Page 111 of Bride of Ash & Dust

I shiver, although the room is warm with sunlight.

“No,” Zarek agrees. “There’s more to this than an assassination attempt.”

“This is war,” Gerard says.

No one speaks. I turn to Anura and notice she’s wrapped her arms around her chest, and she’s holding the fabric of her sleeves tight in her fists. The bruises around Zarek’s eye make him look especially solemn as he faces my brother.

“Does your king know?” Zarek asks.

Elrick shakes his head. “I sent a messenger after the attack, but I haven’t gotten a response. I have to assume my man never reached the palace.”

Elrick turns to Anura. She looks like she’s about to faint.

“I— I will go to the palace tomorrow,” Anura begins. “To warn the king.”

“No,” I say.

Everyone in the room turns to stare at me.

“No, that’s absurd,” I continue. “Anura, you know what Father is like. Would he even believe you?”

“Well, who would he believe?” Gerard snorts.

“Me,” I answer as a sudden, cold certainty fills me. “He’ll believe me.”

There’s no other answer. My father won’t trust anyone except his own children, and Elrick is too weak to travel.

Elrick opens his mouth, but Zarek speaks first.

“I’ll travel with you,” Zarek says. “As your guard.”

Gerard spits something that sounds offensive. Zarek grins at my brother’s guard like he’s trying to win a bet.

“No one in the palace of Marion knows my face,” Zarek says. “And it would strain credulity, certainly, if the princess was traveling alone.”

“It’s not Marion I’m worried about,” Elrick mutters darkly.

“Wait,” Gerard says, narrowing his eyes at Zarek. “How did you even get out of the mine? If you were chained to some sort of magical machine, how did you escape?”

Zarek’s grin widens, and he turns to me.

“The princess rescued me,” he says, giving me a bow.

My body turns hot, then cold. I clasp my hands together to keep them from shaking as Prince Syvan’s face swells in my memory, blood pouring from his lips.

I can’t tell that story. Not here, not now. Not ever.

“They left me for dead,” Zarek continues, waving his hand at his bruised eye and broken lip. “As you can tell, they very nearly succeeded. The princess found me, unlocked me, and helped me out of the mine.”

“Why would she rescue you?” Gerard asks.

“And the white horse that followed you here?” Anura says.

“Stolen from the prince himself,” Zarek says. “Lilias is a miracle worker with horses, as I believe you all know.”

He smiles at me with his bruised and battered face, and something inside of me breaks. I can’t drag this prince on another brutal journey. He’s been beaten, and the gods only know what kind of injuries that magic might have created. He needs to rest, not make a desperate trip across countryside that might well be occupied by the armies of Vsenrog. I’ll have to talk him out of this, and soon.

Elrick turns to me with a frown. “I’ll not have you traveling alone,” my brother says. “I’ll send half a dozen men with you, and yes, Zarek too, if that’s what he wants. If you leave at first light tomorrow, you should reach Marion by evening.”