“Are you our biological father?” Hart growls.
“I really hope not,” I mutter so low the king misses it.
Arthur throws his head back and laughs. “Of course I am your father. It is I who watched your mothers birth you into this world, who provided for you and guided you.”
Something odd tightens in my chest. I’ve felt it before, but never really understood it until this moment. Arthur is being untruthful to his sons and to his storyline.
“You’re lying,” Nash guesses.
“I have bent the rules, but only for the good of the kingdom,” he offers.
Ah, this old chestnut.I did evil things, but I promise they were for good reasons.
“Explain,” Nash demands.
Arthur opens his arms wide in a welcoming arc. “Stay for the feast, and tomorrow we shall dine and discuss all that has been and all that will be.”
Stay? Oh no, that wasn’t part of the plan. We were meant to pump him for all the information we could get, then scoot from the castle before nightfall like a bunch of Cinderellas escaping the ball.
“Fine, but I want the truth,” Nash says. He grabs my hand and drags me out of the great hall. The door slams closed behind us, and I glance over my shoulder. One, two, three. Yup, got them all.
“Why did you do that?” I whisper. “I distinctly remember you saying we would be back for the evening meal so I could stock up on sausage.”
He laughs under his breath. “We will stay tonight. It wasn’t the plan, but now it is.”
“I am not good with unplanned changes. I like to map out where my next sausage is coming from and how I will receive it. Don’t fool me into thinking that your father is going to just host us this evening. He has devious written all over him.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m not following.” They want to get attacked or whatever Arthur is planning?
“Tonight he shows his hand, and tomorrow we cut it off. Whatever he is planning will help us navigate this tangled web of lies.”
I blink at Nash. “That is so smart.”
“Thank you.”
The brothers yank me down a hallway. “Where are we going?”
“Our chambers, and to find you a dress for the evening.”
Ugh, me and dresses and feasts? Have we learned nothing? Nope? Okay. Well then, whatever happens is on their heads, because we are taunting the Idols like it’s a sport. Pity I’ve never been good at sports. They have rules. I can barely remember the rules, let alone follow them.
Chapter
Fifteen
Istand in the center of a room and struggle to pick my jaw up off the floor. The knights’ chambers in the Hallowed Palace are rich, but these are lavish. They are in their own mini castle attached to the rear of the main castle. A baby castle for the baby knights. The main castle is full of statues of their father and paintings of his great deeds, which I suspect are a lie. Arthur appears to rotate between his throne and his bed. He doesn’t have the time to save damsels and whatever else he’s lied about. I dive into the four bedchambers, easily picking out their individual rooms according to their decoration and items. Nash’s with his neat stacks of books, Hart’s with his military precision, Theo’s with scorch marks on the walls, and Malachi’s, whose room is as chaotic as the knight who owns it.
They say nothing as I complete my perusal of their living quarters and make my way out to an enormous glass-domed indoor garden. The sweet smell of honeysuckle hangs heavy in the air. In the very center of the oasis is a large bathing pool filled to the brim with crystal-clear water and floating lily pads. I unclip my cloak, dump it on the floor, and tug off my boots before dropping to my butt at the edge of the water. The second my feet sink into the cool water, I sigh. Being carted around onhorseback takes its toll on one’s feet. So long as there are no frogspawn, this is basically Idylican. Plus, I feel a new affinity for water. Being the queen of the ocean will do that.
The knights join me by tugging off their boots and dipping their toes in.
“We need a strategy tonight,” Hart says, breaking the silence surrounding us.
I close my eyes and lean back on my elbows. I am not good at strategy—I live by the seat of my pants.
“We survive both the feast and the night. Come morning, we demand answers,” Malachi says like it’s that easy. If it was, surely we would have been successful ten tempos ago, and we’d now be on our way back to the Hallowed Palace with the answers tucked securely in our brains.
