“My shadows have heard whispers of Ambriellan rebels,” Lady Kerova said. “Masked riders in the Verian Hills on Illucia’s coast who have been disrupting shipments of goods from the islands.”
“Could you send someone to get in contact with them?” I asked.
She nodded.
“Then do it. Tell them I want to set up a meeting.”
Caliza straightened. “That’s not safe. Forget whether these people are trustworthy or not; if Razel caught you…” She trailed off.
The back of my neck prickled, but I didn’t give the fear purchase. “I won’t waste any more time, Caliza, and I won’t hide while other people fight for my kingdom. I’m doing this, no matter the risk.”
She didn’t argue. Out of the corner of my eye, Kiva grinned at me.
“You should release the Jin prisoner in your dungeons to my custody,” Lady Kerova said. “I will take him with me to Jindae as a show of good faith.”
“What about the prince?” Captain Mirkova asked. “If he discovers the prisoner is gone or who he left with, it will raise suspicions.”
“Then we convince him the prisoner is dead,” Caliza suggested.
“He won’t believe we executed him without a trial,” I said.
“Then we convince him he took his own life to protect his people’s secrets,” Lady Kerova said. “Leave it to me. I’ve had a shadow on him since he arrived who can feed him false information.” As leader of the Kerova Wing, she commanded the division of our army responsible for spies. Even without their crows, her shadows were still unsurpassed.
“Has your shadow learned anything about the prince?” I asked. “I caught him snooping about the castle halls last night.”
Lady Kerova’s face darkened, a disquieting look on her normally serene features. “The prince has proven himself difficult to follow. My shadow has lost him twice already.”
Kiva frowned. “Shadows don’t lose their marks.”
“It would appear the prince is skilled in disappearing,” Lady Kerova replied. “His shadow is still unsure how he managed it.”
Another thing about Ericen that didn’t make sense. It was about time I learned a little more about him, and our weeklong journey to Illucia would be the perfect chance.
We finished discussing some of the specifics of our plan, including the passwords Lady Kerova’s shadows would use to identify themselves. The swift messenger birds they raised and trained would be our main source of communication, our letters containing benign conversation on one side and true messages hidden in invisible ink on the back, only to be revealed by firelight once the ink was coated in a special black powder.
There was one topic I’d selfishly avoided addressing so far. Taking a breath, I asked, “What do we do with the egg?”
Caliza frowned. “I’d assumed you were taking it.”
“Into Illucia?” Captain Mirkova asked, saying exactly what I’d feared someone would. It didn’t make sense for me to take the egg, not when I didn’t have any idea how to hatch it.
“We may not have a choice,” Lady Kerova said. “I may not have been privy to the secrets of crow hatching, but I believe it is something only the royal family can do. Why else would we bring all the eggs to the royal rookery, where often the current king or queen is the only one present when they hatch?”
Jittery anticipation filled my veins. This sounded like what I’d read about magic lines in that dusty journal. If only the royal family could hatch the crows, then it had to be me or Caliza.
My hope dwindled. “So then the egg stays with Caliza.”
Caliza snorted. “I wouldn’t know the first thing to do with it, let alone if I actually managed to hatch it. It’s a risk sending the egg with you, but if only one of us can hatch it, we have a much better chance if the one trying is you.”
The others nodded, and relief swept through me. “And what if I figure it out? I’ll need a way out of Illucia.”
“Part of this plan relies on you finding a way to obtain some level of autonomy,” Caliza replied. “If you can’t, there will be no meeting with Ambriellan rebels or even much room for working on the egg. But if you can get it, we can get a ship into Port Maranock just outside Sordell to bring you home.”
And if I couldn’t, then I might be stuck in Illucia permanently. For a moment, I let the implication settle. Drawing a deep breath, I said, “If the other kingdoms ally with us and I can’t escape, Razel will use me against you.”
Kiva stiffened, her hand going to her sword as if to battle the words. She would fight with me if that happened, and the thought eased the twinge of uncertainty in my chest. We would fight together, as we always did.
I locked eyes with Caliza, steel meeting steel. “If that happens, I want you to do it anyway.”
