Page 166 of The Thief and the Traitor Bride

Kier nodded slowly. “I can try,” he said. “But she is afraid of what she’ll do, if she tries to change anything at all.”

“I don’t know if I can blame her for that,” Caspian admitted. “We all remember the war. I can’t imagine the burden of being the cause of it.”

Nore leaned forward, setting her bowl aside. “We do think there is a ritual to fix it, something that has been left undone, a thread untied. But to do that, we’re going to need to research—and we’re not going to be able to handle it alone. I know you have Bell, if you’re okay with him knowing—”

“I would deeply prefer to leave Bell out of it,” Kier said. “And I believe Grey would feel the same.”

“Right,” Nore agreed. But they were just two people, and this problem felt far too large. “We still need an expert. Is the Searaven—our friend Isla’s ship—still in the harbor?”

Kier glanced at her. “I can check,” he said.

“Then…” She looked over at Caspian, a plan forming in her head. “If you don’t mind us having some help, can we send Captain Cross for a friend?”

I took his hand in mine and drove the blade through—it hurt, but not as much as I expected. After, I felt in myself such a light as never before, as if I were still home and home were still with me, and the ache of missing softened in my heart.

Personal journal of Grakima Locke Corrigan, 1566 UCE

thirty-five

TERLO ARRIVED WITH THE dawn, escorted by the commander to join Nore and Caspian in the large private room of the library where they studied. Ola and Brit were already there, supposedly standing guard—to Nore, it looked like they were gossiping about a lot of people she didn’t know.

“Nore,” Terlo said in a rush, dragging her to her feet and folding her in a hug. “I was so worried for you. When I got your things, I didn’t know what became of you—I brought your cat—”

“Where’s Grimsby?” Cas asked, half-up from his chair.

“And you promise they’re not a spy?” Kier said from the door, eying Terlo over.

“If they were a good spy,” Nore said dryly, “they wouldn’t answer that honestly.”

“Why are we suddenly up to our neck in spies?” Ola grumbled.

“We’ve probably always been up to our necks in spies,” Brit said. “But if they were any good, we didn’t know they were spies.”

Nore and Caspian exchanged a weighted look. Nore felt eyes on the back of her neck, and had the feeling the Viper shared their weariness.

“Your cat,” Terlo said uncertainly, “is in your rooms. He had a, erm, private escort, erm, as he was not pleased to be in a sack.”

A beat of silence. “He never does like the sack,” Nore allowed.

“Well,” Kier said, clapping his hands. He was already dressed for the day. “I actually have things to do today, so I’ll leave you to it.”

“Locke knows about this, right?” Nore asked, even though she didn’t want to. But she’d spent half the night lying awake, staring at the ceiling, remembering the press of the blade on her throat before Caspian had pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair until she fell asleep.

Nore had no further desire to act against the High Lady’s interest. So it was a relief when, after a pause, the commander said, “She does.”

“Terrifying,” Ola said.

“Also,” Nore said, remembering something: a face in the ballroom, a messaged pressed to her palm. “You should fire the guard called Loren. He is, actually, a spy.” She rubbed her head, the things she needed to tell Locke coming together. “And he tried to poison you? Or is planning to.”

The Viper launched into a string of profanity. He turned on his heel and left, clearly on a mission, and Nore was happy for once that she was not on the receiving end of his ire.

Nore turned to Terlo. “Thank you for coming,” she said.

“Against my better judgment, I’m intrigued,” Terlo said, pulling one of the books Caspian had selected close to them. They flipped through the pages, frowning. “What is it exactly we’re trying to do?”

Nore tapped her pen on her notebook as Caspian explained what Kier had told them. Terlo processed this, leaning back in their chair, thinking.

“So essentially,” Terlo said after a moment, “when the system was resurrected, it rooted entirely in her—not in the Isle.”