Page 29 of The King's Man
I stopped and saluted and he nodded to accept it, then looked pointedly at Jann.
“Uh, General, Jann has been promoted to… General as well,” I said hurriedly, realizing I didn’t even know Jann’s last name.”
Turo blinked and his jaw tightened, but he offered Jann an arm to clasp. To my relief Jann received the gesture with grace, clasping Turo’s arm and nodding.
“Now that that’s out of the way,” Turo said dryly, turning to lead us back into his office. “What the hell is going on? Harris said Istral and Gall were with you! Do I have a conspiracy in my midst?”
“No, no!” I said hurriedly. “Nothing like that. At least… Harris was right. Theywerewith us. But there was a battle, and Melek charged Gall with staying out of the fray, keeping Istral safe, and returning to Theynor if things went bad.”
Turo froze as he was about to take a seat behind his large desk. “How bad did they go?”
“They didn’t—I mean, they did. But we won,” I reassured him. “I’ll give you a full report. But when we sent for Gall to join us among the Nephilim, he never showed up. And further investigations have turned up nothing. We werehopingthey’d misinterpreted, or perhaps Gall panicked when it turned into an all-out battle and took her away… but…”
“The truth is, if neither of them are here, we fear the Fallen have taken her and either killed Gall, or imprisoned him,” Jann said flatly.
Turo looked at him, expressionless. “You’re serious?”
“Deadly.”
“What would the Fallen want with Is—” he cut himself off as the obvious conclusion came to him. “Oh dear God, no.”
Jann nodded grimly.
“We need to be certain,” I said, forcing myself to breathe properly, because the image of poor, sweet Istral in Fallen hands was… sickening. And if she really wasn’t here, I would have to be the one to tell Yilan that it seemed the most likely scenario.
God, that would kill her.
Turo nodded, but his eyes had gone distant. He sat back in his chair, rubbing his jaw. “There’s a few places she’s run before when she was scared. I’ll have Harris and some of our more thoughtful men search them immediately.”
“Thank you.”
Turo pushed to his feet and marched straight for the door to speak to the runners in the hallway. I looked at Jann, but he was slumped in the too-small chair, staring at the floor, frowning.
“Have them check that cottage. They both liked it there,” he said from nowhere.
Turo looked over his shoulder and nodded, then turned back to the messengers outside.
I took a deep breath, my chest tight. This would break Yilan’s heart. She’d blame herself for letting Istral get anywhere near the Neph. And for not protecting her from the Fallen when she’d been warned.
But she had tried. We all did. As best we could. These fuckers wereenemies.And this was one battle they might have won. But we would make certain they did not win the war.
Turo spoke to men at the door longer than I’d expected, but kept his voice low. I gathered he didn’t want Jann hearing everything he said and wondered what he was up to. He was a clever man, and an excellent strategist—an area he’d encouraged me to focus my energies.
“We need minds that can look at a problem from a high view, Diadre. Don’t underestimate your talents.”
When Turo marched back to his desk, his face was pale. I suspected mine was too because the reality of what we faced was coming home to all of us as hope faded for something better. Easier.
He settled in his seat and his throat bobbed. “They’ll look. We’ll have word tonight.”
Then he looked at me. “I’m also sending some trackers through the Shadows. Perhaps the Neph ones weren’t as… skilled.”
Jann’s lips pursed, but Turo shot him a look. “Lady Istral isn’tdeeplyskilled, but she can walk the Shadows. And searching for a Shadow walker’s trail is not the same game.”
Those muscles at the back of Jann’s jaw flexed, but he nodded tightly.
“You two should rest while you can. I assume once we’re certain, you’ll return immediately?”
I nodded. “Tomorrow morning at the latest, unless there’s some sign that we might yet find them here. Jann needs to rest—where is Melek’s bed now? He’ll need that kind of space.”
