“He’ll cut himself.”
“That’s what he said,” Kaiden said. “He also said cutting myself would teach me to be careful with it.”
Gort, a fan of consequence parenting.
“Get your knife ready,” I told Kaiden.
He raised his dagger.
I pulled the top off the scroll case and tapped it on the table. The edge of a scroll came out. No snakes.
I pinched the edge of the scroll and pulled it out. Slowly.
Nothing, except the scroll itself. It was thin and light with a trace of golden flecks embedded in the paper.
“Gilded vellum,” Clover whispered.
“Expensive?” I guessed.
“Very.” She nodded.
I unrolled the scroll and read out loud, “His Royal Majesty, King Sauven Savaric, the Sword and Shield of Rellas, father of the nation, long may he reign . . . blah blah blah, it’s good to be the king, very impressive . . . invites the bearer of this scroll to bask in the presence of His Majesty at the Joedurar on the twentieth of Redberry . . .”
Clover gasped.
“A snake would’ve been better,” Shana said.
I read the scroll again. It didn’t say anything different.
“You can’t go,” Gort said. “It’s too dangerous.”
“I absolutely have to go,” I said.
“Gort is right. Nothing good can come from being near Sauven,” Shana said. “He’s not right in the head.”
“This didn’t come from Sauven. If the king wanted to see me, he would wave his hand, and people in armor with scary weapons would drag me out of this house and deliver me to him.” I tapped the vellum. “These invitations are sent in batches. Meaning if Sauven wants to see Everard at the joedurar, he will send him not just one, but several invitations, which Everard will then distribute among his people. Every Great Family gets a few. This is probably one of those extras.”
“Could it have come from His Grace?” Clover wondered.
“Not a chance. It isn’t from Solentine either. If it was, the Shears would’ve hand-delivered it with explanations.”
Neither Everard nor Solentine would want me anywhere near the joedurar. To borrow Everard’s metaphor, Rellas was an ocean of monsters and going to the joedurar would be like jumping into the deepest part of it.
“If it isn’t from the king directly, then all the better,” Shana said. “Sauven doesn’t know you exist. If you skip, nobody will know.”
“It doesn’t matter if it didn’t come from Sauven directly. Ignoring it is still treason against the Throne. And it’s not just me. I’m now a lady of a noble family, and everything I do in public reflects on my parents and relatives. If I don’t go, the entire Demarr family could be in hot water.”
Shana swore. Clover stared into space, her eyes distant.
“But does anyone even know you’re a Demarr?” Will asked.
“There is no way to tell. Solentine could’ve updated some official records somewhere. Sauven sent him home to fetch his father in person. That tells me that he is paying close attention to the Demarrs right now. I can’t afford to give him any excuse to find fault with them. Whether anyone knows or not doesn’t matter. The fact is, I’m now Lady Marigold Demarr. I have to conduct myself as my name dictates.”
“Everard said not to let you out of the house,” Kaiden said. “Before he left, he talked to Gort, Will, and Lute, and he said that if something happened to you, he would not forgive.”
Thank you, Your Grace. So lovely of you to terrorize the Magnars. “And where were you when that talk took place?”
“Hiding on the wall above them.”
