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THOSE FIRST FEW DAYS after the wedding postponement were deceivingly calm. Colvin and I barely spoke, but I was no longer crushed beneath the weight of an unfair situation. The first time I saw Daria following the Talyadian court’s decision, I knew she wasn’t entirely happy. She was too smart not to have an inkling that something was up, and yet she hadn’t been able to pinpoint exactly what it was.
“Should I be offering my congratulations?” she asked. For once, we weren’t seated on the couches in my sitting area. At her request, I had been escorted to one of the palace’s highly secured war rooms. That fact alone made me a little nervous, and the windowless, bunkerlike nature of the room didn’t much help.
“No.” I laughed to make it seem like I thought she was joking. It was a lie, but a soft one. I wasn’t out of the woods yet. “The decision was mutual. It’s a safety concern.” I paused. “Did they tell you he’s drafting orders in our favor?”
She let out a short sigh. “Yes, they did. I admit I’m impressed, Amber. I wouldn’t have assumed you were up to that sort of negotiation.”
“What do you mean?” I feigned total innocence, an act I was not at all sure she’d buy. “We’re acting with the best interests of both our peoples in mind, Daria. If I thought an official wedding would be better, it would’ve happened days ago.”
“Right.” The look she gave me searched my face deeply for any trace of deception. Her eyes narrowed just a little bit. I stood my ground. “In any case, I have to say I’m proud of you for acting on your convictions. Even if I don’t entirely agree with them.”
“Thank you.” I glanced at our grim surroundings. Maps were up on the floor-to-ceiling screen displays, and after a moment of study, I began to recognize locations in my home city. The streets were sparsely populated and in disarray. Rebel flags hung from windows and building facades. Still images of heavily armed rebel patrols flashed by in quick succession. My thoughts grew quiet and somber.
Daria noted the change of mood. “As you can see, Evrion is in dire straits. That’s why I brought you here. I wanted to show you firsthand.”
Scenes of devastation marched across the displays. A street covered in glass, every window busted out. The smoking remnants of a large building somewhere downtown. A solar array, twisted and shattered, lying where it had fallen across a road.
“Is this real?” I muttered, wanting to disbelieve.
“As real as it gets,” Daria confirmed. The shadows on her face were heavy. “It’s been clear for some time that the rebels are making inroads to the heart of the city. They were on our doorstep when we evacuated you. Now it seems they’re moving in.”
The next picture was of a high castle window, taken from the ground. A rebel flag fluttered in the breeze, brazenly affixed to the casement. My stomach sank. I had known the castle must have been breached; there was no other rational outcome. And yet, seeing the proof of Evrion’s fall made me sick.
“What do we do?” I asked weakly, unable to drag my eyes away from that flag.
“The Guardians who stayed behind are in desperate need of reinforcements.” Daria looked at me. “Talyad has said it stands ready to help, provided that you confirm your intentions with regard to Prince Theo.”
“Didn’t he clarify that we’re still engaged?” The question came out a little more sharply than I’d intended. I hastened to soften my tone. “I mean, he was supposed to. Like, that’s what we agreed.”
“He did. But the council wants to hear it from both parties.” Once again, Daria’s gaze turned piercing. She regarded me with hawklike intensity, waiting to analyze my response.
“Okay,” I said. “That’s fine. I’ll do whatever is necessary to get aid to our people.”
She hesitated for a sliver of a second. “Excellent. You’ll need to put it in writing. I will pass the message on today.” She slid a sheet of paper and an ink pen across the table to me. “We’ll be supplementing their troops with Royal Guardians who came to Talyad as part of the defense initiative. The first contingent will ship out tonight.”
I looked up. “From here back to Evrion?”
“That’s correct. The Guardian presence at the castle must be reestablished. Your safety remains our first priority, but we have to maintain our foothold in the city.
“That makes sense.” I lowered my head and went back to writing. It did make sense, but it also scared the crap out of me. Guardians leaving Talyad for Evrion meant that the ones who had stayed at the castle were severely compromised.
Are they dead?
I tried my best to keep that thought from polluting my entire mindset. The Royal Guardians were trained as elite fighters and defenders. Most likely, they’d been forced to retreat due to sheer numbers. Or maybe Raven had gained a critical upper hand at just the right moment. But it just wasn’t possible for her and her goons to wipe them all out... was it?
I hated that there was no way to be certain.
“Here.” I signed the letter with an angry flourish and passed it back over to Daria. “They can stamp and seal that. I’ll stand behind it.”
“Thank you, Amber. I’ll keep you abreast of any developments as they happen. For now, you should consider us in the early stages of civil war.”
A short time later, I walked numbly back to my rooms, flanked on all sides by an impenetrable wall of Guardians and Talyadian security. No one said a word—the cadence of heavy footsteps provided the only ambient noise. I stayed in the middle, grappling with the brutal realization that a matter of months had passed since my ascension to the throne, and we were already embroiled in conflict. How could I reflect on the things Daria had shown me and still think I was helping my kingdom?
If anything, I seemed like its greatest liability.
The security detail dropped me off at my door. Colvin was there to receive me as usual, but this time, instead of ushering me inside and closing the door, he pulled me to the side of the corridor. “I need to speak with you regarding your personal guard, Princess. Some changes have been authorized.”
I frowned. The minute the escort had left earshot, I said, “That’s news to me. What’s up?
We were more or less alone in the hallway, though I knew more guards were posted just out of sight. The Talyadian palace crawled with them, day and night. Somehow, Colvin still made me feel like no one else existed.
He gazed at me for a long time, as if he wanted to memorize my face. His dark eyes were full of conflicting emotions; sadness, compassion, affection, resentment. I could almost hear the unspoken words hanging in the air between us.
What I wouldn’t have given for him to open his mouth and let them spill out.
Instead, he took a deep breath and said, “I volunteered to return to Evrion tonight.”
