Mitch didn’t leave them in suspense for long. “Royal enough to have the ear of a squadron of guards? Or the army?”
“Ahh, now there’s an idea.” Frank moved his hand to his face, and Tasia’s eyes had adjusted to the point that she thought he was scratching his chin as he thought. Mitch sat beside Tasia, still and unbothered while the prince pondered, whereas she had to sit on her hands to keep from fiddling with the hem of her cloak.
“Yes,” Prince Frank said, “yes, I think that can be arranged, but I would have to go in person, and it would take time to get there, explain the situation, mobilize a unit, and bring it back.”
“The winter dance is in three weeks.” Tasia pulled her hands out from under herself to fold them together. “Is that enough time?”
“I was just going to ask how much we had. If I leave today, I think I can make it work.” The royal’s voice came across as placating, which had the unfortunate effect of riling Tasia up more.
“Then you need to leave now!” She bounced on the cushion, increasing the scent of dust in the air tenfold.
A light touch at her back helped center her. Mitch kept his hand there as he spoke to Prince Frank without looking at her. She used the distraction to reel her emotions back in. Now was an unfortunate time to learn that she didn’t handle constant worry very well. The names and details that Mitch was confirming with the prince flittered past her ears without stopping by her memory as she focused on breathing with intent.
“Thank you for the refresher. I wrote down the details I could remember last night; I’m happy to report I didn’t forget anything.” Tasia thought the men were taking their time for her sake, an idea more or less confirmed when Prince Frank leaned closer to look in her face before continuing. “I will head out soon. But I can’t leave without making sure you two have a plan for the next few weeks.”
Mitch’s grunt sounded appreciative to Tasia’s ears.
Tasia blew out a sharp breath. “Thank you, Prince Frank.” The brief break and her purposeful breaths helped ground her. “As far as I can tell, there are a few things that we need to figure out in order to move forward.”
“Where do you suggest we start?” Mitch asked in a way that suggested he was keen to do so.
“Oh. Well—” She looked between the two of them as well as she was able. The clouds hadn’t released their load yet and, impossibly, the cramped library felt even darker than before. “I’m sure one of you has a better idea—”
“Doubt it,” Mitch cut in. “We’ll start our discussion in the order you think best.”
Tasia felt both the weight of that expectation and a lightness borne of his belief in her ability to lead the exchange. That dichotomy led her to spill out her thoughts in a rush. “Well, it would be good to work out how the fire thing is going to happen so we can figure out how to stop it; finding the inside man would definitely help with that—I think—andwith stopping anyone from consuming the filemu, which I would like to find a way to ruin so that Grandmother can’t use the next few deliveries.”
As soon as she stopped to catch her breath, her heart sank. Despite how much of a fool her family thought her to be, she had nursed the hope that they were wrong. That display did nothing to disprove it.
“The fire is a good place to start,” Prince Frank agreed, graciously glossing over the rest of her word vomit. “They would want it to spread fast. Probably start in multiple places at once.”
Mitch and Frank carried the next part of the conversation. Tasia could start a fire in the stove, but she had never done it outside and usually had leftover coals to start with. The men determined that Grandmother’s thugs would most likely set up a number of flammable ignition points around the village, using easy-to-disguise or innocuous containers of some sort that couldbe filled with fire-starting materials to help it spread. Mitch would be able to investigate at night and maybe dismantle them.
“From my own experience, and your comments,” Prince Frank segued, “it doesn’t seem very realistic that you will be able to warn the villagers and solicit their help. Or suss out the inside man.”
Tasia and Mitch tried to exchange a glance, but they were thwarted by the gloom that hadn’t lightened as torrents of water were finally released from the clouds. She thought they both shook their heads at the same time.
Turning back to the prince, she confirmed what he’d said. “Anything we say would be ignored—”
“Or used to run us out of town,” Mitch interjected.
“Or used to run us out of town,” Tasia agreed. “Uncovering the traitor’s identity won’t happen, either, except by accident. I’m afraid protecting the village is up to us. And the army.”
“I’m going soon, I promise,” Prince Frank said. “The next thing you mentioned was stopping people from being subjected to the filemu, correct?”
Warmed that he had remembered the pertinent details of her rapid-fire gibberish (and in the right order), Tasia nodded. Then recalled that he couldn’t see much and said, “Yes.”
The floor creaked and Tasia froze, darting her eyes to the door. Her heart skipped a beat. When she realized the sound had come from Mitch shifting his weight, a sigh of relief slipped out. Her guide slid his hand down her arm until he could entwine their fingers together.
With her mind refocused, she could ask her next question. “How is the drug administered? Do either of you know? We know from Grandmother’s words that it can be drunk, but can it be put inanyfood and drink? Does it need to be heated, or kept cool?”
“I barely remembered that ithasbeen used in the royal hospital of Diomland,” Prince Frank admitted. “I can’t tell you how it was done.”
Mitch sniffed. “I’ve only seen it twice. Yesterday, in its whole-leaf form, and once before, in a glass jar. It seemed to be a powder then, but the glass was brown.”
Tasia perked up. “Were yesterday’s leaves dried? I didn’t look that closely.”
“Yes.”
