Page 87 of Kingdom of Feathers

It didn’t really matter. There wasn’t much Basil could say to Wren, given how things stood. It was enough to finally see her as she emerged from the tent at last. Her eyes scanned the group, and he was gratified to see them stop as they reached him. She sent him a wan smile, but she looked worn. No doubt she’d been severely lectured for her dangerous activities.

Basil returned her smile reassuringly, his eyes flicking up to the two swans once again circling above her. Wren seemed to follow his gaze, and in a familiar gesture, she pulled out her slate. A moment later, she was in silent conversation with the captain of the royal guard. The man approached Basil as the riders started to move, and requested politely but firmly that the two groups travel with some distance between them.

Although he acquiesced with outward calm, a frown creased Basil’s eyebrows as his gaze traveled to Wren. The obvious conclusion was that she’d sent the guard to make the request. But why? Was she really so angry at him she didn’t want him anywhere near her?

It was a full day’s ride back to Myst, and Basil became increasingly discouraged as the day wore on. By the time they made their way through the city gates in the early evening, he was utterly weary and disheartened. Wren had made no effort to approach him during the journey, and the Mistran guards were watching him like they might watch a prisoner. What exactly was waiting for him back in Myst?

Any hope of speaking either to Wren or to King Lloyd on arrival evaporated the moment they entered the castle. Basil’s suspicion that Wren had left Myst without her parents’ knowledge or approval was confirmed as the king and queen surged into the castle’s entryway and converged upon their daughter. Queen Liana’s strained face showed fear and relief in equal measure, but King Lloyd looked furious. And he’d barely satisfied himself of Wren’s well-being when he turned his gaze on Basil, entering the building with his small entourage.

“What is the meaning of this?” hissed the Mistran king, striding across the space. “You needed to visit your general, did you?” His voice was heavy with sarcasm. “I don’t know by what means you lured my daughter out of the city, but—”

A loud clap startled both the kings. They turned to see Wren, looking mortified, and quite as angry as her father. Her eyes were fixed on King Lloyd, and her brows were drawn together.

Basil, who had stood solidly in the face of his host’s wrath, took the opening afforded by the king’s distraction.

“You’re under a misapprehension, Your Majesty. Far from luring Princess Wren from Myst, I was completely unaware of her decision to leave the city until our paths converged at the front lines. But I daresay she’ll explain all that to you, if you give her the chance.”

King Lloyd’s eyes narrowed in anger. “Do you think I need you to tell me how to communicate with my own daughter?”

Basil blinked in surprise. “Of course not.”

“Guards.” The king turned to the Mistran guards standing nearby. “Escort King Basil and his companions to their rooms, and ensure that they stay there.”

“Lloyd!” The warning in the queen’s voice was clear, but her husband paid her no heed.

“I will not be your prisoner, Your Majesty,” Basil said firmly. “If we are no longer welcome here, my people and I will leave.”

But even as he said the words, his eyes slid past the king to rest on Wren’s face. Their gazes locked, and he paused, taken aback by the longing in her eyes. For weeks she’d avoided him, and on the journey back to Myst she’d had nothing to say to him. So why did her eyes beg him not to leave, as clearly as if she’d spoken the words?

“No one is going anywhere until I get to the bottom of what’s going on,” said King Lloyd grimly.

Forcing down his own anger, Basil brought his eyes back to the king’s face. “I can understand that, Your Majesty. It’s not that I wish to leave—I have a great deal I need to discuss with you. My visit to the front lines was…illuminating.” Again his eyes sought Wren’s, and he was heartened by her nod of encouragement. Looking again at her father, Basil added, “I hope what I have discovered will help bring us closer to peace.”

King Lloyd still looked angry, but his frown also showed confusion. After a moment of hesitation, he seemed to find a way to save face. “The dinner hour has past, King Basil. I will have food brought to your rooms, and those of your people.”

Without another word, he turned and swept back across the entrance hall, his wife and daughter carried along with his entourage as they all retreated further into the castle. Right before she passed through a doorway, Wren turned slightly back to Basil, sending him the smallest of smiles.

He returned it, but she was already gone.

“Your Majesty,” muttered Lord Baldwin from Basil’s side, sounding more agitated than Basil had ever heard him. “Surely we’re not going to stay under such conditions.” He glanced up at the guards looming over them. “King Lloyd fully intends us to be his prisoners. All that talk of sending dinner to our rooms was merely dressing up our captivity in fancy wrappings.”

Basil didn’t immediately answer, his thoughts swirling. He pictured the hesitant smile on Wren’s face as her father had swept her from the room, and suddenly the memory of her nearness in the tunnel overwhelmed him, making it hard to think straight.

“Your Majesty?” Lord Baldwin prompted. “We should leave at once, return to Tola while we still can.”

Basil turned to his advisor with a rueful smile. “We’re not leaving, My Lord.”

For once, he thought the nobleman might be right, that the treatment of the other king was genuinely inconsistent with Basil’s dignity as king of his own people. But Basil was honest enough with himself to know that while Wren begged him—however silently—to stay by her side, he wasn’t going anywhere.

Lord Baldwin looked even more agitated, but he couldn’t speak freely in front of the guards. He waited unhappily while Basil requested an additional room be prepared for Sergeant Obsidian. Then, looking like a whipped puppy, he followed Basil up the stairs to the second floor passage where their suites were located, the guards shadowing them too closely for politeness.

Food was indeed brought to Basil’s rooms, but he could hardly sit still long enough to eat it. His thoughts were with Wren, and whatever conversation she was having with her parents. Had she told them all about the mine yet? Would their suspicions about Sir Gelding be enough to convince King Lloyd to arrest the enchanter that very night?

Hours passed, and still Basil heard nothing. Feeling nowhere near sleep, he paced his room, certain that at any moment a message would arrive for him, if not from King Lloyd, at least from Wren. But when a knock finally fell on his door, shortly before midnight, he was disappointed to discover only Lord Baldwin on the other side.

A quick glance past the nobleman showed a silent face off between the Mistran guards who seemed to have trailed Lord Baldwin from his suite to Basil’s, and Basil’s own guards, who were standing to attention outside his room.

With a grunt, Basil stood aside and gestured for Lord Baldwin to enter, shutting the door on the territorial display.

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