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Del was methodical as she murmured reassurances to a young woman, squeezing the woman’s hands in her own just like she had done with the others. I knew at that moment what Del was doing.
In touching everyone, she could peek into their minds and suss out the surrounding dangers. Even if the idea of Del touching me, seeing all I had done and become over the years, made me itchy in my own skin, it was clever. But then, Del had always been clever.
“You haven’t found him?” Garath asked the woman and glanced in Del’s direction, ensuring she was still standing there.
“Not beyond the potential sighting in Mantis. He’s not inthiskingdom, which means he’ll be more difficult to find.”
“A cunning snake like Maylar could be hiding anywhere,” Garath muttered in agreement, and I remembered Maylar at the queen’s side all those years ago, a wraithlike man with eyes that gleamed unnervingly.
“We’ll keep looking,” the woman continued. “But until we find him, we have to be diligent. If Maylar’s behind the spreading mania of this prophecy business, he’s been at his scheming for a while. There’s no telling what he’s planning to do next.”
Though I was glad Del was taking the prophecy I’d shared with her seriously, the fact that they couldn’t find the man they thought was responsible was less comforting. Because they were right. I knew some of the worst who frequented the Shadow District, this kingdom’s underground city of debauchery, rife with illegal goods and empty promises. And whatever toxic rhetoric was spreading felt far more threatening than anyone down there, and I feared the endgame would be the most dangerous yet.
It dawned on me that even if Del’s people weren’t familiar with the underground veins that ran through and between kingdoms, I was. And turning back to Liam, still watching me far too acutely, I sidestepped closer.
“Goodbye, for now,”I told him, though I could have sat with my son all day, watching the way his curious mind saw the world—how he sawme.
Liam reached out, and I hopped closer. He stroked my feathered head with the crook of his finger and smiled.“Goodbye.”
And with an unbearable ache in my heart, I left the crow’s mind, intent on collecting a few favors I was owed.
14
Del
Feeling rejuvenated, I opened my eyes and rolled onto my back.
After the empathic interviews, I had crashed—hard. I had fallen into my bed in the late afternoon, intending only to nap for a few hours before continuing my research in Mother’s study.
But the golden light streaming in through the trio of windows on the northeast-facing wall of my bedroom and the trilling birdsong filling the room told me I had slept through the night.
I heaved a sigh and stared up at the ceiling. Garath, the liar, hadn’t awakened me as he had promised. Was this the first time he had shirked a command of mine?
I sat up and scooted out of bed, quickly washing up in the bathroom and donning a fresh pair of black leather leggings and a soft, slate-gray tunic lined with black leather on the shoulders and arms and embroidered with gleaming silver vines along the collar. I tamed my mussed curls with a few handfuls of water and some hair balm, then tied my hair back in a low bun. When, barely ten minutes after waking, I emerged from my chambers with Sid perched on my shoulder, I was not surprised to find Garath posted with a pair of guards in the corridor outside my sitting-room door.
Standing in the doorway, I nodded a greeting to the guards, Macy and Saira, then turned my attention to Garath. “You were supposed to wake me,” I said pointedly. I planted my hands on my hips, and Sid shuffled closer to my neck.
Garath turned to face me with his arms crossed over his chest. “You needed the rest.”
I narrowed my eyes to a gentle glare. “You are such a mother hen.”
The corners of Garath’s mouth tensed in the precursor to a frown as he studied me. “It is my sworn duty to protect you.” He nodded his head to the side. “Sometimes that even means protecting you from yourself.”
I bristled, and Sid, sensing my darkening mood, fidgeted with his wings. Without another word, I stalked into the corridor and past Garath. He fell in step behind me, the guards behind him.
I entered the neighboring suite belonging to Liam, passing by the pair of guards posted there, and popped my head through the doorway to the bedroom. Ada sat in the armchair by the unlit fireplace, reading a book, but Liam was still asleep.
Yesterday had been difficult for him, as well. He was confused about Alastor’s death, convinced he should have felt sad, having just lost the man he believed to be his father, but instead feeling only relief. Not relief that he would never have to face Alastor’s anger again, but that his father would never hurt his mother again.
Even thinking about the conflict I had sensed within Liam when I skimmed his mind the previous afternoon—something I rarely did but had felt compelled to do, considering the circumstances—brought tears to my eyes. Liam hadwishedAlastor dead. He had fantasized about interceding on my behalf. On being my defender, and I hated that I had been unable to shield him from all the conflict and discord in my marriage. I hated thatIhad brought Alastor into our lives at all.
But it was over now, I reminded myself. Alastor was gone, and it was time to move on. To face the greater threat: Alastor’s father.
Ada looked up from her book. When she saw me in the doorway, she closed the book and stood, setting it down on the seat of the armchair and smoothing down the front of her long, periwinkle skirt before crossing to follow me into the sitting room.
“I’m so sorry,” I told her, stopping by the window and turning to face her. “I meant to sleep in here last night, but I only just woke up, and—”
Ada waved my apology away. “It was no trouble at all, my lady.”
