Chapter 11
Ian woke with the dawn, having slept through the entire night and much of the previous day as well.
After they had seen Frederich safely and comfortably to his room, Onric had urged Ian to rest. “You can hardly stand without swaying,” he had said as they left their father’s bedchamber.
“Erich arrived several hours ago and told us about Gareth’s treachery. ”
“Hush,” Ian had warned. “We cannot speak openly about him while he is here.”
Onric grabbed Ian’s arm, stopping him from moving forward. Further down the hall, at the top of the stairs that led down to the back courtyard, stood two soldiers in Chendas purple.
Gareth was already posting his own men around the castle, all under the guise of safety no doubt.
Ian stepped forward, anger fueling him with the need to confront their ally turned enemy, but his body swayed and he fell forward, tripping over his own feet in exhaustion.
Onric’s hand, still on his arm, kept him upright. “To bed, brother. These problems will still be here when you awake.”
So Ian had slept.
He jumped from his bed, embracing the morning chill that combated the fire in his veins. He needed to talk with the council members who would be assembling within the hour. Although, undoubtedly, Gareth would be there as well.
So he needed to talk to Onric first and make a plan.
Leaving his room, he saw that Gareth’s two soldiers still stood at the end of the hall. Ian ignored them and knocked on the door to Onric’s room.
No one answered.
Onric was not one to wake with the dawn and was probably still asleep.
Ian rapped again, not caring if the noise woke his other siblings—they were next.
Running out of patience, Ian threw open the door to his brother’s room like he had when they were young children.
“East tower. Now.” Ian blurted out his command as he stepped into the room.
It was empty. The blankets on the bed looked mussed, but Onric was nowhere in sight.
“Onric!” he growled, releasing his frustration through the word though he expected no answer.
He went back out into the hallway.
With Meena and Sol in Lockwood and Aden and Isa back at her villa in Allys, the only other person he could wake was Erich.
He knocked on his brother’s door, rather more tentatively than he had banged on Onric’s. Erich had a wife now.
His hand stilled. He had fallen asleep before confirming that Erich had taken Aizel and Celesta to safety.
Erich answered the door quickly. Surprisingly, he was fully dressed and appeared quite awake despite the early hour. His cheek was bruised from the fight before, and he looked tired and annoyed. But somehow, his lopsided smile was still as roguishly confident as ever. “You are finally awake.”
“Aizel?” Ian whispered, eying the Chendas guards at the end of the hall. “And Celesta?”
“Safe,” Erich replied. “With Lord Cabril.”
Ian nodded, glad at that small relief. Lord Cabril was the first member of River’s Talon that Ian had met.
“I came back immediately yesterday so as not to arouse suspicion,” Erich said. “But I was just heading out to see them.”
“Eastern tower first,” Ian commanded, using his crown prince voice, not his older brother voice. He did not want to keep Erich from seeing his wife, but they needed to make a plan to deal with Gareth as soon as possible. “Just follow after me in a few moments so as not to make it obvious.”
Erich nodded in reply, closing the door in Ian’s face.
Ian banged his fist against the door, just because he could, then strode down the hall and past the purple-clad guards without acknowledging their presence.
After taking the steps down two at a time, he burst out the door at the bottom of the staircase into the crisp morning air of the back courtyard.
A dusty blue sky spread out overhead, stars still visible in the growing light. The courtyard was empty, save for a sleepy stable hand walking across the far side near the open gate.
Through the opening, Ian saw two figures riding atop a single horse headed his way.
“There you are,” Ian said, another wave of relief washing through him as Onric and Ashlin entered the courtyard.
From atop his horse, Blossom, Onric stared down at Ian and raised an eyebrow. “You’re awake.”
Ian ignored Onric’s comment but nodded to the woman who sat in his brother’s arms. “Ashlin.” Ian gave her the first true smile that had graced his face in well over a day.
While she and Onric were not yet wed, they had been together for nearly four seasons and Ian already felt that she was as true a sister to him as Meena.
Ian turned back to Onric, who was sliding off Blossom. “Secret meeting. Eastern tower. Now.”
Onric nodded his assent as he reached up to guide Ashlin to the ground.
“Perhaps you should go inside first,” Ian said as two Chendas soldiers in full armor walked slowly through the courtyard, as though on patrol. “Pretend you are going to break your fast and make your way back out here when you can escape notice.”
Onric nodded again.
The courtyard would soon be busy enough with servants and nobles going about their daily morning tasks. Ian trusted Onric to find the right moment.
Onric and Ashlin led Blossom toward the stable, and Ian continued across the courtyard.
Opposite the current castle, an old, crumbling structure had filled out the eastern wall of the castle keep.
The smaller hall and tower were the remnants of the original Iseldis castle from the time when the Majis ruled the kingdoms. Throughout the upheaval of the last few seasons, this had become the unofficial meeting place for any conversations that the royal family wanted to have away from prying eyes.
Ian entered the old hall and wound his way up the twisting steps of its eastern tower. At the top, he stepped into an old storage room that was filled with wooden crates and chests—both of which made excellent chairs for quick meetings—and a large makeshift table.
A massive, colorful tapestry lay spread out across the table.
This, too, was from the time when the Majis had ruled the kingdoms, but several of the panels in the tapestry had been destroyed.
The damage appeared to have been done deliberately, as though someone had been trying to erase the story held within the colorful threads.
Ashlin, an adept seamstress, had been repairing the damaged panels to recover the lost history.
She was using a needle that had been infused with harmony magic to replace the missing stitches, but the needle had run out of magic and progress had slowed.
Ian absently wondered if she had learned anything new in the time since he had been gone—then realized that he had only left the castle two days prior. It had felt like so much longer.
Ian leaned back against a tall crate and let his face go slack in the ease of an empty room. Having Gareth’s soldiers stationed throughout the castle was going to make his life incredibly stressful.
His moment of solitude was quickly interrupted, however, when Erich pushed through the small wooden door. The man was grinning.
“What could you possibly have to be smiling about at this hour and with death on our doorstep?” Ian asked, instantly annoyed.
Erich sat down on a chest opposite Ian, leaning back on his hands. “Having nearly been killed once, brother, I can laugh in the face of death. But, this particular smile is simply from the relief that I no longer have to hide my knowledge of Robin from you.”
“We are not here to talk about Robin,” Ian grumbled, crossing his arms. “We have larger problems at hand.” He looked toward the door, hoping to see Onric pushing it open.
Nothing happened.
Ian turned back to Erich. “But while we wait for Onric and Ashlin, explain to me exactly why you all decided to keep her a secret from me? Especially with everything that is going on right now?”
“It was not as simple as we ‘all decided—’” Erich started.
“Did you have a secret meeting about it?” Ian cut in.
“Well, yes,” Erich replied. “It is not like we knew about her for all that long ourselves.” His smile faded as he took on a more serious tone. “However, with the nature of her work . . . and the rules that she bends in order to accomplish that work . . .”
“You mean her breaking the law?” Ian asked.
“That just seemed like something that would bother you more than it did us,” Erich said. “And you are holding a lot of responsibility right now.”
Ian sighed. Erich had a point. It had been difficult enough to see Robin again, but for it to happen while she was actively breaking the laws that he had spent his life learning to uphold so that he could keep Iseldis safe and just .
. . The reason their father had sent Robin back to Lockwood was precisely because she had questioned the king’s justice.
“No more secrets,” Ian said. “Her breaking the law did not actually upset me, and you should not have made that decision for me. There is too much at stake for us to keep information from each other, no matter how uncomfortable.”
Ian fully believed his own words. Robin breaking the law did not bother him now as much as it might have a few years ago. His understanding of justice had changed significantly over the recent months.
“No more secrets,” Erich agreed, looking up as the door squeaked open.
Onric and Ashlin entered the room, Ashlin holding two apples. She tossed one to Ian and one to Erich.
Onric sat down on a chest near Erich, but Ashlin walked across the room to stand at the table and look down at her tapestry.
“What happened yesterday?” Ian asked, holding the apple in his hand. He had not yet broken his fast, and his stomach was hungry but not yet ready for food. “After I fell asleep.”
“Gareth did not officially take control of the castle,” Onric replied. “He just started giving orders, and everyone has followed them.”
“Our men are loyal to us,” Ian said, not concerned. “With Father . . . I will lead the council today and give the orders. Gareth is a visiting king.”