Page 48

“Speaking of which—” I began.

“Is everything all richt with ye?” Drusilla interrupted, looking back and forth between Yudit and me.

I blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Well, both of ye are talking to us, but ye’ve not said a word to each other. Like when ye were weans and having a row.”

“That’s, um…” My voice trailed off.

“We’re fine,” Yudit said firmly. “Why are you here? It was just supposed to be Lulach.”

While I was happy to see everyone, I was not, if I’m being honest, as thrilled as I might have been in other circumstances. My grand solo adventure had gradually swollen in size—first to me and Yudit, then to me and Yudit and Sunbeam, and now to me and Yudit and Sunbeam and all my younger sisters and my nephew. At every step, I could feel my chance to stand out from the pack and prove myself slipping from my grasp.

I didn’t say anything of the sort, of course. I might be petty, but I like to think I can keep my pettiness to myself. Most of the time.

“I came richt when I was supposed tae!” Lulach answered Yudit. “I waited for days, and ye never showed. So I git worrit.”

“He swam back to Tailliz to get help,” Winifred said. “The rest of us decided to come search for you as soon as we heard.”

That also explained how they’d made it here before us. My nephew could tow a small boat at a decent clip. I knew that from personal experience. It wouldn’t have been difficult for him to bring the rest of them along. In fact, if Yudit and I had asked him to take us to the Crimson City, we probably would have arrived ages ago without any trouble. We’d thought it was more important for him to go to Tailliz first, to tell the king and queen about our deal with Gruoch. We’d been confident that we could sail down the coast unaided. Overconfident, as it had turned out. All right, yes, there are times when refusing help is a terrible idea. No doubt a decent-sized portion of stupidity can be lumped on top of my pettiness.

On the other hand, our trip through the swamp had given me the chance to free Ilyana from her prison. That made the whole detour worth the trouble, at least in my opinion. And I supposed we’d gotten a magic spear and a few decks of cards out of it as well.

Thinking about the king and queen, though…“How did you get permission to go?” I asked. “Aren’t assassins still a worry?” Yudit and I had only been given leave to depart with great reluctance. My sisters’ absence would diminish the ranks of the magical knights yet more. My family might be underpowered compared to the rest of the knights, but the more capable ones still had to sleep sometime.

“Well, yes,” Winifred said. “Assassins are a concern. Even more so now. But Sam and his girlfriend came back for a visit, and they agreed to stay until the danger had passed. So, you know. It seemed safe enough.”

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. All of my sisters went silent for a moment. I wasn’t the only one Sam’s girlfriend had turned into a goose. If anyone could protect the king and queen, a sorceress who could scream rock into gravel would be a good candidate. Have I mentioned she’s terrifying?

“Anyway,” Drusilla said, “we git rooms here in case ye turned up, and we’ve bin asking around for word aboot ye ever since.”

“Everyone here has been a great help.” Winifred gestured at the bar’s lustily singing customers. “Not a single alley or sewer has gone unsearched, thanks to them. As soon as we told them we were looking for our missing ‘brothers,’ they leapt to our aid.”

Alexandra elbowed her in the ribs. “Some have leapt a little higher than others, right?”

Winifred blushed a deep shade of scarlet. “Shut up!” she hissed. “Jinjur’s a nice person, that’s all.”

“Why did you say ‘even more so’?” I asked.

“What?” said Winifred, still flustered.

“You said the king and queen were even more afraid of assassins now. Why?”

“Thare’s bin a wave of mysterious injuries in the northern kingdoms,” Drusilla replied in a grim tone. “Accidents or illnesses taking rulers and generals oot of commission. And at least one death. The Doge of Pulik choked oan a chicken leg bone.”

“Which might have been random chance,” Alexandra said. “The Doge was a dog.”

Drusilla shrugged. “They cuid all hae bin random chance. Or nae.”

If they weren’t simply coincidences, then someone was trying to sow chaos in the north. Another indication that invasion might be imminent. Why? And why now?

I washed down a mouthful of horrible stew with a swig of piss-colored ale. “Did the nobles we captured at the keep confess anything?”

“Not much,” Winifred said. “Once their toad hallucinations ended, they swore the wizard was the one who approached them about killing the king and queen, not the other way around. I don’t think they knew the Red Empire army was gathering.”

“And nae a soul kens the reason for that yet,” Drusilla added. “Nae for certain. Everyone haes a different theory. The emperor’s supposed tae make an announcement th’morrow morning. Mibbie he’ll finally say something worth hearing.”

“I doubt it.” Alexandra had finished her stew and was absent-mindedly chewing on the cutlery. “I’m certainly not going to skip breakfast for it. Oh, damn it.” She’d swallowed her spoon. “That’s another one I’ll have to pay for.”