He took a step back. “Did your mother send you?”
“No, I’m here against her wishes.”
What was it that she saw on his face? Caution? Fear?
“Are you in trouble?” he asked.
“No, but everybody else will soon be.” She gritted her teeth, struggling to say more. Perun had muddled her memories of war, leaving the echoes of its monstrous toll, but erasing the details. “Did you find the Seragians who attacked us?”
“No, not yet.” He shook his head. “The city is full of people; they melted into the crowd. The one they left behind had nothing to identify him by. He’s in the city morgue, but I doubt anyone will claim him.”
“Do you know of any reason why they would attack the prince?” she asked.
“Prince Amron told me they mistook him for his brother at first. If a group of Seragian mercenaries was after the crown prince the day before his wedding to a Seragian princess—” He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, and it was obvious he hadn’t slept that night. “The guard controls the whole city, we banned the weapons, we check everyone who comes in, and still they fooled us somehow. I’ve raised the alarm, the king knowswhat happened. The Seragian ambassador will be here in the morning.”
Would it be enough? When Amron and Liana ran into the night, the trajectory of events changed, the Seragians attacked Amron instead of his brother, and Amril pulled out unscathed. Now every guard in the city was on the lookout for troublemakers. Would it be enough to stop the war?
Stop it?a nasty voice whispered in her head.If you hadn’t arrived, Amron and Amril would have remained at Celandina’s the whole night and there would’ve been no one to attack. How about that?
“I think you should be as cautious as possible,” Liana said, shutting down the voice. “I think the attack will not stop here. There will be blood.”
She could almost hear it coming, the red wave, ready to break over the city and leave a trail of bodies behind it.
He narrowed his eyes. “Is there anything specific you might tell me? Anything useful?”
Somebody important will die. Not Amron, no, he survived the bloodbath in Abia, but another royal. His father? His brother? She couldn’t remember. “Watch the royal family closely. This is not the last attempt.”
His exhaustion hovered on the brink of anger. “That’s irritatingly vague, Liana. Give me something I can work with.”
She bit her lip so hard she drew blood. “If you fail tomorrow, there will be a war, and it will drag on for years.”
He huffed in frustration. “You sound just like them, you know.” He motioned towards the sky. “Like one of those veiled, dramatic prophesies that become clear only after the events have played out.”
Liana was just as irritated with herself as he was. Why did Perun curse her? She wasn’t here to change the course of history, she just wanted to kiss Amron and run away with him.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m doing my best to help you.” Turning away from him, she walked to the tiny window and looked out, trying to force her brain to give her something useful.
“I know you are,” her father said. “But it might not be enough. The prince asked me not to mention your presence, but too many guards saw you, and they gossip like fishwives. By morning, half the city will know Prince Amron was with a strange girl when he was attacked. They’ll think you’re a spy, and he won’t be able to defend you. His position is precarious enough because of the incident with his brother, he doesn’t need more trouble.”
She shook her head in mute disbelief.
“I can get you out, but you have to go tonight,” he continued. “I’ll tell the king I interrogated you and found nothing suspicious. Just a simple country girl who was tricked into joining Celandina’s establishment and was horrified by the events. I’ll send you to Till with a group of merchants. By the time anyone remembers to ask about you in the morning, you’ll be miles away from Abia. When you reach home, you’ll go back to whatever duties you abandoned to come here, and lay low for a while. I’ll take the full responsibility. I can bear it.”
It was riskier for him than how he presented it. He must have had enemies at court who would jump at this opportunity to drag him down. After the Seragian attack, his position was even more precarious than Amron’s. But he’d mentioned none of that to her.
A wave of warmth rose in her heart: an entirely new and unfamiliar certainty that her father cared for her and wanted to help, even if his plan didn’t suit her. “Thank you,” she said, “but I can’t leave just yet.”
“Why not?”
She thought of Amron in that alley, leaning on the wall, catching his breath. Her hips against his, his mouth hovering ahand’s breadth above hers. She was so close.
“I need to see Amron again,” she said.
He didn’t ask why. Instead, he raised his eyebrows and said, “Is that what you call the prince now? Amron?”
A stupid slip. She turned her face away to hide her frustration. “That’s none of your business.”
“Liana, child, look at me.” He stepped around to catch her gaze. “I don’t know what’s going on, or what you think is going on, but he’s a prince of the blood, and he’s married. I don’t want my daughter—”
