My bare feet were freezing on the stone floor, but my boots had been taken away, and I didn’t expect to see them again. I tried to suppress a shiver and nodded to indicate I was ready.
“Be grateful, Princess,” she said, eerily tracing a finger over her sightless jeweled eye. “I’ve seen him do far worse to those who defy him.”
CHAPTER SIX
PAULINE
The last leg of the trip to Civica had been grueling. A driving rain had overtaken us near Derryvale, and we were forced to take shelter in an abandoned barn for three days, sharing our quarters with an owl and a feral cat. Between the two of them, there were at least no rodents. Every day that passed idle made my anxiety grow. Lia was surely in Venda by now if that was where Kaden was taking her. I tried not to dwell on the other possibility—that she was already dead.
It had all happened so quickly, I hadn’t quite grasped it at the time. Kaden took her. Kaden was one of them. Kaden, whom I had favored over Rafe. I’d actually made the mistake of nudging her in his direction. I had liked his calm demeanor. I had told her his eyes were kind. Everything about him had seemed kind. How could I have been so wrong? It shook me somewhere deep. I had always thought myself a good judge of character, but Kaden was the opposite of kind. He was an assassin. That’s what Gwyneth claimed. How she would know, I wasn’t certain, but Gwyneth had many talents, and pulling illicit information from tavern customers was surely among them.
We had decided it was safer to stay at an inn in one of the several hamlets just outside the city walls. While no one would know Gwyneth, they’d know me, and I needed to keep my presence hidden until I had at least arranged a meeting with the Lord Viceregent. I was a very visible figure of the queen’s court, and probably facing treason charges myself for helping Lia run away. Of all the cabinet, the Viceregent had always been the kindest to Lia, solicitous, even. He seemed to understand her difficult place in court. If I explained her plight, surely he could break the news to the king in the most advantageous way. What father wouldn’t at least try to save his daughter, no matter how she had defied him?
I hung back in the shadows with my hood drawn over my head while Gwyneth secured a room for us. I watched her conversing with the innkeeper, though I couldn’t hear what was said. It seemed to take far longer than necessary. I felt a rolling quiver in my belly. It was a constant reminder of how much things had changed, how much time had passed, a reminder of Lia’s promise, we’ll get through this together. A reminder that time was running out. I kissed my fingers and lifted them to the gods. Please bring her back.
Some paper was passed between Gwyneth and the innkeeper. He eyed me briefly, perhaps wondering why the hood of my cloak was still drawn inside the inn, but he said nothing and finally shoved a key across the counter to Gwyneth.
The room was at the end of the hall, small, but with far greater comforts than the barn. Nove and Dieci were in the stable and seemed to appreciate having their own quarters and fresh barley to eat too. Money wasn’t a problem. I had traded the jewels Lia gave me for coin in Luiseveque. Even Gwyneth was impressed at how easily I dealt with shady merchants in back rooms, but I had learned it all from Lia.
When I had shut the door behind us, I asked Gwyneth what had taken so long. Securing a room at Berdi’s was a matter of agreeing on a price and pointing the guest to the room.
Gwyneth threw her bag on the bed. “I sent a note to the Chancellor requesting a meeting.”
I caught my breath, unable to speak for a moment. “You what? Against my wishes? I already told you, he hates Lia.”
She began unpacking, unruffled by my alarm. “I think it might be wiser to nose around through … more discreet channels, before we go straight to the second in power. If the Viceregent proves unhelpful, we’re at a dead end.”
I looked at her, a chill crawling across my shoulders. It was the second time she had suggested the Chancellor, and now she had gone ahead and acted without my consent. She seemed determined to draw the Chancellor into this. “Do you know the Chancellor, Gwyneth?”
She shrugged. “Hmm, maybe a little. Our paths crossed some time back.”
“And you never thought to tell me before now?”
“I thought you might not take it well, and it seems I was right.”
I dumped out my bag on the bed and shuffled through the pile, looking for my brush. I brushed my hair briskly, trying to untangle my thoughts, trying to appear in control when I felt anything but. She knew him a little? I didn’t like or trust the Chancellor any more than Lia did. There wasn’t anything about any of this that I liked.
“I’ve decided. I’m going to go straight to the king,” I said. “You can just stay put.”
She grabbed my hand, stopping my strokes. “And how would you manage that? March through the citadelle and bang your brush on his chamber door? How far do you think you’d get? Or would you send a note? Everything goes through the Chancellor’s office first anyway. Why not go straight to him in the first place?”
“I’m certain I can get an audience with the king one way or another.”
“Of course you can. But don’t forget, you were an accomplice in Lia’s flight. You might very likely be speaking to him from a prison cell.”
I knew she was right. “If that’s what it takes.”
Gwyneth sighed. “Noble, but let’s see if we can avoid that. Let’s nose around first.”
“By talking to the Chancellor?”
She sat down on the bed and frowned. “Lia didn’t tell you about me, did she?”
I swallowed, preparing myself for something I didn’t want to know about Gwyneth’s past. “Tell me what?”
“I used to be in the service of the realm. I was a purveyor of news.”
“Which means?” I asked cautiously.