I blink at him. “What?”
“You’re here.” He pauses, looking back at me. “You made it.”
“You think—you think I came here because I was running away?” My tears dry up in a hurry. Is that what everyone thinks? Is that why I’ve been packed into a carriage instead of sitting down to strategize?
Jake looks at me like I’m insane—which confirms it. “Yes?”
“No, you idiot.” I swipe at my eyes again, then shove him in the chest. “I came here for help.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
RHEN
The castle is cold and silent, but I don’t mind the chill. If this were midsummer, the stench of the bodies would be interminable. I’m willing to freeze to death anyway, so I haven’t lit a fire in days. I still don’t have the courage to look in a mirror. My left eye has been dark and blind since Lilith attacked us, and when I touch a hand to my face, all I find are raised ridges of thick scabs and swelling that aches when my fingertips drift over it.
It’s only been a few months since the curse was broken, following an eternity of isolation with Grey, but somehow I quickly forgot how quiet Ironrose becomes when there are no guards and servants in the halls, no children laughing as they race up the staircases, no rattling dishes, no ruffling papers, no clanging swords in the training arena.
Lilith left the bodies in the halls, telling me to think on my crimes while they rotted around me. When the curse first held me captive, she did the same with my family, but I was a monster then. When the season reset, everything in the palace returned to its former state from the first morning she cursed me: no dead bodies, no one at all.
This time, there’s no curse—and even if the enchantress were to offer a means out of this hell, I would refuse. But maybe she knows I’ve learned my lesson, or maybe she thinks this is better than watching me fail for another eternity. No curse is offered. No bargain. No means of relief. Every hallway of Ironrose reeks of blood and death. I gagged on it for hours and locked myself in an empty room—but eventually, I had to eat. I might be willing to freeze to death, but starving to death felt too much like torturing myself.
Lilith probably won’t let me die anyway. She won’t let me run. She promised to follow if I tried, to slaughter anyone who dared to offer me shelter. So here I remain. I haven’t seen her in days, though I don’t dare to hope that she’s done with me. Grey is gone. Harper is dead. What else can she take? Despair is all that’s left.
I’ve spent my hours pulling bodies out of the castle, dragging them on velvet carpets one by one down the marble steps, then loading them into a wagon I’ve hitched myself. One horse is missing from the stable: Ironwill, my favorite steed—and Harper’s, too. In a way, I’m glad he’s gone, though I hope he escaped through the woods after Lilith killed Harper and Zo. Then again, the enchantress is easily vicious and vindictive enough to kill my horse, too.
For as terrible as this task is, I’m grateful for something to do. When I sit still, my thoughts churn with agony over everything I’ve lost. It would be worse to leave the bodies anyway. I know what happens to a corpse once it begins to decompose, and I have no interest in watching it happen by a hundredfold.
Occasionally a scout or a soldier will come to the castle, bringing messages or requests or inquiries about what actions I intend to take. The first one galloped into the courtyard, took one look at me dragging a body across the cobblestones, and screamed—then ran. I don’t know what Lilith has turned loose in the forests surrounding Ironrose, but I’ve heard distant screams and rustlings in the leaves, and the people who make it all the way to the castle are few and far between. Maybe she’s cursed another prince and turned him into a monster.
Whatever it is, it leaves me alone, and I have no desire to investigate.
Despite the cold in the air, I stop in my dragging to wipe a sleeve across my forehead, but it pulls at the wounds on my face, stealing my breath for a moment. Three dozen charred bodies already lie in a row under the trees. It feels wrong to burn them, but I can’t bury them all myself, and animals have already begun to pick at the corpses.
I honestly didn’t think anything could be worse than being stuck here forever, turning into a rampaging monster season after season, but clearly Lilith has no limit.
Without warning, the enchantress speaks from somewhere nearby. “What will you do with them all, Your Highness?”
Her voice sends a jolt through me, and I wish it wouldn’t. I wish she couldn’t still elicit fear just by her closeness.
I don’t answer. I climb back on the wagon and cluck to the horse to head back to the castle.
Some people were able to escape. I know because there aren’t bodies for everyone. At first I hoped someone would find help—but I quickly realized there is no help. No one can stop her.
Hands fall on my shoulders, and I gasp and jerk away. The horse plods on.
Lilith whispers in my ear. “I cannot believe you thought you would use that silly weapon to attack me. As if I have never encountered steel from Iishellasa.”
I shiver and try to jerk free.
She leans closer, her breath hot and sickening. “As if I did not hand it to the spy myself.”
I suck in a breath.
“You’re so surprised,” she chortles. “As if I have not played these games with you for an eternity, Prince Rhen.” She pauses. “Who do you think has stoked the discord in Syhl Shallow? Who do you think whispers suggestions of assassination to anyone who will listen?” Her tongue touches my ear, and it’s like the kiss of a forge-hot blade. “You were to use it on Grey, not me.”
I shudder. She is diabolical. There is no stopping her.
It was useless to even try.
“I have even sent orders to your troops, Your Highness. Using your seal.” Her fingernails dig into my shoulders. My back is rigid against her touch.
“Your soldiers at the border will attack this regiment from Syhl Shallow. They will bring the war into Emberfall, and we will win. I have sent for troops to surround the castle.”
That’s foolish. If she wants to rule Emberfall at my side, she shouldn’t let Syhl Shallow’s soldiers get anywhere close to the castle.
“Grey will come for you,” she seethes. “The blade is gone. He will kill you, you know.”
Yes. I do know. I once thought I needed to kill the heir to protect my throne—and he will have to do the same thing if he wants to claim it.
The thought brings an unexpected tightness to my throat. So many things I wish I’d done differently.
I would have yielded to him. I would have negotiated for peace. It was Harper’s last request.
Almost her dying wish.
My breath shudders.
Now Lilith has ordered my soldiers to attack. No one will listen to a message about an alliance.
“Grey will come for you,” she says, “and I will lie in wait.” A blustering wind blasts through the trees to ruffle my hair and make me shiver, and Lilith closes her arms around my neck. “I will lie in wait so I can kill the one man who still stands in my way.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
LIA MARA
My strategy room is warm from a roaring fire, and I’m surrounded by people who seem focused on a common goal for once, but my thoughts keep replaying the moment when Harper looked up at Grey with tears in her eyes and called him “Scary Grey.” Or the moment when he dropped to a knee and said, “Do you no longer trust me?” in that quiet voice I thought he only reserved for me.
Jealousy is petty and useless, especially right now, and yet I cannot seem to chase it out of my thoughts. They had a history together, Harper and Grey, and even though it might not have resulted in anything more than friendship between them, it was still clearly … something. She was hurt and she ran here. For him. That is meaningful.
Nolla Verin is deep in conversation with Clanna Sun and two of the army officers, General Torra and Captain Solt, debating whether this means we should attack now, or whether this means we wo
uld be under attack from another magical creature—but Grey’s eyes are on me. He can surely tell I’m unsettled. He notices everything.
I’m not sure what to say to him.
I’m spared the need, because Jake bursts through the doors. He’s never one for much pageantry, so I’m not surprised when he just starts talking. “Harper’s with Noah. I brought her some food and some fresh clothes.” He runs a hand across the back of his neck. “I don’t know what all happened, but she’s … she’s pretty rattled.”
“So she has come here seeking sanctuary?” I say.
“A bold request of an enemy,” says Nolla Verin, but her voice is not as strong as it might have been yesterday. She glances at me. “Especially an enemy who once took our queen prisoner.”
“She’s not my enemy,” Jake snaps, and the army officers exchange a glance.
“Perhaps we should continue this conversation privately,” says General Torra with a glance at Solt.
And just like that, we’re at odds again.
“Harper is Jake’s sister,” I say evenly. “I can understand his sympathies.”
“Will she reveal information on the enchantress?” says Nolla Verin. “What is she willing to offer?”
“We should be wary of a trap,” says Solt. He casts a glance at Grey, and I can tell that Harper’s sudden appearance has added a flicker of doubt to whatever resolution happened between them this morning. “This could be a ploy to force our hand.”
“It’s not a ploy,” says Jake. “And she’s not offering anything.” He pauses. “She wants to rescue Rhen. She’s asking for help to defeat Lilith.”
“Help!” My eyebrows go up. “She seeks our assistance in challenging this enchantress?”
“Not ours.” Jake looks at Grey. “Yours.”
Everyone else explodes with disagreement. Nolla Verin wants to interrogate Harper. Clanna Sun thinks this could be a planned distraction, especially given how few days we have left. Solt and Torra both believe this could be a trap, a way to lure our soldiers to their deaths. But Grey hasn’t said much since we entered this room, and he says nothing now. His expression is impossible to read: his soldier face. I wish I knew what he was thinking.
Jake is staring at him from the other end of the table. “When you were hurt and desperate and nearly dead, you came looking for Harper. You literally fell through my door and bled all over my carpet. You shouldn’t be shocked that she came looking for you.”
I look at Grey. “Is that true?” I whisper, softer than thought.
“Yes.” He looks at me. “I had no other choice.”
Just as he believes that Harper had no other choice. He doesn’t even need to say it. I can feel it in his words.
“She helped you,” I say, and it’s not even a question.
“Yes,” says Grey. His gaze is steady on mine. “Harper helps anyone who needs it.”
I remember the night Prince Rhen chained him to a wall, how Harper helped him escape then, too. No political gain, no posturing. At the time, I thought it was because of a spark between them, and maybe some of it was, but maybe some of it was simply … Harper. When Rhen took me prisoner, Harper came to my room and apologized. She didn’t offer friendship, but she offered kindness. Compassion. Empathy.
The reminder makes some of my jealousy shrivel up. Not all of it, but some.
I have no idea what this means to our war, but I don’t think she’s lying. I don’t think this is a trap. My mother would use this opportunity to attack in force, to raze Emberfall while the prince is most vulnerable. Nolla Verin is practically clutching her fingers against the table, hoping I’ll do the same thing.
All along, I’ve wanted peace. I’ve wanted what was best for my people. That doesn’t mean anything if I don’t want it for all people.
“Then go speak to her,” I say, and it costs me something to speak the words. “See what she needs.”
Grey rises at once, and I wish he weren’t so quick to action. I inhale sharply, and he hesitates, his eyes finding mine. He’s waiting for me to tell him not to.
I don’t. I force my lips to close.
I’m the only one remaining silent, however. “Your Majesty,” says Clanna Sun. “If they are to meet in private, the rumors—”
“The hell with the rumors,” Jake growls. “My sister isn’t some kind of spy.”
“Then perhaps an assassin?” says Solt.
“An accomplice?” says Nolla Verin.
Grey sighs. “As Jake said, the hell with rumors. If you believe Harper is here as part of a sinister plot, you are invited to come along and see for yourself.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
GREY
Jake follows me, which I expected, but so do Solt and Nolla Verin. I expected Lia Mara to join me as well, but she chose to remain behind to soothe the ruffled feathers of Clanna Sun and General Torra. She hasn’t said so, but she’s unsettled by Harper being here.
I am too, but likely not for the reasons she thinks.
Lilith is back. I don’t know how she survived. I remember cutting her throat on the other side, in Washington, DC.
And now she is tormenting Rhen again.
I wonder how long it has gone on. I think back to the times I saw Rhen after fleeing to Rillisk. Was she there when he had me dragged back in chains? He was so frightened of magic then. And again when I arrived with Lia Mara to offer him sixty days. He flinched away when I drew near. Despite everything, worry and uncertainty tugs at me. I know what she can do. I know what she’s done.
When we reach the hall that leads to the infirmary, I stop and turn to Jake. “You should wait here.”
He glances at Solt and Nolla Verin, and while Jake has never been at odds with anyone here the way that I have, Harper’s appearance has changed that. “No way,” he says.
“If your sister’s motives are innocent, you should have nothing to fear,” says Nolla Verin.
“My sister wouldn’t have come here if she wasn’t desperate,” Jake snaps.
“Enough,” I say, and I keep my voice low. Jake’s eyes are fierce, his jaw tight. His devotion to his sister will not help us here. “Wait,” I say to him. “Please.”
I watch as defiance swells in his eyes, and I expect him to try to shove past me, my request be damned. When Jake and I first met, he was belligerent and antagonistic, but he’s also brave and loyal, just like his sister. In the moment I asked him to stand as my second, I said, “Taking orders requires trust, Jake. You would have to trust me.”
“I can do that,” he said then.
This is the first time I’ve ever asked him to prove it.
For an eternal moment, he says nothing, and anger clouds his expression. But he finally takes a step back to stand against the wall. “Fine,” he bites out.
I clap him on the shoulder and move on. At my back, Solt murmurs something to Nolla Verin, and I inwardly sigh. All of our attempts to unite our people were beginning to have an effect, and now it’s all seeming to unravel.
The infirmary is always a bit cold, because Noah often gets so distracted by his work that he forgets to add another log to the hearth, and this afternoon is no different. He’s sitting on a stool beside a narrow cot where Harper is huddled under a loose knit blanket, and he appears to be wrapping her ankle in lengths of muslin. Neither of them face the doorway, and Tycho sits on the empty cot beside them, the tiny orange kitten in his lap, chewing on the corner of his bracers. He’s speaking shyly. “Noah said I should name him Salam. It means ‘peace’ in … I forget.”
“Arabic,” says Noah.
“And then Iisak said—”
“Wait,” says Harper. “Who’s Iisak?”
“Tycho,” I say, and he startles so badly that the kitten leaps off his lap to disappear under the work bench, where it hisses at me petulantly.
“Grey!” Tycho says, but he quickly catches himself and straightens. “Your Highness.” His eyes flick to the doorway, and I don’t know if he’s seeing Nolla Verin or Captain S
olt, but his face pales a shade. “I—I—drills were canceled—be-because—”
“I know,” I say. “I’m here to speak with Harper.” I glance at the door. “See if you can find Iisak. He should be made aware of what’s happened.” I feel pretty certain that Iisak has picked up on some of it, if not all of it, but Tycho needs a task.
“Yes,” says Tycho. He nods. “Right away.” He slips through the door.
Noah ties off the bandage. “You could’ve given us another fifteen minutes,” he says dryly. “It’s been a while since I could talk to someone who knows what a stethoscope is.”
“We’ll still have time.” Harper looks at me and then her gaze flicks to the heavily armed people at my back. Her expression evens out. “Or hold on. Maybe I’m about to be executed.”
One of the most admirable things about Harper is that she faces every challenge without fear, even when she has absolutely no reason to believe she’ll come out of a confrontation alive. Lia Mara was surprised Harper was able to convince a scout to find the queen, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if Harper had walked to Syhl Shallow on bare feet to knock on the front door of the palace herself.
“You are not going to be executed.” I gesture to the cot Tycho just abandoned. “May I?”
“Sure.” Harper glances behind me at Solt and Nolla Verin, both of whom are likely glaring at her. A light sparks in her eyes as her gaze returns to mine. “Your Highness.”
I can’t tell if she’s teasing me or mocking me, but I ignore it. I ease onto the cot, and then, just for a moment, I’m struck by a memory: sitting with Harper just like this, in the infirmary at Ironrose. Then, I was the injured one. My chest was tight with bandages, and Emberfall was under threat of invasion from Syhl Shallow.
Much like right now. Only this time, we’re on opposing sides.
The spark in her eye has clouded over, and I know she is remembering the same thing.
She blinks then, glancing away, and I suspect she is chasing off tears, but her voice is even. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
A Vow So Bold and Deadly Page 24