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“I know,” I replied. “But I can always use the knife once he tells me where the prison is.”
“I’m pretty sure they’ll kill all the imprisoned nobles if Lugh is dead,” Orla said. “That’s how I would do it if I were him.”
“Who will give out that order if their thieving king is dead?” I asked. My voice was shaking. I was making fists. Orla saw it.
“You are focusing on your anger too much,” she said. “You are not thinking clearly. We both know there are fae within these walls who are completely loyal to him. Who will follow Lugh’s order even after his death? We don’t know. It might be Lady Queill or even his uncle. It could be a soldier, promised land and fortune. Until we know more, you cannot act harshly. This isn’t only about you, Fiona. The safety of the realm is at risk. We have to act smart. You need to be discreet.”
I felt stupid.
“You’re right,” I said after a while. “So we will go back to my original plan. I’ll find a way to sneak into the tower and...”
I could not finish my sentence. Without a knock, the door to my room opened wide and Padraig appeared on the other side. His blue eyes were wide as he saw me standing in the middle of the room, talking to Orla.
But he wasn’t seeing Orla. He saw a maid, talking to a princess.
Normally, I would scold a soldier for breaking into my room so abruptly. But for my plan to work, I needed Padraig to like me, not resent me.
“And the room gets too dusty,” I said, not turning to acknowledge Padraig’s rather rude entry. “I know your age might make it difficult to keep it tidy, but I’m pretty sure my future husband would not appreciate his bride living in these conditions.”
Orla’s eyes widened, but her back was turned to Padraig so he did not see. She recuperated quickly though.
“I’m sorry, princess,” she said, bowing. “It will not happen again.”
A servant in her position would not address me as ‘princess’ but Padraig didn’t seem to realize the oddity. Still, I made a mental note to warn Orla about that later on.
“What is it?” I turned to Padraig without saying anything else to Orla. Although this was not how I acted toward servants, the plan that was slowly unfolding in my mind required such an attitude. Padraig was used to living in Lord Merick’s castle. And I’d seen how they treated their servants.
“The king is leaving for a hunting trip,” Padraig said, instinctually changing into a more respectful posture as he spoke. “He wants you to come to offer your farewell.”
Lugh was trying to make it appear as though I was on his side. And for now, that was completely my intention too.
“He is leaving?” I asked, pretending to be disappointed. Although I wasn’t used to acting in a way I did not feel, I could send out the emotion to make Padraig believe it. “How much time do I have?”
“He is about to leave,” Padraig said. “We should go now, your highness.”
As I rushed to the little vanity mirror opposite my bed, both of them stank of shock. I pretended not to feel it and tried not to grin at my success as I quickly checked my hair and grabbed my powder.
“He isn’t giving me enough time to prepare,” I said, my voice shrill as though I was genuinely concerned. As I looked at the mirror, I realized that I actually did need some powder to cover the slight coloring of my cheek. The princess I pretended to be would hide it, but for my plan to work, I decided to leave it. I applied powder on anything else but the bruise, and turned to Padraig.
“I’m ready,” I sighed. “As much as I can be in such a short amount of time. Let’s go.”
Padraig led the way, his brow permanently raised in surprise. Orla stayed back. We had decided not to call attention to her presence to Lady Queill. But as I walked away from my room, I could feel her mind protection.
I could use it. For my plan to work, I had to be devious. I needed my thoughts to be protected so that I could think, rather than avoid thinking.
And I also needed Orla to be inside my mind, in case I needed her magic.
You are coming with me? I thought, hoping Orla would respond.
She quickly did. Yes. Try not to reach out to me when Queill is around...
Okay, I thought, before I turned to Padraig to watch his expression as we kept walking.
He was young. Younger than most soldiers Lugh dragged along with him... His compassion toward me when he saw Lugh slapping me proved he would not last too long with Lugh’s cruel leadership. I could use it.
“Do you know how long the king will be on this trip, Padraig?” I asked, trying not to bite my tongue as I called Lugh with the title that had been my father’s once.
He hesitated.
