“My queen?” Calista said, dragging me back to the conversation. “What’s your decision?”
“Please don’t send us back.” Near desperation filled Moira’s voice.
A shiver dragged through me. I could barely pay attention to what was going on inside the carriage. “I feel like something’s watching us.”
Lore whispered low in a language I’d never heard before, but he knew many. His new ward unfurled like a ribbon, wrapping around the carriage and sealing it from listening ears and prying eyes.
Moira’s head swiveled toward the window. “What is it?” Her hands were still cold. Poor thing must be terrified.
“Nothing we can see,” I said. “It’s probably just nerves.” Or not, but I wouldn’t name anything else.
Lore finished the ward with a flick of his fingers. “Done.”
Calista’s whitened fingers clutched the edge of her seat. “Should we be worried? Those things that attacked us…” Her entire body quivered.
“We fought them off,” Lore said.
Dragging her clammy hand from mine, Moira met my gaze. “This is why we have to go with you.”
I stared at her, caught between caution and the trust we’d built.
“We know how to move unnoticed.” Moira's hands tightened on the carriage bench. “While you're navigating court politics and trying to stay alive, we can listen at doorways, chat with servants. We'll hear the whispers you won’t.”
Calista opened her mouth, then closed it again. She looked from Moira to me, fear shadowing her eyes.
Moira leaned forward, her gaze meeting mine. “You won’t be able to slip away from court without drawing attention. You’ll be surrounded by fancy lords and ladies, the conniving type. You’ll be trying to survive the day and win each competition without offending someone who might come after your head. We can move through the halls. We can linger in the kitchen and gossip with servants. We’ll hear what isn’t meant to reach your ears.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “And what happens if someone catches either of you listening?”
“We won’t let them. We won’t draw suspicion. Besides, if someone’s watching now, they may already suspect something. Sending us away won’t eliminate that.”
I glanced at Lore. He was watching Moira with the same hard calculation he’d used in the labyrinth when studying the latest trap.
Finally, he nodded once.
The bond between us hummed with shared understanding.He'd protect them as fiercely as he protected me, not because duty demanded it, but because they mattered to us both.
“Alright,” I said, still not liking this, but what other option was there? “You two will go with us for now. But if either of believe you’ve been compromised, no, if I see even a hint that you have been, you’ll return to Evergorne.” One flit, and we could leave them behind. “No arguments.”
Moira nodded solemnly. “Agreed.”
“I can’t see any other way around it,” was Calista’s answer.
“And you wear the rings at all times.”
“Of course,” they said together.
“I still don’t like it,” Calista muttered, her arm sliding around Moira’s shoulders. “But we have to do this.”
Moira kissed her mother’s cheek.
The wind shifted outside, rocking the vehicle, and one of the zephyls stomped its feet. I glanced out the window again, but I didn’t see anything of concern.
But the feeling remained, like an invisible person breathing on the back of my neck.
Lore met my gaze and gave a slight shake of his head.
If something’s watching, they won’t touch any of you,he said.Not while I breathe.
