Chapter 43
Llinos is waiting at the doorway and she rushes towards me when she sees me.
‘Rose, thank the Gods. Where have you been? Kay said you ran out after Kyor?’
‘Not exactly …’ I’m not sure why I’m lying to her, but I can’t bring myself to share what’s happened even with her.
‘And why the hell are you so wet?’ she adds, plucking at my sodden gown.
This question, at least, I can answer. ‘It was raining.’
‘Not here, it wasn’t.’
A glance back outside is all it takes for me to see she’s right. My footprints from earlier still mark the snow.
The rain … it must have been Kyor. It’s not just lightning, but the entire spectrum of the storm he controls. I wonder if he even knew he was doing it.
‘You need to get dry.’ Llinos chews on her bottom lip. ‘It’ll be cold, but it’ll be fast, and then you can head to one of the fires to warm up.’
I’m about to ask what the hell she’s talking about when the blast hits me. Pure cold air whips through my hair and dress, covering every inch of my skin in goosebumps and instantly making me start to shiver.
‘Better,’ she says appraisingly as she steps back. ‘But as I said, you need to get warm.’ She grimaces. ‘And give your hair a brush. Come on, let’s find Kay and get you by a fire.’
A quick squeeze of my hair tells me that party trick of hers works well. Wind weaver, seamstress extraordinaire, and walking hair dryer. Some friends come with real benefits.
As I make my way back into the ballroom, it’s almost impossible to believe that this is the same place where, less than an hour ago, the king was attacked and one of the most beloved commanders of his guards was killed.
The wine is flowing even more freely than before and the music is beating out a quick, jovial pulse to which men and women are throwing themselves across the dance floor. The sight of it curdles my stomach.
‘Rose, where did you go?’ Jonas is on me before I’ve even had a chance to look for Kay. ‘And what happened to your hair?’
‘It’s a new style,’ Llin answers for me.
‘Have you seen Kay?’
He frowns for a moment, obviously dissatisfied with both our responses, though he replies all the same. ‘I saw her heading into one of the antechambers.’
‘The antechambers?’
‘Down the corridor.’
‘Which one?’ I begin, only to shake my head. ‘It’s fine. I’ll find her.’
I stride towards a corridor with an arched ceiling and gilded frescoes and swing open the first door I come to.
The first room is occupied by a group of middle-aged women who all fall silent the moment they see me, but as Kay isn’t among them, I couldn’t care less.
The second door is more of the same, but when I open the third, there is a couple whispering together on one of the sofas.
Anger and heat roll through me, though before I get a word out, Hew spots me and jumps to his feet.
‘We thought it was best to move away from the ballroom. You know, with the rebels and everything.’
‘The rebels who’ve already been killed?’ Hew might have gone up in my estimation with the way he protected Kay during the riot, but he’s plunged right back down again.
Bringing an unmarried woman alone into a room like this isn’t exactly protecting her reputation.
And judging by the way he’s shuffling awkwardly, he knows it.
‘You two must have a great deal to catch up on.’ His voice is bright, unnaturally so considering the evening we’ve just had.
‘I shall leave you ladies in peace. Rose.’ He takes my hand and kisses it gently, though my arm remains rigid the entire time.
He then turns back to Kay, who already has her hand out, ready and waiting.
‘Kay, I will call for you tomorrow?’
‘It will be the highlight of my day,’ Kay replies, holding his gaze for a fraction too long for me to feel comfortable. A moment later, he turns away and leaves.
‘No,’ I say, trying to keep my voice measured. ‘Whatever is going on there, or whatever you think you might want to happen, it ends now.’
‘What?’ Kay tries to feign innocence and fails. I know my sister way too well for that. ‘He was just being friendly.’
‘No,’ I snap out. ‘He’s not.’ I’m fully aware of exactly how hardheaded I sound, and I really don’t give a shit. Protecting Kay has been the central purpose of my life for years, and I’m not failing her now. ‘Kay, he is not the type of person you want to be friends with. You don’t even know him.’
‘No, you don’t know him,’ she stresses, sitting ramrod straight. ‘You’ve said all but three words to him. I, on the other hand, have spent several hours with him today and on many other occasions. Artur and Hew’s father are good friends, and I can tell you, he’s a good man, a really good man.’
Fuck. Of course Kay would think that. She thinks that about everyone.
She could meet Mortidem, with his black cane and red eyes, and she’d probably just compliment him on how well the colours go together.
And I can tell from the way she bites down ever so slightly on the corner of her mouth that there’s no chance she’s going to listen to me on this one.
‘Can you just keep your guard up around him?’ I beg, hoping for a middle ground. Though rather than agreeing, she chuckles. ‘Why are you laughing? I’m not joking,’ I huff.
‘No, I know you’re not. But you sounded like Hew just now.
He was telling me to keep my guard up and not to trust the people at court.
You should have heard the long warning he gave me before you got here tonight.
He was worried people would try to pry information about you from me to exploit your weaknesses in the next trial. ’
‘He said that to you?’
That’s definitely not the conversation I thought the pair of them were having, but then maybe I should give Kay more credit. No matter how much I think of her as a little kid, she’s not. In fact, she’s old enough to have entered the Retterheld herself. The thought makes me feel physically sick.
‘Yes,’ she says. ‘Like I mentioned already, I have spent a fair bit of time with him, and I like to think I’m a pretty good judge of character.’
She wants me to agree with her on the matter, but I can’t. She’s just too trusting to be rational when it comes to people.
‘So tell me everything,’ Kay says, lounging back on the sofa and patting the seat next to her. ‘Your friends seem lovely. And Jonas—’
‘Is also just a friend,’ I assure her hastily. ‘You’re right. The others are great. They’re from the Eastern Isles.’
As soon as I start, the words don’t stop. We talk for hours, with me covering everything from the moment when Jonas met me in the High Hold, to my time in the forest – though I omit a fair few details about Kyor, the dire wolf, and the dagger.
Kay has plenty to tell me, too. About how Artur arranged to move her to the High Hold and had a seamstress fix her new dresses, as well as her room with two fireplaces and the pastries she’s eaten every night.
More than once, I consider telling her about the offer Llin made for us to go with her to the Isles, but I don’t.
Kay seems so settled, and I don’t want to say anything to make her think I have less than one hundred percent confidence in me winning the gifting.
She doesn’t need to worry about contingency plans. That’s my job.
I am about to ask her about other people she’s met, but before I can, the door to the antechamber swings open.
Standing there is a portly man with beads of sweat dripping down his forehead, which he dabs away with a handkerchief.
There are just enough similarities to the man I remember from my past to tell me this is Artur Lorathin.
‘There you are,’ he says jovially.
I jump to my feet, trying not to gawk. He’s changed so much. His hair has gone, his figure has rounded, and there’s a pittedness to his skin that looks to have been caused by overindulging in drink. He’s a long way from the warrior my parents considered their friend – on the outside, anyway.
‘Lord Lorathin.’ Remembering my manners, I hurry across to the door and bend my knees in a poorly practised curtsy. ‘I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for my sister. Your generosity in bringing her here, so that I can see her at these events, is more than I could have dreamed.’
His smile reveals two rows of perfectly white teeth. ‘Rose, please, call me Artur. And it is my honour. Kay has been quite the perfect houseguest. And from what I hear, you’re a rather formidable Rettling.’
‘I am grateful that Etta and the Gods have favoured me thus far.’
‘And long may it continue.’ He flashes me another smile before turning his attention to my sister.
‘Acacia, dearest, it is time we head back to the apartment. The king has retired and it is only good form that we do the same.’
‘Oh. Of course.’ She tries to smile, but I know that, just like me, there’s reluctance in every pore of her body to be separated again. She turns to look at me and her eyes fill with tears.
I try to hold my own back, to be strong for her.
‘I love you,’ I whisper, holding her so close I’m sure that neither of us can breathe. But I don’t care. Breathing doesn’t matter if Kay’s not in my life. ‘This isn’t goodbye, remember? Only three more trials.’ Though I can admit to myself that that’s three too many.
When I break away, tears stream down her cheeks.
‘Please stay alive, Rose. I won’t be okay if I lose you, too. Please stay safe.’
‘I promise that it’s at the top of my to-do list,’ I quip, squeezing her once more.
She turns and takes the arm Artur has extended for her.
‘Goodnight, Rose.’ His voice is courteous, but the pause that follows feels sharp somehow. ‘I’m sure we will see you again. If Etta wills it so.’