“He’s right,” Drystan grouches. “Take the blade prince. He can stand outside while you get Bree, but you shouldn’t be alone.” He pauses, amber eyes boring into Caed. “If she gets a scratch…”
“You’ll set my ass on fire again.” Caed rolls his eyes. “How original.”
“She loses her hold on her magic if she’s scared,” Drystan warns him. “And?—”
“I’m right here,” I hiss. “And I’ll be fine. Go get your body back. Caed will protect me.”
“If he doesn’t, I’ll rip his balls off,” Maeve promises, though only Drystan and I can hear her right now.
“Go with Prae,” I tell her, uncomfortable with sending the Fomorian away without anyone to glamour her. I know she’s a capable warrior, but still… “Come find us if anything goes wrong.”
“Send Mab,” Maeve suggests. “I’m handier if you get into a fight.”
And Bree might need Titania’s healing magic.
“Oh, good point.”
Mab appears and gives me a swift nod, before following Prae, who’s already disappearing down the corridor in the direction of the dungeons.
“This way,” I mumble, silently wishing her luck.
Caed follows behind me, a silent presence at my back. We turn a corner, and I hold my breath as I take in the group of soldiers huddled there.
“They can’t see you,” Maeve promises. “Stay calm.”
Her words do nothing to stop me from pressing myself against the wall like I’m trying to merge with it as we sneak past. I definitely don’t even breathe until we’re halfway down the corridor.
“How far?” Caed asks, grinding his teeth.
The tension is getting to him, too. I reach inside myself, checking the bond, even though I know the answer.
Bree is in the royal wing, pretty much the other side of the palace from the dungeons.
“We have to hurry,” I say, instead of answering him.
We pass more guards and even more servants as we reach the busier corridors. Each time they get too close, we slow down, barely breathing, in case it gives us away. Staircases are even trickier, making sound travel farther. Surely, at any moment, we’ll be discovered.
“Hey, kid, breathe,” Maeve says, her voice almost making me jump out of my skin. “The battle is lost if fear defeats you before it starts.”
“The fact that you think there will be a battle isnotfilling me with confidence,” I mumble under my breath as we slip through the door to the royal wing.
We turn a corner, and I grimace as we almost crash straight into the two people I most wanted to avoid.
Eero is standing in the middle of the corridor, eyes blazing as he stares down at Ciara. His daughter and heir is sprawled on the floor in a mess of pretty skirts, her whole frame rigid like she’s bracing herself, and cradling her cheek with tears in her eyes.
“What good are you if you can’t even find one defenceless Nicnevin?” he demands. “Máel would’ve handed me their heads by now, but all you’ve done is hide out with your books.”
“Nicnevin Rhoswyn spent a lot of time in the library,” Ciara says, words falling over each other. “Please, Father, I was hopingmy magic might pick up an imprint on one of the books that might tell us?—”
“I don’t care about ‘hope.’ We need action! Do you even understand the precariousness of the position we are in? The Temple’s resolve hangs by a thread. Most of those spineless priests do not want to stand againstanyNicnevin, even a false one. I’m leaving to meet with ourallies, and they’re expecting me to report that we’ve ended the problem. When they find out that the Nicnevin isn’t dead, our bargain will be null and void.”
Perhaps the princess realises that none of her begging will make a difference, because her next words are fire.
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have betrayed your own kind!” Ciara snaps, only to cower as Eero raises his hand a second time.
My lips part on a gasp, but Caed’s hand closes over my mouth before I can release the betraying sound.
“Do not speak to me of betraying my own kind when you wear that filthy mark on your leg.” Ciara freezes, and Eero lets out a dark chuckle. “Did you really think I didn’t know, daughter? With all my spies, how did you ever imagine I wouldn’t find out? I’ve half a mind to hand you over as the Fomorians’ next plaything for this.”
