Concern shimmered in her eyes when they met mine, but then she glanced at Mouse. She looked away as she decided against whatever she’d been about to say.
“How did things go at your father’s?” she asked.
I wasn’t in the mood to discuss that, but we had plenty of time to kill, and the boy wouldn’t tell anyone. Even if he could speak, he’d never do anything to betray or upset Ellery.
“Not well,” I said.
“What happened?”
As I told her everything that unfolded, she and Mouse stared at me with growing dismay.
“He burned the orphanage,” she breathed.
“He did.”
“Why does that surprise me when it shouldn’t?”
“Because, though we understand the capacity that some have for evil, it’s still shocking to learn how low they can go.”
“I guess,” she murmured. “Do you think King Leo has more children out there?”
I pondered this as a sense of betrayal twisted like a knife in my belly. I already knew Leo kept secrets from me; I just didn’t realize how deep they’d run.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “My father claimed that Bria is his only living offspring, but I don’t know how he could be positive of that. If Leo does have any other children, and if anyone knows about them, my father will find and kill them. If they were hidden away, we’ll hopefully never know of their existence.”
Ellery glanced at Mouse before looking at me again. “Are you okay?”
“I will be.”
Love shone in her eyes as she squeezed my hand. “Do you think your father wants you to marry Bria?”
“No. He believes I’m stupid enough to lunge at a nonexistent opportunity.”
She bit her lip as she glanced away.
“It’snotgoing to happen,” I assured her.
There was only one woman I intended to marry, but this wasn’t the place for that discussion.
“He’s very good at getting what he wants,” she whispered.
“He’d kill me before he ever let her marry me. He’d kill her too. It was a ruse, Ellery, and nothing more. He’d never let me have so much power, especially since, even if he did gain control of you, Bria still has a stronger claim to the throne than him or Ivan.”
“He’s going to kill her.”
“Eventually, yes. If he has to use her to gain the throne, he’ll kill her once he has it.”
Mouse’s hand went to his mouth as he stared at me. I rested a reassuring hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“I won’t let that happen,” I told him.
The boy nodded, and we trudged on in silence. When the ground sloped down again and Mouse shivered, Ellery drew him closer and rubbed her hand up and down his arm.
The chill in the air increased until our breaths fogged before us. Used to the hot August air, we weren’t prepared for this abrupt change into a winter atmosphere.
To keep my teeth from chattering, I clamped them together as I focused on our surroundings. I couldn’t let the cold distract me from whatever lay ahead.
There was a reason those trees chose us when they hadn’t taken any others. It was either to eat us, feed us to something, or… I didn’t know what that could be, but we were here for a reason.
