to feel comfortable. A moment later, he turns away and leaves.
‘No,’ I say, trying to keep my voice measured. ‘Whatever is going on there, or whatever you think you might want to happen, it ends now.’
‘What?’ Kay tries to feign innocence and fails. I know my sister way too well for that. ‘He was just being friendly.’
‘No,’ I snap out. ‘He’s not.’ I’m fully aware of exactly how hardheaded I sound, and I really don’t give a shit. Protecting Kay has been the central purpose of my life for years, and I’m not failing her now. ‘Kay, he is not the type of person you want to be friends with. You don’t even know him.’
‘No,youdon’t know him,’ she stresses, sitting ramrod straight. ‘You’ve said all but three words to him. I, on the other hand, have spent several hours with him today and on many other occasions. Artur and Hew’s father are good friends, and I can tell you, he’s a good man, a really good man.’
Fuck. Of course Kay would think that. She thinks that about everyone. She could meet Mortidem, with his black cane and red eyes, and she’d probably just compliment him on how well the colours go together. And I can tell from the way she bites down ever so slightly on the corner of her mouth that there’s no chance she’s going to listen to me on this one.
‘Can you just keep your guard up around him?’ I beg, hoping for a middle ground. Though rather than agreeing, she chuckles. ‘Why are you laughing? I’m not joking,’ I huff.
‘No, I know you’re not. But you sounded like Hew just now. He was telling me to keep my guard up and not to trust the people at court. You should have heard the long warning he gave me before you got here tonight. He was worried people would try to pry information about you from me to exploit your weaknesses in the next trial.’
‘He said that to you?’
That’s definitely not the conversation I thought the pair of them were having, but then maybe I should give Kay more credit. No matter how much I think of her as a little kid, she’s not. In fact, she’s old enough to have entered the Retterheld herself. The thought makes me feel physically sick.
