Page 25 of A Court of Truth and Thorns
I sniff the bread. It isn’t stale, but it isn’t freshly baked either. As if it was brought to River Manor, not baked here. “Expediency and discretion would be my guess, Master Calvin.”
The man nods. “Discretion about what?” he says, turning his palms to the flames. “That Prince William is seeking an audience?”
“I see no need for discretion on that account,” says Wil.
A corner of Calvin’s mouth twitches, pleased with the answer.
“You’ve worked this out, haven’t you, Master Calvin?” I say, raising a brow. “You are asking questions to which you already know the answers.”
He shrugs. “Perhaps. I do find it better to know the answer before the question. Professional habits are difficult to break.”
By the next morning,Wil has nearly worn a hole in the rug from pacing.
We eat breakfast in tense silence, and right when I’m worried that the prince might do something rash, there’s a light knock on the door. Wil leaps up to answer it, finding a servant on the other side.“His Majesty King Owain requests the pleasure of your company, Prince William,” the servant says.
My heart stutters. This is it, the capstone of the only chance we have. The hope that’s kept us moving farther from Dansil every day will either flower or die in the next hour. I imagined that more flair would accompany this moment. A grand throne room, fancy clothes, grave-faced guards.
I imagined Rune standing beside us.
Wil holds his hand out to me. “If you will join me, cousin,” he says formally for the servant’s sake. “I feel that both representatives of Dansil royal blood should attend His Majesty.” The servant, who knows protocol when he hears it, bows politely and motions for us to follow.
I memorize the layout of the manor as I walk beside Wil toward a downstairs room, each step filled with increasing tension. More woven chairs line our passage, and large windows with sheer curtains. Even with a fire burning in every hearth, the halls are too cold for comfort, especially in my low-necked dress.
The prince’s pounding heart echoes through the hand I rest on his elbow. My own pulse keeps pace with his.
The servant stops before a half-closed door and opens it onto an empty sitting room. Warm air escapes from inside. “Please make yourselves comfortable.” He makes no effort to hide just how little our comfort truly concerns him or anyone else. “His Majesty will join you shortly.” The door shuts behind us with a sharp click.
17
KALI
Wil spins around, whistling at the painted walls and carefully arranged furniture. As with the other rooms in River Manor, the style is lighter than the heavy chairs and velvet curtains of the Delta palace. The tall arched windows that bathe the room in bright sunlight also let in a cool draft. At least there is a fireplace—even if it’s blazing up such a storm that, unlike every other place in the manor, the furious flames manage to make the roomtoowarm.
I almost miss the slight movement at the far end of the room. My back stiffens, my eyes surveying the furniture anew. Wil takes a step toward me, his brows knitted in question. I shake my head and put my finger to my lips. Stepping slowly as to keep the floor from creaking, I move along the bookcases lining the wall. Stars, what I wouldn’t give to have my knives back. The magic rumbles inside my chest.
Another breath of movement and a gentle whine of the floorboards. One person. Large. Standing in the small, blind space formed between the end of the bookshelf and the wallwith the windows. My hand closes around a metal letter opener that I palm from a shelf. I pause, take a breath, spin around the bookcase—
And stop cold. “Why in the bloody hells are you hiding here?”
Rune flicks a brow at the letter opener in my fist. He is no longer wearing a uniform but is dressed in the Everett colors nonetheless, with forest-green pants and a heavy black coat that looks absurd in the warm room. “I am hardly hiding. It’s the only decent piece of wall to lean against.”
His eyes brush my silhouette, making me all too aware of the curves the dress accents perfectly.
I want to ask how his meeting with his parents went. I want him to ask after me. I cross my arms over my chest. “Don’t let me intrude upon your resting spot,Your Highness. I’d hate for the boring business of Dansil’s survival to be a bother.”
“Kali—” Wil starts to say, but I hold up my hand.
Something about Rune’s appearance bothers me. Something I can’t quite put my finger on, like an itch deep between the shoulder blades. Perhaps it’s his damn coat, or the too-rigid stance, or the look in his eye that is so void of emotion, even I cannot see beyond the mask. “What do you know?” I ask. “Has Owain made a decision already, without even hearing Wil out?”
“I do not know,” Rune says evenly. The muscles beneath his clothes are coiled hard, even beyond the usual solidness that I remember excruciatingly well.
“You are his son. You’ve spent hours with him, and a week talking with his general and riding with his troops. You knowsomething.” I let my arms drop, my voice doing the same. “I understand that you are the prince of Everett, Rune. Iunderstand that you can’t or won’t have me in your life. Whether it’s been a game all along—”
“Kal—”
I put up a hand, not letting him speak. Not yet. The words are too difficult to be voicing twice. “Or whether circumstances just changed,” I continue, “it doesn’t matter. I don’t matter. What matters is that you’ve spent years protecting King Firehorn and his son, spent years smuggling whisperers from Bahir’s grasp. You’ve put both your life and honor on the line. For the sake of all that effort, give us something to work with. Tell us what Owain is thinking, how we can best speak to him.” My jaw clenches at Rune’s silence, my blood simmering. “You know the importance of this meeting to us. Is helping us prepare for it so against Everett’s best interests that you will not dare risk it?”
Rune’s eyes flash. He tips his head down toward me, his perfect face and dark eyes a storm. “I don’t know my father’s mind about Dansil.” He enunciates each word as one might to someone hard of hearing or simple of mind, and then he strides forward several steps, gaining a moment to nod his hello to Wil before the doors to the sitting room swing open again.
