Page 61 of Queen of War and Ruin

He gives me a small, hard smile. “Don’t worry about me.”

Zarek spins on his heel and walks across our room. I reach for him, but he yanks open the door before I can stop him. Footsteps boom in the hallway, and a guard appears in the open door with a scowl on his face and his thick hand on the pommel of his sword.

“What in the hells—” the guard growls.

“My wife has forgotten her cloak,” Zarek says. He sounds impatient and slightly bored, like he’s addressing a servant.

The guard crosses his arms over his chest.

“I believe it’s in the reception hall where we had dinner,” Zarek continues. “If you would be so kind as to retrieve it for her⁠—”

The guard barks a sharp, hard laugh. “You want me to fetch your cloak for you?”

“My wife’s cloak,” Zarek says, with a hint of royal annoyance. “And I would be willing to do it myself, if you would just step aside. Or were you told not to let us leave?” he asks in an icy voice.

The guard shifts, and some of his casual arrogance evaporates. He’s clearly supposed to keep us in our rooms. But admitting that fact means admitting that the king of Ethiria is holding another royal family against their will.

“Well,” the guard begins. “I suppose I could walk you there.”

“Please do,” Zarek says.

He steps through the door before the guard can object. The guard frowns, then turns and moves down the hallway. Zarek disappears without looking back.

I hold my breath as the footsteps fade, then creep across the stained carpet and peer into the hallway. It’s quiet, lit only by a lamp at the far end, by the stairwell. I swallow hard. My hands twist together at my waist.

“Come on,” I whisper to myself.

I step over the threshold and into the hallway, moving as quietly as I can onto the thin carpet. I barely breathe as I creep down the hall. Every step brings me closer to the stairwell, and the light, and the vanished guard with his massive sword.

I raise my hand to knock on the door where Elrick’s three men-at-arms are staying, then think better of it and push the door open instead. Gerard jumps to his feet with a blade in his hand, pointed at my throat.

“Oh,” he says, lowering his dagger. “Sorry about that, Princess.”

Beside him, Owain comes to his feet.

“What is it?” Owain asks.

“I’ll tell you in Elrick’s room,” I say.

“Elrick’s room?” Gerard replies with a sour expression. “Why? What’s going on?”

I glance at the door, trying to imagine how long Zarek could possibly stall the guard once they realize I didn’t leave anything at all in that reception hall.

“Now,” I growl, waving my hand at the door. “Before the guard gets back.”

Thank the gods, they follow me.

Chapter 33

Zarek

WEAK

“Where in the hells could it be?” I growl as I stalk through the empty reception hall.

I glance toward the door, trying to weigh how well my performance is landing with the guard who escorted me down here. He was one of the men sitting around the dice table in the kitchens last night, but he’s not the one who won my dagger. Hopefully he thinks I’m a worthless, drunken idiot.

Whatever he thinks of me, he’s not watching me right now. Low voices drift in through the open door. I hold my breath and listen.