Lyriel met my eyes. She looked genuinely apologetic, which was alarming, because Lyriel was not the kind of person who apologized. “I’m sorry, Pip. I can’t lie to the Queen.”
“Nobody is asking you to lie,” I said quickly. “What would you even be lying about? I mean, I just told her about my sex life.”
Taking a breath, Lyriel turned to the Queen and said, “The rumor in the Guard, Your Majesty, is that Pip and the Commander are resonant.”
Silence fell across the fitting room.
Resonant. I remembered the gossip about resonance during our crochet session, but didn’t think it was something that could ever be applied to me. Hope flared in my chest, and I closed my eyes and pushed it down.
“Fascinating,” the Queen said. “We would not have thought it would be possible for Aeldryc to achieve resonance. He has always been so focused on duty.”
“Perhaps he needed a break from duty,” Lyriel said quietly. “We can’t be all one thing, Your Majesty.”
The Queen nodded. “Quite right.”
“What does it mean?” I asked. My voice came out smaller than I intended. “Resonant. What does that mean?”
The Queen turned from the mirror to face me directly. Without the reflection between us, her gaze was steadier and warmer than I’d expected. “We think,” she said carefully, “that this is a conversation you should have with Aeldryc.”
“But—”
“It has consequences, Pip. Important ones. And we believe the Commander should be the one to explain them to you.”
Consequences. I widened my eyes at Lyriel, who was standing behind the Queen looking like someone who had accidentally set a house on fire and was watching it burn from across the street.Were they bad consequences? I mouthed at her.
Lyriel gave the tiniest, most ambiguous shrug in the history of shoulders.
That was not reassuring.
“Now then,” the Queen said, in a tone that made it crystal clear the topic was closed. She turned back to the mirror and smoothed the bodice with both hands, looking at her reflection. “The gown is magnificent, and the gradient is inspired. We will be the finest thing at the solstice ball, and anyone who disagrees will be corrected.”
“Not with executions, though. Right?” I asked.
The Queen ignored my question. “You have outdone yourself, Lyriel. And you.” She pointed at me. “You have a gift for color and an eye for beauty. This is no surprise to us, given your other aesthetic choices. We have approved Lyriel’s request to take you on as a full-time apprentice, with an eye towards making you her assistant, should you choose to do so.”
I beamed at Lyriel and she squealed and bounced a little, then quickly schooled her features and stepped forward to help the Queen out of her gown.
Chapter 21
Aeldryc
“Asfaraswecan tell, there has been only one other sighting of a young man who could have been from Pip’s world,” I said, pulling out my report. The evidence documented the most ridiculous quest in our kingdom’s history. “The witness descriptions all match, and it seems to be a, er, twink.”
“A twink is not his species, commander. It’s surprising you don’t know that,” the Queen said with a huff. “You are having a love affair with one, after all.”
I cleared my throat and shuffled papers, wondering what Pip had told the Queen. Delsynarea watched me with curiosity, and I knew she had unsettled me on purpose.
“Ahem. Right. So several people had seen a young man with dark hair and tan skin dressed in a nearly identical costume tothe one we found Pip in. The evidence indicates this is the same individual, and that, for an unknown reason, he has managed to travel through several counties. He likely appeared in Pip’s location, then was transported by unknown means—deliberate or otherwise.”
“And where is he now?”
My eyes flicked to Frost, who was watching me with interest. This was an absurd mission for the elite Grey Guard. Frost knew it and I knew it, but I couldn’t deny my Queen. Besides, I had not seen her so alive in many years.
She was enjoying this. The spark in her eyes was one I hadn’t seen in years. If this ridiculous chase brought her that, I would follow it to the realm’s edge and back. She deserved that spark.
“There is more.” I pulled out the sketch. “The human who came through is likely this man—Sky, a friend of Pip’s.”
“Ah! Finally a lead. So you shall bring your lover along with you, and investigate personally.”
