“He’ll have a woman,” he said, working through his thoughts. “Someone in, or close to, the palace. Someone who can give him access to the queen.”
Daena looked as if she’d been punched in the gut, but she didn’t disagree. She merely nodded sadly. “Probably.”
Tor looked at Val. “When the palace guards were questioned by Tristan and Jeremiel, did anyone check the staff?”
“Yes, after Dornar got in, all the staff were spoken to,” Val said, frowning. “But—”
“But we didn’t know to ask them about Andred,” Tor finished for him.
There was a moment of silence as everyone digested the thought. The queen was at risk from yet another threat.
Alanna folded her arms over her chest. “We need to let Lucilla and Tristan know about Andred’s plans. And we need to take another urgent look at the people in the palace. How long do you think we have?”
Tor looked down at the map. “It took me three days to get here, riding hard through the day and long into the night. It’ll take them longer—they’ve been forced east, and they won’t be in a position to keep changing horses. They’ll have to take the back roads. Maybe a week? Then I expect they’ll take some time forming a base when they get to Kaerlud.”
“What kind of base?” Alanna asked.
Tor considered it for a moment. “If it were me, I’d find a manor home on the outskirts of the city, much like the one Reece found for us. And I’d start building support. Looking for people with power, people who are unhappy with Lucilla.”
It was what Andred would do too, he was sure of it. And he knew exactly where a privileged Apollyon from a noble family would start. He would start with the people who had lost the most when Lucilla took the throne. And since she’d cleaned out the palace, there was a large pool to choose from.
“Gods,” Val muttered, following his thought. “You’re right. He’ll look for support among the former councilors. He’ll promise them their positions back.”
Tor grunted in agreement. “Andred won’t rush in. He knows we’ll be expecting him; open war was ruled out when he lost his army. He’ll aim for a far more subtle approach, and he’ll make sure to build his resources carefully, in secret, before he reveals himself. He’s almost certainly already been cultivating those relationships—he was remarkably well-informed for a man hiding in the wilds.”
“But if we can find his contact in the palace, we can remove them immediately. That’ll give us time to hunt Andred down,” Alanna said hopefully.
“He’ll just find someone else. Assuming he doesn’t already have more than one person ready to help him,” Daena replied in a low voice. “He’s very… persuasive.”
Daena was right, Andred was guaranteed to have more than one person already prepared to help him, both living in the palace and outside it—especially after Lucilla’s massive purge. He had been a captain in the cavalry, leader of the Wraiths, and one of the most highly regarded of the king’s soldiers. He had wealth, charisma and a handsome face. He would have had palace women seducing him and men desperate to join him.
Simply removing Andred’s contacts in the palace wouldn’t be enough. And, worse, it would warn the Wraiths that they were looking for them within Kaerlud.
“I’ve got a better idea,” Tor said slowly. “Andred believes that Lucilla is too naïve and unprepared to expect him. We need to let him continue to think that. We should act as if she has sent a squad to look for him in the north, while ignoring the danger at home; then use this opportunity to infiltrate his conspiracy.”
He resisted the urge to crack his knuckles as he continued. “We need to get someone close to Andred so we can find out what he’s planning and identify everyone working with him. That way we can remove them all in one go. But if this is going to work, it must be someone he knows. Someone he trusts.”
“Who exactly did you have in mind?” Daena asked suspiciously.
He looked at her silently. She already knew.
“No.” Daena barked out an angry laugh. “No way. He’ll never let me back in, not after I helped you escape. He hardly trusted me before; now he definitely won’t.”
Keely patted Daena on her shoulder. “But you didn’t help us to escape, we forced you to help us, and then arrested you. And if you arrive back in Kaerlud as a prisoner, filled with hatred toward the people who treated you so badly….” Keely let the sentence fade.
Everyone else was nodding, but Daena was still shaking her head. “It’s far too dangerous. Do you have any idea what he’ll do to me if he discovers I’m spying on him?” She shuddered.
It was a fair point. He couldn’t expect her to go to Andred on her own. “We’ll send someone in with you.”
Daena glared at him. “Who?”
Gods. That was the question. “I don’t know. But I promise I’ll find someone suitable, someone who can protect you.”
Daena closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, they were shining suspiciously. “What about the soldiers here? They know the truth.”
“Do they?” Rafe retorted. “All they know is that you were pretending to be on our side, but we heard the full story when the men from the camp were questioned. As soon as we learned the truth, we arrested you. If they see you riding out under guard, they’ll believe it.”
Daena’s shoulders hunched as she stared down at the table. “You’re not going to give me a choice, are you?”
