Was Rylan’s body still in the courtyard by the roses?
Malessa’s body had been in that room for hours and then removed. I wondered if she had been returned to her family, or if her body had been burned out of precaution.
Tawny unhooked the veil, carefully removing it so it didn’t tangle in the strands of hair that had escaped the knot I’d gathered it into that morning.
Duchess Teerman knelt before me, her cool fingers grazing the skin around my lips and then my right temple. “What were you doing out in the garden?”
“I was looking at the roses. I do so nearly every night.” I glanced up. “Rylan always goes with me. He didn’t—” I cleared my throat. “He didn’t even see the attacker. The arrow struck him in the chest before he was even aware that anyone was there.”
Her bottomless eyes searched mine. “It sounds like he wasn’t as alert as he should have been. He never should’ve been caught off guard.”
“Rylan was very skilled,” I said. “The man was hidden—”
“Your guard was so skilled that he was felled by an arrow?” she asked softly. “Was this man part ghost that he made no sound? Gave no warning?”
My back stiffened as I thought of the sound the man had made and how it hadn’t resembled anything human. “Rylan was alert, Your Grace—”
“What have I told you?” Her delicately arched brows lifted.
Struggling for patience, I took a shallow breath. “Rylan was alert, Jacinda,” I amended, using her first name. She sporadically required this, and I never knew when she would want me to use the name or not. “The man…he was quiet, and Rylan—”
“Was unprepared,” Vikter finished for me.
My head cranked around so fast it sent a flare of pain across my temple. Disbelief seized me.
Vikter’s blue eyes met mine. “He enjoyed your evening strolls in the garden. He never thought there would be a threat, and unfortunately, became too complacent. Last night should’ve changed that.”
Last night had changed that. Rylan had been scanning the grounds constantly. My shoulders slumped, and then my brain switched gears. Ian. “Please don’t say anything to my brother.” My gaze swung between the Duchess and Vikter. “I don’t want him to worry, and he will even though I’m fine.”
“I will need to inform the Queen of what has happened, Penellaphe. You know this,” she replied. “And I cannot control who she tells. If she feels Ian needs to know, she will tell him.”
I sank further into myself.
Her cool fingertips touched my cheek, my left one. I turned back to her. “Do you understand how important you are, Penellaphe? You are the Maiden. You were Chosen by the gods. Ascensions of hundreds of Ladies and Lords in Wait, all across the kingdom, are all tied to yours. It will be the largest Ascension since the first Blessing. Rylan and all the Royal Guards know what is at stake if something were to happen to you.”
I liked the Duchess. She was kind, nothing like her husband, and for a tiny moment there, I thought she was actually worried about me as a person, but it was what I signified that concerned her the most. What would be lost if something were to happen to me. It wasn’t just my life, but the future of hundreds of those who were about to Ascend.
The worst part was the twinge of sadness when I should’ve known better.
“If the Descenters were to somehow stop that Ascension, it would be their greatest triumph.” She rose, smoothing her hands over her gown. “It would be such a cruel strike against our Queen and King and the gods.”
“You…you think he was a Descenter, then?” Tawny asked. “That he wasn’t trying to take her for ransom?”
“The arrow used on Rylan was marked,” Vikter answered. “It carried the Dark One’s promise.”
His promise.
Air lodged in my throat as my gaze swung to Tawny’s. I knew what that meant.
From Blood and Ash
We Shall Rise.
It was his promise to his people and his supporters, to those scattered across the kingdom, that they would rise once more. A promise that had been scrawled across vandalized storefronts in every city and had been carved into the stone shell of what had remained of Goldcrest Manor.
“I must be blunt with you,” the Duchess said, glancing toward Tawny. “And I trust that what I’m about to say won’t become whispers on the lips of others.”
“Of course,” Tawny promised as I nodded.
“There is…reason to believe that the assailant from last night was an Atlantian,” she said, and Tawny sucked in a sharp breath. I had no reaction to the news since Vikter and I had already suspected as much. “It’s not news we want spread widely. The kind of panic that could cause…well, it would do none of us any favors.”