Cass stood in the shadow of Kirkwall Castle, completely helpless to aid Miri in any way. She’d been right, but that did not make it any easier to let her go alone.
He’d been watching her for years. He knew her skill with a blade, the way she could land a solid kick, and exactly how clever she was with maneuvering through tight spaces and around heavily laid rules. But the past weeks on the trail, he’d seen another side of Miri—hesitation, doubt, and the distant look that came over her when she remembered what she’d lost.
Miri was too good to be a killer. Her heart was perilously kind. He’d watched her stop to hand the last of their supplies over to the sick and the poor and noticed how she’d seen their suffering for what it was. Miri’s gaze had not skirted that pain but took it in with steady determination and well more than her share of evident guilt.
She thought it her fault, all of it, that it was somehow her responsibility to repair the damage done by seven kings who had done their level best to put themselves before the realm and had murdered its one true queen.
That was why Miri held Cass’s concern—because that heart could be her downfall. Not because of anything else, he was certain.
Cass jumped when a hand rested on his shoulder, and he spun before the man had a chance to move fully away. Terric’s grin was slow, maybe the only slow thing about him, and it said all that he did not speak aloud. Nearly got you, Cass could almost hear.
In fact, he had. Cass knew better than to let himself get distracted. It was the very reason the men of the queensguard were not meant to court until their service had ended.
Terric’s brow drew together. “Gods, brother, what’s with the face?”
Cass shook his head, utterly disturbed that the thought of courting had even risen. He stepped forward, grabbing the hand of his brother-in-arms, and tugged him closer with a relieved sigh. “Thank the maiden you’re well.”
Terric slapped his free hand hard on Cass’s shoulder and held him tight in his grip. “You’re never alone.” His voice was low, his words a vow, and Cass thought he’d never heard anything more welcome. Terric used the grip to pull Cass even nearer. “Does this seem like a good idea?”
Cass frowned. “It was obviously not mine. She’s got a will of iron.”
Terric chuckled. “She is her mother’s daughter. I’ll give you that.”
Cass glanced toward the street. He kept his voice low as they let go of their grip and he asked, “How goes the strategy?”
“Support is steady. As you’ve likely seen here, conditions have become worse for most. Those who remember before will rise. But we build back support as we speak.”
The words were purposefully vague, but Cass understood. Nearly all who’d lived through the Lion Queen’s reign would relish the chance to have prosperity back. They would follow the true queen the moment they were given the chance. But the queensguard had been unable to act before. The sorcerers had ensured as much.
Timing would be critical. Miri had been hidden for years because the sorcerers would have come for her the moment they found out she was alive. Or they would have used Lettie to draw her out. And Cass knew Miri. She would be caught in that trap all too easily. It was the fault of honor and duty and those who upheld all they believed was right. If, while in search of support, the queensguard let Miri get found out or let slip to the wrong person that a second daughter of the queen lived, they would only hasten the death of both daughters. The last of the true bloodline would be lost.
They had tried before and failed. The queensguard was betting all on their last chance. They believed in Miri—not because she’d actually managed to kill a king—though she had—but because they’d had faith in her all along and in the plans in place to restore her line. They were queensguard. Their duty was to protect her. And she would need them now more than ever.
“Should she make it out,” Terric said, “you’ll have friends in Ironwood Forest.”
Cass looked his brother-in-arms straight in the eyes, letting Terric see the promise in his gaze and how much his brother’s vow meant. “I hope to see you again,” Cass said. “By the grace of the maiden.”
“By the will of the gods,” Terric said.
As he turned to go, the clang of a massive steeple bell rang through the streets, shuddering against Cass’s bones. When Terric’s gaze snapped to Cass, he’d gone as pale as snow at the sound. The bells echoed into the peal of half a dozen more, the alarm spreading in a series of bells across the castle grounds.
The princess had been found. The kingsmen were on alert.
Cass ran through the street with Terric hard on his heels. He was not certain which way Miri might have gone when she found trouble and could only follow the sound of the bells. If they rang still, then surely that meant she was not in their hands and had a chance of escape.
His heart beat so strongly that he wanted to clutch at his chest, but the fear only pushed him harder. His booted feet crossed the cobblestone of the path that led to the gate, and Cass watched with dread as the kingsmen slammed it shut. The metal landed with a hollow clang, the sharp ringing of the bells still echoing off the stone.
At their approach, the kingsmen took note of Cass and Terric, their speed among the chaos drawing attention they didn’t need. Cass moved his hand away from his sword belt, forcing his racing pulse to slow. He needed to think. They’d laid plans for so many outcomes, but from outside the gate, he could not know where Miri truly was, only where the kingsmen were.
Two smaller bells rang in quick succession on the north side of the castle, followed by the muffled shouts of running men. Cass let his gaze meet Terric’s, and they each gave a nod without acknowledgment that it might be the last time they saw one another. Then Terric was gone, and Cass was on the move, each intent on foiling the kingsmen where they could.
Calls of “What’s happened?” echoed quietly among the black-garbed laborers. Their voices were no more than whispers to avoid notice from the kingsmen.
Cass made his way toward the sound of the bells, hooking the edge of a basket to spill fruit so that it rolled over the stones. He kept moving, as if he’d been entirely unaware of the commotion behind him as several black-clad figures moved to pick up the mess. His palm itched for a sword hilt, the feel of his dagger handle, or for any sort of action. But that was not his duty yet.
He slipped closer to the wall, passing two half-helmed kingsmen close in conversation, their words clipped. He heard “Stabbed him in the thigh,” then “Broke his jaw.” Miri had been smart. She’d left her assailant so that he couldn’t chase her. And no doubt the jaw had not been an accident, either, not when the man’s words would have her found out faster. But something else must have gone wrong, because Miri had not killed him. She’d not left him unable to sound the alarm. Maybe more guards had turned up, or worse, someone who might be able to identify her in detail or might have recognized her for who she truly was.
Cass swerved near two more kingsmen as they ran past and heard “Covered in blood. Short. Female. A maid.”
There it was. They thought her still dressed in black. It would give her the chance to escape, if she could.
Cass moved faster, toward the sound of the bells, and felt his hope drop to the pit of his stomach at the sight of a mass of horses approaching at speed. It was a dozen kingsmen, swords drawn, and between them, as if the demon needed protection, a sorcerer dressed in the long black robes for which they were known. The robes hid their bodies, scarred from the drawing of blood. They had been paid for by the deaths of Cass’s brothers and were rich fabric trimmed with gold.
As the horses neared, the gates opened wide, and Cass spotted the familiar figure of Terric, swift on his feet and somehow already dressed in kingsman garb, as he edged toward the entrance. Gods, he meant to slip inside. Cass drew one long breath before he could change his mind then pulled the sword from his belt, shouted an obscenity about the king’s men, and waved the blade toward the sky.
The kingsmen only gave him the briefest glance, but that was all Cass would need. The group on horseback didn’t give chase, but three on foot certainly did. Cass turned to run, leaped toward an alley he hoped was not a dead end, and prayed his brother-in-arms had made it inside.