Dain seems to notice my surprise. “We have never gotten along, my brother and I. He has always been too ambitious for that. And yet I had hoped…” He waves his hand around, dismissing whatever he was about to say. “Poison may be a coward’s weapon, but it is an effective one.”
“What about Princess Elowyn?” I ask, and then wish I could takeback the question. Poison for her, too, probably. Queen Orlagh must have a cartload of it.
This time, Dain doesn’t answer me.
“Maybe Balekin plans on marrying her,” the Roach says, surprising us both. At our expressions, he shrugs. “What? If he makes things too obvious, he’s going to be the next one to get a knife in the back. And he wouldn’t be the first member of the Gentry to wed a sister.”
“If he marries her,” Dain says, laughing for the first time in this conversation, “he’ll get a knife in the front.”
I had always thought of Elowyn as the gentle sister. Again, I am aware of how little I really know about the world I am trying to navigate.
“Come,” says the Roach, waving me to my feet. “It’s time you met the others.”
I cast a plaintive look in Dain’s direction. I don’t want to go with the Roach, whom I have just met and whom I am not at all sure I trust. Even I, who have grown up in the house of a redcap, fear goblins.
“Before you go.” Dain walks over until he’s standing directly in front of me. “I promised that none might compel you, save for me. I am afraid I am going to have to use that power. Jude Duarte, I forbid you from speaking aloud about your service to me. I forbid you from putting it into writing or into song. You will never tell anyone of the Roach. You will never tell anyone of any of my spies. You will never reveal their secrets, their meeting places, their safe houses. So long as I live, you will obey this.”
I am wearing my necklace of rowan berries, but they are no protection against the magic of the geas. This is no regular glamour, no simple sorcery.
The weight of the geas slams down on me, and I know that if I triedto speak, my mouth wouldn’t be able to form those forbidden words. I hate it. It’s an awful, out-of-control feeling. It makes me scramble around in my head, trying to imagine my way around his commandment, but I cannot.
I think of my first ride to Faerie and the sound of Taryn and Vivi wailing. I think of Madoc’s grim expression, jaw locked, doubtlessly unused to children, no less human ones. His ears must have been ringing. He must have wanted us to shut up. It’s hard to think anything good about Madoc in that moment, with our parents’ heartsblood on his hands. But I will say this for him—he never enchanted away our grief or took our voices. He never did any of the things that might have made the trip easier for him.
I try to convince myself that Prince Dain is only doing the smart thing, the necessary thing, in binding me. But it makes my skin crawl.
For a moment, I am unsure of my decision to serve him.
“Oh,” Dain says as I am about to leave. “One more thing. Do you know what mithridatism is?”
I shake my head, not sure I am interested in anything he has to say right now.
“Look into it.” He smiles. “That’s not a command, only a suggestion.”
I follow the Roach through the palace, keeping back from him a few steps so it doesn’t seem like we’re together. We pass a general Madoc knows, and I make sure to keep my head bowed. I don’t think he would look closely enough to recognize me, but I cannot be sure.
“Where are we going?” I whisper after several minutes of walking through the halls.
“Just a little farther,” he says gruffly, opening a cupboard andclimbing inside. His eyes reflect orange, like a bear’s. “Well, come on, get in and close the door.”
“I can’t see in the dark,” I remind him, because that is one of the many things the Folk never remember about us.
He grunts.
I get in, folding myself up tightly so that no part of me touches him, and then I close the cabinet door behind me. I hear the slide of wood and feel the rush of cold, damp air. The scent of wet stone fills the space.
His hand on my arm is careful, but I can feel his claws. I let him pull me forward, allow him to press my head so I know when to duck. When I straighten out, I am on a narrow platform above what appears to be the palace’s wine cellars.
My eyes are still adjusting, but from what I can see, there is a network of passageways worming below the palace. I wonder how many people know about them. I smile at the thought of having a secret about this place. Me, of all people.
I wonder if Madoc knows.
I bet Cardan doesn’t.
I grin, wider than before.
“Enough gawping?” the Roach asks. “I can wait.”
“Are you ready to tell me anything?” I ask him. “Like, where we’re going or what’s going to happen when we get there?”
