Serene had stayed in the sanctuary and was tasked with making occasional noises—talking, laughing—to confirm occupancy. After the guard change, she was to take a tray of half-eaten dinner down to the kitchen, tidying up. No other staff would be in the kitchen at this hour. She’d slip out the side hall and down the stairs to where Norah and Vitalia would be waiting with horses.
Time passed at a snail’s pace. Norah’s heart raced in her chest. She prayed everything would go to plan. They only needed to get the horses and meet Serene outside the kitchen.
She and Vitalia slipped along the wall of the smith’s forge and silently crossed the cobblestone street toward the stables. But before they reached the side doors, a soldier stepped out in front of them. Norah stopped suddenly, and Vitalia grabbed her arm. The soldier held a spear in his hand—he was a member of the Crest. Norah sucked in a breath. Then she recognized him.
Bhastian.
“You need to get back to the castle, Salara,” he told her. “The captain’s looking for you.”
“Well he can keep looking,” she said sharply.
“Salara.” There was something in his voice that made her skin prickle. “You’ll want to go back.”
But she didn’t want to go back. She couldn’t live like this anymore. “No.” She shook her head. “I won’t.”
“Salar and the lord commander will be returning soon.”
All the more reason she had to go now. “I’m leaving. Step aside.”
But he only blocked her way. She couldn’t fight him—she was no match for a warrior of the Crest. And even if she could get away, she’d lose Vitalia, and Serene. She had to try a different approach. “Bhastian. Please. I’m begging you.” Was Kiran the only one with compassion?
He hesitated, but then shook his head. “I can’t, Salara. I have to take you back.”
“Bhastian,” she pleaded. “Help me.”
He motioned her back toward the castle. Fight flooded her mind, but she couldn’t, she reminded herself. And, since Bhastian was here, they’d likely found Serene. She wouldn’t be outside the kitchen waiting, and Norah couldn’t leave without her.
Defeated, she headed back. As they walked, he waved off the guard that came running, and continued toward her sanctuary. They entered the west wing, but as they reached the main hall, Bhastian halted.
Artem stepped out from the shadows, and Norah’s stomach dropped.
Bhastian struck the ground with his spear in salute and stood at attention.
“I would have thought you’d be more careful with yourself now, Salara,” Artem said with a chilling tone. “All the problems you’ve caused, the people you’ve hurt.”
“You mean the people you’ve hurt,” she snapped.
“You forced my hand.” Artem scoffed. “I initially took you for a sharp woman, but you still fail to grasp your situation.”
Her situation. He didn’t view her as queen. He didn’t recognize her authority. No one did.
“Mikael won’t stand for this.” She didn’t know if she believed her own words, though.
“I think that depends on what he sees in Odepeth.”
Odepeth. Where the seer was, where Mikael had gone.
“You’re so confident it will go poorly,” she said.
“Because it’s known—you cannot change fate. Salar will see nothing different.”
This was the first she had heard that. Her father had changed fate. Hadn’t he? His words scared her. What would Mikael do if he thought his fate remained?
He eyed her for a moment. “Where were you just now?”
She didn’t answer, and he looked at Bhastian. Norah’s heart beat heavily in her chest.
“She was in the library,” Bhastian answered.
Her heart leapt in relief, but Norah pursed her lips in feigned anger.
Artem’s eyes narrowed. “You said you searched the library.”
“Not well enough,” Bhastian answered.
He tilted his head, looking back at Norah. “A little late for a library visit.”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“Strange you would slip your guard for that. And I would have thought your maid would have given me that answer—a place so innocent.”
Norah’s stomach knotted. Serene. “She didn’t know.”
“So she said.”
He’d caught Serene. He’d questioned her. “If you touched her—”
The corner of his mouth turned up, and he looked at Bhastian. “Take her back. And take your new post.”
Norah stepped around him with a fury and stalked back to her sanctuary, the panic building inside her with each step. When she reached the door, she swung it open and let out a ragged breath.
Serene sat on the edge of the bed, trembling as blood ran from her brow and lip. Her face was swollen from crying.
“Serene,” Norah gasped, rushing to her. “What happened?”
Her maid let out an uneven breath but shook her head. She couldn’t speak.
Norah sank down beside her and pulled her close. “I’m here now,” she said, stroking her hair.
“It was the captain,” Serene managed to get out, her voice shaking. “I hadn’t even left yet. He came looking for you. I told him I didn’t know where you were. He didn’t believe me.”
Rage surged through her.
Serene glanced over Norah’s shoulder and grew quiet. Norah realized Bhastian hadn’t stopped at the end of the hall but had come into the sanctuary. “Get out,” she hissed at him.
“I can’t do that, Salara. The captain has ordered a post in your room. You’re to have a guard always.” Norah let out an enraged breath, but Bhastian spoke with a softer voice. “I’ll take the shift until Salar and the lord commander return. They’ll be back soon, and neither will stand for this.”
“You can’t be serious. This is all the lord commander stands for!”
The guardsman sighed and stepped to the door, turning his back to give the desolate women privacy.
Norah trembled in a maddening rage, but the only thing she could do was wait for Mikael to return. She and Vitalia pulled Serene into the bed and lay in the dark, trying to hold back the tears.
“Salara.”
Norah woke to Bhastian calling her. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and sat up, careful not to wake Serene and Vitalia lying beside her.
“Is it morning?” she whispered.
“Yes, early morning. Salar and the lord commander have just returned.”
“Oh,” Norah breathed as she slipped out of the bed.
He hesitated. “But, Salara, it’s not a good sign. The lord commander has gone straight to his study, where he’s to be left alone.”
That wasn’t entirely indicative of something bad. If the lord commander was unhappy, it could be the seer had spoken in her favor.
She hoped.
Norah padded into the bath chamber and ran her fingers through her hair. She splashed water onto her face from the basin and took a deep breath. Mikael would listen. Things between them weren’t completely broken. She just needed to talk to him.
She stepped back out into her chamber and slipped on her shoes. “Where is he?” she asked Bhastian.