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“I think he’s finally lost it,” Callon whispered under his breath.
“Why?” Lyra murmured.
“He’s too quiet.”
“He’s always this quiet.”
“Yeah, but—”
“I can hear you, you know,” I said, tugging down the steel, black chest plate of the Mantis guard uniform. It was too restrictive, and the leather pauldrons were too tight around my shoulders. The uniform was too small and suffocating, and even in the cool evening, my forehead beaded with sweat.
I ran my fingers through my hair. I’d worn a dozen disguises, but this...this was different. The castle glowed through the mist, a daunting beacon in the heart of the city, taunting me.
Now was the time, under cover of the foggy night, to sneak into the castle unseen. My owl friend had scoped it out, ensuring Del’s suite was lit up, that someone was within.
“Fin,” Callon said, and when I looked at him, his expression was one of concern and fatigue. We’d been on the road for days, the three of us wrought with anticipation at every step, even if it was for different reasons. “How will you get to her?” he asked. “The castle is heavily guarded.”
“I know the castle well enough,” I told them, meeting Lyra’s eyes first, then Callon’s. “I’ll take the route she showed me last time.”
“And if the route is blocked or guarded?”
“It won’t be.”
“But what if it is?” Lyra hedged.
“Then I’ll pose as one of the guards,” I said hotly and began to pace. “Del’s married to a Sierra prince, isn’t she? I’m sure that place is teeming with Sierra guards, which is exactly what I look like.” I tugged at the snug bracers tied around my forearms. “Mostly. And once I’m in the castle, there are passages in the walls. I’ll go directly to Del’s suite and wait for her if I have to.”
“And...” Lyra hedged.
I shrugged. “And what?”
“And if those aren’t her rooms anymore? Or if she’s with her husband? One look at you, and he’ll know you aren’t one of his men.”
I paused, my footsteps faltering only slightly before I started pacing again. I hadn’t thought about her being with Prince Alastor when I confronted her. Not really. In my mind, Del was still...Del, littering her floor with unworn clothes to make it look like she hadn’t snuck out for the night, or Del hiding in her bathtub so her mother wouldn’t know she was covered in cobwebs from sneaking through the tunnels, wouldn’t smell the sea air clinging to her after hours of late-night rowing.
To me, the princess was still the Del who would sneak out of the castle to save an innocent man and risk everything to do what was right. Who would help me if I asked her to because she knew she could—that sheshould.
But I couldn’t help the flood of uncertainty as I considered Callon’s fears.Hadshe moved to another wing of the castle?WouldI find her with her husband? My hands clenched at my sides.
With the owl only able to see light through the shuttered window, there was no way to know what I might walk into, and the endless possibilities had me second-guessing the entire plan.
Callon and Lyra sat on one of the cots, ale mugs gripped in their hands, watching me in silence.
I’d had two days to come to terms with this moment, and I thought I had, but it wasn’t a stranger with a pistol I would find at the other end of this. It wasn’t a shadowed figure or a man with menace in his eyes who I could fight and kill, knowing it was for the greater good. If all went according to plan, I would be face to face with Del before the sun rose, and I wasn’t sure I could bear what I might discover.
“Fin,” Callon rasped. “Take a deep breath, man. You’re stressing me out.”
I ran my fingers through my hair again, glaring at the wall of pitted plaster.
“What if you’re found out?” Lyra asked more softly.
Callon glared at her. “He’s not likely to calm down if you keep asking him questions like that, now, is he?” he gritted out.
But Lyra ignored him, calculated and pragmatic as always. “What if Callon checks in with you and you need our help?” She glanced around our dilapidated room at the cracks inching up the walls. “There’s only so much we can do from so far away. We should go with you. That way, we’re closer in case you need us.”
I shook my head. Unless they were inside the castle with me, there was little they could do to help. “You can come as close as the castle walls, but you can’t go inside. I won’t risk you being captured. Someone needs to make it back to Shoshone to warn our people. Besides, I’m less likely to be found if I’m alone.”
Lyra looked me up and down, and I rolled my eyes. I knew what she saw. A big guy like me wouldn’t go unnoticed easily. “Just trust me,” I said as I began pacing again.
