Page 111 of Between Despair and Hope

“Explain.Now,” Rainier demanded, and the ground shifted the slightest bit below us as we approached the fountain. Dry over the winter, it seemed to house at least two vagabonds judging by the piles of belongings inside it.

“She normally doesn’t go back to the same house twice, but I remember her saying something about the woman’s shoulder. I—uh, fuck. Emma thought the husband might have hurt her. The body must have been the wife, not—”

“NotEm,” Rainier said, clearing his throat. “I feel her but…” He hesitated, stopping on the sidewalk beside the fountain, staring up at the house with blue shutters before looking north down Tembris. “She’s that way, but I can’t just follow it blindly. She’s too far.”

Nodding, clearly deciding what to do, he pivoted toward the house Emma was supposed to visit before speaking curtly. “Mother, go back to the palace. All you’re doing is garnering a crowd.”

He was right. Everyone on the street had either run into their homes or boldly stared.

“As if you’re not?” she retorted, and I heard him sigh.

“On your head,” he replied. “Dickey, I thought you said there was no one else here.”

“I did. Just the b-body.”

“Then why do I hear a heartbeat?” He raised a brow, unsheathing his sword as he kicked in the door in one smooth movement. I rested my hand on my own and filed in after him. There was no sense in everyone brandishing a sword in such tight quarters. I had to keep reminding myself I couldn’t compel anymore, and having my hand free would make it easier to weave a vision if needed.

Rainier held a hand up to stop us as he crept through to a back bedroom. The house was tidy, even if plaster was flaking from the walls and cobwebs coated the corners of the room. The home didn’t look lived in. Nothing boiling in the hearth, no wood in the stove. I peeked my head out a back door leading into an enclosed garden, and I saw nothing strange. A moment later, Rainier came out of the back bedroom, carrying a small child.

“Here, Mother,” he said, gently handing the bundle of filth off to Shivani. It surprised me to see her take it in stride, holding her arms open wide. “Do either of you know the name of the man who lived here?” Rainier looked at both Dickey and me with an expression of such distaste, I felt my stomach plummet. I wondered if perhaps he wasn’t lying when he said he’d kill me.

“No,” we said in unison.

“For fuck’s sake. Did she know? Did she even think to look into that?” He swore under his breath. “Gods damn it, Em.”

The ground below us shook, and Shivani took the child outside into the garden.

“I’ll go ask the neighbors,” Dickey offered, and Rainier responded with a quick tip of his chin. I started rambling the moment the boy left.

“I’m sorry. She usually has someone with her, and—”

“Stop talking before I take the breath right out of your gods damn lungs.”

“Rainier—”

“I saidstop fucking talking.We never found Filenti. He has nothing to lose.”

“What would they—”

“Hanwen take my divinity, I swear on every star in the night sky if you do not shut the fuck up, Iwillkill you. I trusted you, and you let her work in the Wend.Without any protection.”

Rather than continue arguing with him, I stopped talking, pulling my braid loose. Thyra had plaited it the night before, far too tightly, and it was killing me. Rubbing at my scalp, I blew out a breath. He was right. I’d tried to convince her not to do it. At the very least, I’d made her agree to a chaperone—and I was angry with her for ignoring our deal. But at the same time, she was a grown woman.

“What did you expect me to do? You know her. She was going to do whatever she wanted. With or without me.”

Before I had a chance to react, Rainier had an arm barred across my chest, shoving me against the wall near the back door.

“I expected you totell me.”

“And she asked me specifically not to tell you. You want me to disobey my queen?”

“I want you to respect your fucking king and your gods damnedbrother. You know the shit I’ve been fighting with this.” He gestured to the shadows creeping up his arms, moving quickly toward his shoulders. “I swear to the gods, if something happens to her—”

“Thomason,” Dickey shouted, running back into the house and gaping at the two of us, mouth open. Rainier hadn’t hurt me, but he dropped his arm all the same, though he didn’t back away. “And he works at the mill.”

“Which one?”

Dickey looked panicked before backing out of the door a step. “I’ll go ask.”

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