The attacker stopped. “I can’t tell you.”
Her dagger raised, Lora walked towards him. “Answer my question, or I won’t spare you this time.” Rhay turned to her, impressed by how well she seemed to be holding it together.
The attacker’s eyes darted around the narrow path. “Let me use the passage to disappear.” He pointed at the centre of the labyrinth. Looking at the ground, Rhay realised there was a trapdoor hidden underneath the grass.
“We’ll let you go if you tell us who is behind the attack,” Lora said.
“I—” the fae started, but his sentence was cut short. The almandine blade of a sword went through his chest before it was pulled out again just as swiftly, mercilessly. The fae dropped dead, revealing Layken standing behind him.
“What have you done?” Lora hissed, storming forward, her eyes wide. “We were about to find out the truth!”
“Saving your ass. I thought that was obvious,” the guard said, staring at his bloodied sword, unbothered.
“We were fine without your help,” Rhay intervened.
Layken raised a doubtful eyebrow. “It looked to me like you were about to have mercy on someone who clearly doesn’t deserve it. You should get back to the palace before you get killed. The king is looking for you, and he wouldn’t appreciate either of your deaths.” Layken waited for them to move.
So Karwyn was all right. It was Lora who spoke again, “I’m not going anywhere until I know what’s behind that door.”
Layken followed her gaze, tilting his head to take a closer look. “A secret door. Doesn’t take a genius to guess that’s where the assailants must have come from.”
“Why wasn’t it guarded?” Lora asked, looking at Rhay now.
Rhay kneeled on the ground as his eyes caught on a shiny object—the emblem of the Quarnian guards. He picked it up; the rose quartz was covered in blood. “Someone got rid of the guard.”
“Why would you keep a door that leads out of the palace? Isn’t that risky?” Lora asked.
Rhay thought about the underground tunnels in Parae and Chrysa. Pivoting towards Layken, he said, “Sometimes you need an escape path. Every palace has something similar. Right, Layken?” The guard’s gaze didn’t give anything away. How much did he know?
Dropping the rose quartz, Rhay got up, pushing his hair back with his dirty, bloodstained hand.
Layken inclined his head to the exit. Whatever was going on here, Layken wouldn’t let them investigate further. Reluctantly, Rhay moved forward. At Layken’s encouragement, Lora followed him, though she seemed even less happy about it than Rhay.
The banquet hall was still in a state of chaos when they returned. Servants took dead bodies out on stretchers while healers worked hard to save the injured royals. Kaylanthea sported a deep cut on her arm, and her husband was tending to her. Rhay bowed his head to her as he walked past.
Queen Kaede was speaking in hushed tones with Rhay’s father. Rhay knew that his father and the queen used to be close. Before his wife’s death, his father had been one of Queen Kaede’s most trusted advisors.
As Rhay was about to join them, Karwyn found him and Lora. “Where in Caelo’s name have you been?”
Rhay questioned whether Karwyn was screaming at them out of real concern. His eyes were shifty, as if he himself wasn’t sure of the intentions behind his words.
Dropping his sword, Rhay’s bones felt heavy. He was so sick of this. Whateverthiswas. “We were investigating the attack,” Rhay said.
“That is not your place,” Karwyn cut him off. “And to think my dear cousin had to fight for her life when she has not even mastered her powers.” He looked Lora up and down, assessing the damage.
“I wasn’t going to run away,” Lora said, her tone challenging.
Karwyn stepped closer to his cousin, a deadly glint surfacing behind his turquoise irises. Sensing his friend’s anger, Rhay fought the urge to use his power on him. After the violent attack, Karwyn’s outburst was not needed.
“Do you have any idea who’s responsible for the attack?” Rhay started as a means of distraction, pulling Karwyn’s attention to him.
His friend scoffed. “Kaylanthea, of course. She refuses to rule over her subjects the hard way, and all of us had to pay the price.” Karwyn glared at the queen, who was now helping out an injured member of her court.
“What price did you pay? You have no injuries,” Lora said, taking Karwyn in as he had previously done to her. His clothes had a few blood stains, but he didn’t seem to have sustained any serious wounds.
“Because I know how to fight without getting hit first. You should try to learn that before throwing yourself into combat, little cousin.”
“Do we know the number of casualties?” Rhay asked, surveying the room.
