Page 67

Yet my time on Banarrat wouldn’t be like Rose Season, where the gentry had pandered to me, and my status had been my shield. Here, as Erik’s bride and the future queen of Daradon, my actions might be scrutinized. I would have to keep a tighter grip on my specter than ever, all while ensuring General Holden didn’t discover me as a fraud. It was too much to manage alone.

But as Keil had reminded me, we weren’t alone.

You trust them? I’d asked.

With my life.

And with mine?

He’d nodded, somber, and I’d believed him. I even believed that while Keil’s companions may not all like me, they would stop to pour water on me if I were on fire.

“I’m guessing this has something to do with their mystery excursion last night,” Valeria said now, striding into the room. She knocked Lye’s feet off the arm of the sofa and perched upon it, smiling wryly. “You should’ve seen their boots when they returned. It looked as though they’d been rolling around in mud.”

Lye shuddered dramatically. “Great gods, aren’t there enough bedrooms in this place?”

Valeria chuckled. But as Goren’s steps quickened with impatience, I nodded to Keil.

He stepped forward, and the group looked toward him, waiting. “We know why Erik reached out to Banarrat. He doesn’t care about the island; he cares about what’s on it.” Keil met each of their eyes, then said, “He cares about obtaining the Unbreakable Blade.”

The room tensed. Goren’s footsteps halted; even Lye’s smile fell.

Valeria spoke first, more serious now. “Why would Erik want a mythical sword?”

“Actually,” I said, coming to stand beside Keil. “The sword’s power is not mythical.”

“What do you know of the sword’s power?” Osana crossed her arms, her bracelets tinkling. “Daradonian education doesn’t cover Ansoran legends.”

I ignored the piece of herself she’d divulged with those words and raised my chin. “I know it was forged by Spellmakers, and that it lost its function because it was separated from another Spellmade object known as its sibling.”

Lye sat up and set his feet on the floor, frowning. “I doubt Daradonian education covers Spellmade objects, either,” he said, wary. “How do you know so much about this?”

I pointedly held his gaze. “A friend.”

Lye’s eyes widened as he caught my meaning: that Calytrix had agreed to meet me.

“The Unbreakable Blade won Saxon his empire,” Keil continued. “We believe that Erik wants to emulate Saxon’s strategy. To wield the sword to forge an empire of his own.”

“How?” Dashiel leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “You said the sword lost its function when it was separated from its sibling. Even if Erik obtained it, who’s to say he’ll find this secondary object that will get it to work?”

Keil and I shared another glance. I wasn’t accustomed to putting my faith in people I didn’t really know, and I didn’t feel ready to reveal to this group the object my father had died trying to destroy. But if I was asking them to risk their lives with me, I needed to tell them why.

Haltingly, I reached into my dress pocket. “Erik knows where to find the sword’s sibling. And he’s already made his first attempt to repossess it.” I withdrew the compass, its bronze case shining in the rain-streaked light.

“What is that?” The soft, horrified question came from Osana.

“The king’s Hunter,” I said gently. “The real Hunter. The Capewells are just the executioners.”

As Osana’s forehead crumpled with sorrow, I saw in Valeria’s expression a serene understanding. And I knew she was fitting this information into whatever she’d already guessed about the compass.

“That’s one of the reasons Erik wants you back,” Dashiel said in realization.

I nodded. “I stole it from him when I escaped.”

“Why didn’t you get rid of it?” Osana growled, her face newly flushed. “You’ve had plenty of chances.”

“Because an object this dangerous should be destroyed. And with the Unbreakable Blade, I believe it can be destroyed.”

Valeria drew up straight. “You want to take the sword from Banarrat.”