“So, she’ll spy in spite of herself,” I murmur.
“Exactly.”
Brilliant.
He shoves open the doors with a burst of magic, revealing a grand room that reminds me of my father’s War Room in the Sky Kingdom, only paler and glitzier. Instead of ebony and stone-gray, this room is all flaxen wood, glass, and ice-blue velour with a vault-like door at the rear.
Funny that I’ve explored every inch of the capital and most of Voshna, but so little of the castle. Well,not funnyper se. I haven’t mapped out the castle, because it felt wrong to poke around Konstantin’s domain. Also, I couldn’t imagine Svyato and Mestyla hiding within the palace walls.
“Kostya?” Salom startles from his king’s irruption but recovers fast and rises from his seat at the slab of glass that rests on a pedestal fashioned from giant silver snowflakes. “I was just about to come find you.”
Konstantin peers around the room, his gaze steadying on the vault door. Sure enough, a heartbeat sounds from that direction.
After a protracted beat of silence, the Ice King redirects his stare on the Faerie governor. “Sofiya’s waiting for you upstairs, Dimitri. She’s very impatient to depart for Voshna.”
I expect him to tack on a question about his reasons for sending her to spy, but he doesn’t. I suppose he’ll find out soon enough, seeing as she must report back to him. Or perhaps he doesn’t enquire because he already knows?
The instant the governor exits and the double doors seal behind him, Salom says, “Ksenia has been splitting her nights between her grandparents’ home and Zaslofsky’s. No sign of Mestyla in either, though. Dimitri even swore—under salt oath—that he’s never even heard the girl’s name mentioned.” Salom’s amber gaze sweeps to my hand, cradled in Konstantin’s. “All the governors have been informed to spread the news of our bounty to their High Fae comrades and goad them to share it amongst the servants.”
“They’ve all left?” Konstantin asks.
“Yes.” When Salom nods to the vault door, I presume he’s about to mention Vance, but instead, he says, “They boarded the train about a half hour ago. Ilya accompanied them.”
There’s a train inside the vault?
“Did Yuri have any interesting things to say about the Volkovs?”
The Volkovs…“Tiana doesn’t like them,” I volunteer.
“No one likes them,” Salom mutters brusquely.
“Save for Bohdan Zaslofsky,” I point out.
“They’re cousins,” he explains, even though I’m already aware of the family ties.
“The wardens allowed Sofiya to wander over the castle’s roof and peep through Isla’s bedchamber window.” Konstantin’s news widens his general’s stare. “Please deal with the necessary demotions, Salom.”
“Immediately.” He rises from his chair. “Should I deal with Sofiya as well?”
“I’ve already seen to that, but you might have to pacify your dear friend Patchenkov.” The tilt of Salom’s eyebrows has Konstantin adding, “She’s alive.”
Salom treads toward the door, short plait lying flat against his broad back. When he exits without mentioning Vance, it’s my eyebrows that slope.
Could he truly not have spotted the Serpent in the room? Sure, he’s invisible, but full-blooded Faeries have exceptional hearing. How did he miss the shifter’s presence? Have Salom’s senses dimmed with age? Then again, Bisnonno is decades older, and he doesn’t miss a thing.
As the door snicks shut, and the Fae’s footsteps peter out, I find myself wondering if Aodhan sent Vance to offer assistance to the general should one of the governors try something. Even though I cannot figure out what it is theycouldtry… They may not like shifters, or Konstantin’s new laws, but they aren’t the ones behind the terror attacks.
Unless they’re abetting the insurgents?
Konstantin flicks his stare in the direction of the round door. “Care to explain why Aodhan would send you to spy on my general, Vance?”
Spy…
“Your brother-in-law is merely dotting all his ‘i’s.” Vance’s voice sounds a second before he appears.
“Salom’s like a father to me.” What of his earlier doubts?
“And Vladimir was a father to Alyona,” Vance points out.
