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Without a goodbye, Ian and I both turned our backs and walked to Pyre, who had his eyes trained on the Teeth behind us. Smoke issued from his nose and disappeared in the dry air above.
Storm, it’s time to go.
Rooooaaaaaarrrrrr.Storm made the mountains shake before he traveled back to us, his brilliant scales appearing in the sky above us.
The Teeth were out of earshot, so Ian spoke. “What do you think?”
“I’m not convinced of his guilt or innocence.”
“Neither am I.”
“We’ll need to keep an eye on them. But we’ll need to investigate other leads as well.”
“The outcasts?” he asked as he mounted Pyre.
“Yes,” I said as I climbed up on Storm. “That’s a start.”
13
IVORY
I wore the crown in my husband’s stead, the Queen and Protector of Delacroix and the Kingdoms. But it was a burden too heavy to carry alone, not when I was riddled with stress from my king’s absence. I wanted to send a letter to HeartHolme to ask my mother-in-law for an update, but when it was susceptible to interception, I knew I couldn’t. Until Huntley returned with news himself, I couldn’t risk our enemies knowing exactly where he was and what he was doing.
So I was trapped in a prison in my mind, forced to suffer alone because my kids had no idea that danger potentially lurked across our lands. I sat at the breakfast table, Huntley’s seat at the head vacant, drinking coffee because I had no appetite for food.
“Mother, are you alright?” Atticus’s voice brought me back to reality, the sunlight coming through the open windows, the warmth that Huntley didn’t feel down at the bottom of the cliffs.
“I think I’m coming down with a cold.”
“Father’s gone for a day, and you’re already falling apart.” The corner of his mouth lifted with the joke he made, not realizing how true his assessment was.
I forced a smile then looked into my cup of coffee, deciding to add more cream even though I didn’t need it. “Your sister hasn’t come down.”
“She’s always been lazy.”
“She’s usually here before you are.”
“That’s because I have to give orders to the soldiers at dawn before breakfast.”
“I’ll fetch her.” I left the table and walked down the hallways until I reached her bedroom. The door was closed, so I tapped my knuckles against it several times, in the hope of gently waking her if she was asleep.
But it was quiet.
I knocked again. “Sweetheart?”
Still nothing.
I turned the doorknob and peered inside.
The bed was empty, made by the maids as if she hadn’t come home the night before. I suspected she’d met someone last night and didn’t fall asleep until an hour before sunrise. Perhaps she was more adventurous because her father was gone, because she knew I understood the fact that she was a grown woman exploring adult relationships, while he didn’t want to think about it.
I returned to the dining table where my son ate alone.
“Where is she?”
“She’s still asleep,” I said. “Doesn’t feel well.”
“Maybe she’s the one who gave you the bug.”
