“I wish I could, but…it’s…it’s all too much.” He drags a hand over his face. “Of all the nights… Why are you here? What do you want from me?”
“I need your help. My friend is in danger. The performer.” I swallow. “The one who rescued me.”
“The one who rescued you,” he repeats. Then his eyes widen further. “The female with the bounty on her head? The one the Ruler General is searching for? She’s here in this very court?” His face crumples. “This is getting worse by the second, Baldwin…um…no…you’re not him… You’re not.”
“I am a version of him. He and I are the same person.”
“Not really.”
“Call me Sebastian,” I tell him.
He chokes out a sob. “I can’t call you that. You’re…you’re…him…the king.”
“I’m your friend. I insist that you call me Sebastian, please. There isn’t much time. I need to reach her before something goes wrong. I need you to take me to her.”
“I can’t.”
“Please.”
Ferris looks at me for a long time. Then he looks at the corridor behind me, toward the kitchen, toward safety and normalcy and a life that doesn’t involve hiding fugitives among the salted meats.
“I liked Baldwin. I’m sure you’re…just as nice, but I’m not getting involved.” He raises both hands. “I have a good job here. A good life. It’s not much, but it’s mine, and I don’t want to lose it. I’m just a lowly human; there is nothing I can do for you. I can’t help a king. I can hardly help myself.”
“You are needed, Ferris. I wouldn’t ask if there was another way.”
He still looks unconvinced. His eyes dart left and right.
“Have you seen the rot and decay in the deadlands?” I ask.
He pauses. His mouth opens and then closes. “I have,” he says, nodding too many times.
“Have you heard about the humans in the mines? Working until their backs give out. Until they drop dead from exhaustion.”
Ferris looks at the ground. His jaw works. “I’ve heard about them but…”
“The female who needs help tonight is part of the key that will end Snow’s rule. She is important, Ferris. More important than either of us. She is important to me.”
“Do you love her?”
I pull in a breath. “I…um…yes, I believe I do.” I’m shocked at the admission. “Although I will admit I haven’t known her for very long.”
“My father and mother married after just one week, and they are still as in love today,” Ferris says. “But…I’m sorry, I don’t see how one person can make a difference to the realm. I know you love her Bald…um…Sebastian, but I…I can’t.”
“One person who is very strong. One person who has the ability to stand up to the queen. Get enough of such people, and you have an army. It starts with one. Just one. It will start with her. She is the key.”
Silence stretches between us. Somewhere in the kitchen, a pot clangs against stone.
Ferris pulls in a breath. He lets it out, slow and long.
“What do you need me to do?”
Relief hits me hard. I haven’t won yet, but it’s a start.
“I need you to get me into the Ruler General’s chamber.”
Ferris rubs the back of his neck. His eyes are calculating now, running through logistics the way I’ve heard him run through new recipes a hundred times. “She’s already eaten dinner,” he says. “But she often requests wine and something sweet later inthe evening. The order hasn’t come through yet tonight, but it’s expected.”
“Can you get me past the guards?”
