desk, a safe distance away from the reunion. James bent his head toward mine.
âHow long has he been awake?â
âA few minutes.â
Across the room, Tobiah was reassuring his mother that he felt fine, and he wasnât going to die. Meredith perched on the edge of the chair Iâd slept in, leaning forward with her hands still clasped by her heart. The flush of someone whoâd cried herself to sleep was brightening into hope.
âWhere were you?â I asked James. âI expected you to be hovering.â
âI had work to do. If you recall, I was made head of palacesecurity and there was an assassination attempt five minutes later. Then you escaped.â James shook his head. âApparently, I have a big job ahead.â
He had a point. âSo you didnât warn the queen regent and duchess about Connor?â
âI intercepted them on my way here. The royal physicians insisted Her Majesty be, ah, helped to sleep last night, and this morning she decided she wasnât happy about it.â
âHard to blame her,â I muttered.
âAnyway, I thought you were plenty capable of protecting my cousin while I looked into securing the palace. Even if you couldnât, there are half a dozen men of the Indigo Order in the next room.â
âPatrick might have killed Terrell in his sleep, and with nothing more than a knife, but twice now heâs attacked Tobiah from a distance.â
âWhich is why the windows are shut and there are guards on the balcony. But all of our intelligence suggests Patrick has left the city.â
âThatâs my thought, too.â The guilt churned in me.
âWhat are you two talking about over there?â Tobiah lifted his voice, looking beyond his mother, who sat on the bed beside him. âAnd James, grab a shirt for me. Itâs chilly.â
James fished through a wardrobe and handed his cousin a solid black shirt before beginning his account of the search for Patrick. And though I wished he wouldnât, he included my involvement with drawings and telling the Indigo Order to search Fisherâs Mouth.
âSo.â Tobiah finished shrugging on the shirtâMeredithdemurely turned her headâand began buttoning while he spoke. âLien has yet to be captured.â His gaze cut to me for a heartbeat, then went back to James. âI hope youâre still making your best effort.â
âOf course. And while itâs likely heâs left the city by now, confident of your death, the palace remains on high alert.â
âThis brings me to the first of many questions.â Francesca stood and smoothed her gown as she took her place beside Meredith. âWho were those people you brought here last night, Wilhelmina?â
James stilled.
âCaptain, do you think I donât know when a small gang of youths appropriates one of the best rooms in the palace? They ate through almost a quarter of residentsâ breakfast before anyone caught them.â
Oh, saints. Theyâd found the kitchens.
âOf course not.â Somehow, James kept his tone light. âI just didnât expect you to know quite so soon, and without preparation.â
The queen offered a thin smile and turned toward me, waiting for an explanation.
I fumbled. Haughty? Solemn? Kind? I didnât know which mask to put on, so I didnât use one. I exhaled and let her see how much they meant to me. âTheyâre whatâs left of Aecorian high nobility, kidnapped during the One-Night War. At first, there were nineteen of us. Now there are ten, split down the middle. The night of the Inundation, four came with me, and four went with Patrick.â
âThe ones eating their way through the kitchens are yours.â
I nodded.
âLet me make sure I understand correctly. Patrick Lien was once part of your group. You knew heâd killed my husband, yet did nothing to bring him to justice?â
I pressed
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