Toran mimicked her gesture of formality, placing a hand over his heart. But before he could say anything, she lowered hers and said, “I know who you are.”
“In that case, excuse me, I have work to do.” He dropped his hand and sidestepped Genna.
“You’re looking for the girl from yesterday,” Genna said to his back. “The one who tried to warn you about the explosion.”
He stopped again. “You saw her?”
“Of course I saw her.” An air of superiority snuck into Genna’s voice. “I received top marks in the Observation section of guard training. And she was rather dramatic about it.”
Toran clenched his jaw but turned around to face Genna. “Do you know where she went? Where I might find her?”
Genna’s face was a mask of indifference. It was her eyes, alight with puckish charm, that gave away her interest. “Yes and yes.”
He waited. “Will you tell me?”
“I will,” she said. “If you do something for me.”
His teeth ground together. If this was how Genna spoke to all her higher-ranking officers, then it was no wonder she wasn’t in a legion. He didn’t appreciate being extorted by a fellow guard.
“I’ll find her myself.” For a third time, he turned away. And again, Genna hopped in front of him.
“Wait,” she said. Her tone grew softer, that superiority fading with every word. “I just, I need a legion. No one will take me. No onewants a female guard in their legion, especially now with all the Witch drownings.”
He didn’t say the increased Witch suspicion had nothing to do with her being undesirable legion material. “You want to be a part of my legion?”
“That’s exactly what I want.”
Toran tried to hide his surprise. Typically, guards competed for a spot in a captain’s legion. But ever since he’d returned from Aeos four guards short of a full legion, no one wanted to serve under his leadership. He couldn’t blame them.
Genna was the first to show a hint of interest.
“What about Fell?”
Genna shifted her stance—the only sign of her discomfort. “What about him? I’m not part of his legion. He only drags me around like some trained pet. As the Crown, you outrank him, don’t you?”
He did, but he hated playing his “Crown” card on other King’s Guard captains. Even Fell.
Genna inhaled. “Look, I know it seems like I’m asking a lot, but I’m really not. I’ll never bother you for anything after this, if that’s what you want. You won’t even know I’m part of your legion. I’ll go about my business and you can go about yours.”
He frowned down at her, something occurring to him for the first time: It wasn’t her desire to be in a legion driving her to bargain with him. It was a need to get away from Fell.
“Okay,” he said at last. “I’ll make you part of my legion—”
Genna’s face transformed as a smile spread across it.
“—after I find the Witch. Deal?”
Her smile slipped. But after a second, she nodded. “Your girl is in the Walled Prison,” Genna said. “She’s Fell’s prisoner—the one he intends to drown tomorrow.”
9
Nes
Nes had seen her father.
Nothing more than the briefest of glimpses as she was brought into the prison, but it was more than she’d had in years. The sight of him had nearly wrenched her heart out of her chest and brought her teetering self-control over the edge. She had to get him out of here.
But first, she had to get herself out.
