“No,” Nesta said abruptly. “No, I don’t want to know it.”
Silence fell.
Nesta declared to none of them in particular, “If Briallyn is hunting for the Mask, if she apprehends me, I don’t want to have any knowledge of how to free it.” It was wise, even if it made him sick to consider, but he could have sworn it was a lie. Could have sworn that Nesta didn’t want to have access to the information—for herself.
As if she might be tempted by the Mask.
Rhys said, “That’s fine. Helion can show me, and if we need the knowledge, I’ll show you.” Rhys held out a hand to Helion, indicating how he’d prefer to be shown the spell. Their fingers interlaced, their eyes going vacant, and then Rhys blinked. “Thank you.”
Azriel said, “We have to notify Eris about his soldiers’ reappearance. And what we did to them.”
Cassian surveyed his family, his friends. “How much do we tell Eris? Do we let him know we have the Mask?”
The question hung there. Then Rhys said, “Not yet.” He nodded to Cassian. “Pay Eris a visit tomorrow.” Rhys gestured to Nesta. “You go with him.”
Nesta stiffened, and Cassian tried not to gape. “Why?” she asked.
“Because you savor playing the game,” Rhys said. He’d undoubtedly noticed how smoothly she dealt with Helion’s attempts to flirt earlier. Rhys knew how to wield a tool at his disposal. “But it’s your choice,” he added.
Cassian cleared his throat. “Sounds fine to me.” Nesta, to his surprise, didn’t object.
“I want to confirm that Briallyn has the Crown,” Azriel said. “I’ll travel to the human lands tomorrow.”
“No,” Feyre and Rhys said at the same time, in the same breath.
Azriel’s eyes shuttered. “I wasn’t asking for permission.”
Rhys smirked. “Doesn’t matter.”
Az opened his mouth to object, but Feyre said, “You’re not going, Azriel. If Briallyn has the Crown and catches you, even if she just suspects you’re nearby, who knows what she could do to you?”
“Give me some credit, Feyre,” Az said. “I can keep hidden well enough.”
“We take no risks,” Feyre said, voice flat with command. “Pull all your spies out.”
“Like hell I will.”
Cassian braced himself, but Feyre didn’t back down. “Information from your spies—any spies—can’t be trusted with the Crown in play. Amren said it needs close contact to sink its claws into someone’s mind. We stay far away from Briallyn.”
Azriel bristled and turned to Rhys. “And you agree with her?”
“She’s your High Lady,” Rhys said coldly. “What she says is law.”
Az eyed him, eyed Feyre. Determined that they were an immovable unit, an impenetrable wall against which his fury would only break again and again.
In the taut silence, Helion nodded to the bright hall beyond the room. “I would like to remove myself from the Mask’s odious presence, and perhaps enjoy your palace, Rhysand. It’s been a long while since I was in a place of such quiet. If you’ll allow it, I’ll stay here for an hour or two.”
“Something bothering you at home?” Rhys inquired, falling into step beside the High Lord.
Cassian caught Nesta’s stare as he left the room, and she grabbed her book before following them out. Feyre exited with Azriel, murmuring with a tattooed hand on his shoulder.
Cassian asked Nesta, “What are you reading today?”
“A Brief History of the Great Sieges by Osian.”
He almost stumbled a step. “Not a romance?”
“I realized after you left me The Dance of Battle that there’s a great deal left for me to learn. Last night I asked the House to give me something you might read.”
“Why?”
Nesta tucked the book under an arm. “What’s the point in learning fighting techniques if I don’t know their true purpose and uses? You’d train me into a weapon, and I’d be just that: someone else’s weapon. I want to know how to wield it—myself, I mean. And others.”
Cassian was stunned into silence as they ascended the steps, following Helion and Rhys, who chatted away at the head of their group. “You plan on leading an army, Nes?”
“Not an army.” She glanced sidelong at him. “But perhaps a small unit of females.”
She was dead serious. “The priestesses?”