“What is there?” Linn asked. “Is it the artifact?”
Before he had a chance to respond, another voice called out from inside the chambers. “Your Majesty?”
King Darias pressed a finger to his lips. Slowly, he began to retreat, his expression returning to the blank vacancy of earlier. A placid smile curled on his lips, and by the time the King turned back to his chambers, Linn might have believed every part of the act of the puppet king he was putting on.
Her mind was abuzz with the information she had learned, and she needed to get back to Ana to discuss. Linn slipped over the balustrade. Before she left, she took a last glance intothe King’s chambers. A soft golden light emanated from inside; thebillowing white curtains had swallowed everything but the boy’s voice.
“The moon is bright and beautiful tonight,” sang King Darias. “And there are monsters on it.”
The Kingdom of Bregon and its Three Courts duly request the presence of Anastacya Mikhailov at Godhallem at eight bells of the evening.
Yours,
Darias Rennaron
King of Bregon
The note lay on the oakwood surface of her parlor table, where Ana and Linn’s breakfast was splayed out with an extravagant assortment of rolls stuffed with caviar, cured meats, plates of tiny salted fish drenched in sweet sauce, and platters of tropical berries. Ana had just finished listening to Linn recount the extraordinary events of the previous night, including her conversation with King Darias.
“I knew they were hiding things,” she murmured. “And they expect me to negotiate tonight.”
The Queen Regent dead, a government cover-up, and a possible new lead. Ana chewed on a slice of buttered bread, considering it all. It seemed she’d stumbled into more than she’d bargained for. With a hostile foreign government, her task had just grown insurmountably harder.
Not to mention, the person she needed most, the only one of them who could help her navigate this tangle of lies and deception, was gone. Ramson had kept true to his word: He had left. Ana had passed Ramson’s door on her way to her room last night, and a quick sweep of her Affinity told her the room was empty.
Linn leaned closer, ignoring her cup of steaming black tea. “We must get to the bottom of this, before you agree to an alliance tonight. What is an ally hiding secrets but a potential snake in the nest?”
It was an apt Kemeiran proverb to describe their situation. Head Scholar Tarschon had lied to her face about the Queen, and about the whereabouts of the artifact. “I’m going to request to speak with King Darias,” Ana said. If the Bregonian government was asking for a meeting tonight, she needed to cut straight to the source.
“What about the research wing that King Darias told me about?” Linn asked.
Ana hesitated. Linn had said the wing would be heavily guarded; there was no use risking a break-in the day of her negotiation. “Can you take watch there for the day, and meet me at the Livren Skolaren at six bells?”
Linn nodded. “I go now,” she said, finishing the rest of her food in several quick bites. “Kaïs stays with you.” She narrowed her eyes. “I do not trust anyone in this kingdom.”
Ana smiled at her friend’s concern. “I can take care of myself.”
After Linn left, Ana changed into a crisp ocean-blue dress. Kaïs wasn’t in his room, to her surprise, and after a quick search of the Ambassador’s Suites yielded nothing, Ana decided to set out alone.
She headed for King Darias’s chambers, two of the Royal Guards stationed outside her door trailing her. She’d studied a map of the Blue Fort; the King’s chambers were located in the building directly behind Godhallem. The air was balmy, warmer even than that of Southern Cyrilia. The sky was overcast today, and a wind had picked up, rattling the grasses and slamming doors and window shutters.
Ana ascended the steps to the King’s residency and found herself blocked by an entire squad of Royal Guards. Their livery, navy blue with emblems of the Sea Court emblazoned on silver plates, reminded her of Sorsha’s.
One stepped forward, the badge of a silver shield on his chest marking his higher rank. He saluted. “Can I help you?”
Caution tightened inside her. These were Sorsha Farrald’s men, and if Ana guessed right, they were the ones poisoning the King.
Ana schooled her features into careful blankness. “I’d like to request a meeting with King Darias Rennaron.”
“My apologies, meindame. King Darias is not taking guests at the moment.”
“Would you convey my request to him?” she asked, but at that moment, footsteps sounded from inside and a man pushed through the doors.
His uniform was different from those of the Royal Guard: lighter blue, with brown shoulder pads and stripes, bronze buttons dotting the sleeves. As he descended the steps to her, one hand on the hilt of the sword strapped to his hips, Ana saw that the badge on his chest was the rearing stallion of the Earth Court.
He stopped sharply before her and saluted. “Captain Ronnoc of the King’s Guard,” he said. “Can I help, meindame?”
The Royal Guards fell back with a noticeable ripple of tension. It seemed the King’s Guard was a separate branch from the Royal Guard, dedicated to the protection of the King himself.
