Page 126 of Amidst the Insidious Courts
“This is worse than a missing shifter and an uppity priest, isn’t it?” I demand. “What’s going on?”
“Eero isn’t here,” Bram mutters. “My brother, Dare, and his mate, have lived in this city for decades, but now no one seems to have heard of them. The princesses are keeping all the nobles locked up in the palace and are throwing parties every night while they pretend the city isn’t in lockdown. Someone is up to something, and if the Temple is involved…”
“Then Rose has no power,” Prae murmurs.
“What? Of course, she has power, she—”
“Not that kind of power, idiot.” She shakes her head, and it’s weird as hell to see both of her eyes roll with the glamour over them instead of the one good eye like I’m used to. “The temple has an army that serves the Nicnevin and guards the temples. If Rose is being cut off from those fae, then she has nowhere to flee and no one to back her up.”
“The other four Guards—”
“Three,” Bram corrects. “We’ve still heard nothing from Sir Jaromir. We have to assume he’s either completely feral or otherwise distracted.”
Rose’s loyal lap dog, distracted? I can’t see that happening.
“Ancestors,” I mutter. “This is a shit show. You have to get us into that city. I can—”
“If what you say is true, and this cleric is using your position in her Guard against her, what good can come of you being discovered nearby?” Bram asks, seriously. “Look, lad, I get what you’re trying to do, but you’re not going to win any favours by landing her further into this mess than she already is. Just… go kill some Fomorians or something. Spy on your piece-of-shit father. Do something useful that’s not…” He wrings his hands together. “You can’t stalk her into accepting you back.”
I scowl at him. “No. But I can be there if she needs me.”
He puts his hands in the air. “You’re just as stubborn as your damned mother.”
My mother…? I frown, but he’s already shifting, escaping the questions I want to ask.
The fox scampers down into the alley, then scurries through a crack in the wall we have no hope of following him through.
“Ancestors balls,” I groan. “Well, there goes our one chance of getting into the palace.”
This was a stupid idea.
“What now?” Prae asks, hefting her pack on her shoulders. “We can go back, get the horses. His suggestion about spying on Elatha has some merit. You have your glamour, and bringing Florian information on the armada could win you some—”
“No. She’s in danger. I’m not about to just—Oh, stop looking at me like that! You know if she gets hurt and I’m not here, they’re just as likely to blame me for being absent as they are if I cause it.”
“True,” she admits. “So, what do you want to do?”
“We sneak into the city. Bram mentioned his brother and the shifter are missing. Maybe they’ll take us finding them as a sign of good faith.”
Last time, returning Bram to Rose at least got me a proper audience with her. And as crazy as it sounds, my gut is telling me that I can’t go too far from her right now. Whether that’s some stupid quirk of the Call keeping me close when I know she’s in danger, or simply some buried intuition, I don’t care.
Eyeing the side of the arch, I cock my head to one side.
“Remember that time we decided to climb the cavern walls to sneak food?” I ask.
“How could I forget?” Prae retorts. “You almost fucking killed us both with that stunt when you slipped and almost took me with you.”
Rolling my eyes at her this time, I point at the rock arch over the ocean. “At least we didn’t starve to death like my father intended. Look, the gradient is doable. We can climb.”
“And if we fall into the water and get eaten by some creepy fae fish, I will personally ensure you are remembered as the Ancestor with the dumbest ideas,” Prae mutters.
“That’s not a ‘no.’”
In answer, she just huffs and leads the way back down the road towards the white sandy beaches. “There better be one of those fancy spas I’ve heard about at the end of this.”
“We’ll pick an inn with one,” I promise.
“And that fancy wine.”
