Page 54 of Vale of Dreams

“That is such a good idea.” She giggles. “Just…lie down. In my huge bed.”

“Right.”

“Where is my bed?”

I sigh. “I’ll ask someone to show you to your room.”

“Nooooo…I don’t want to admit that to strangers. They’ll think I’m a farm girl idiot who can’t handle her mead. Just show me the way yourself.”

“Fine. Here. Lean on me. We’ll look for it together.” I have no idea where her room is, but that’s not the point of this charade.

I lead her through the doors, relieved to be out of the noisy hall, even for just a second. We cross into the hallway, where a swooping stairwell curves to the upper floor. Out here, the masonry is exquisite but haunting, winged creatures slaying each other with swords and their bare hands. Moonlight pours in through the windows—silver in some places, red in others.

I glance behind me to make sure we’re alone. “Please tell me you’re not really drunk.”

“Of course not, but we can’t talk in there. Half the room would be listening. My room’s up the stairs.”

Arm in arm, we climb the stairwell, and she leans on the curving stone banister, still feigning drunkenness in case anyone is watching.

“Holy shit, that was unnerving,” I whisper. “The prince, just cutting that man’s throat at dinner. Do you think Lord Ael is really a traitor?”

“It’s possible.” She leans in close. “I’m not privy to every secret agent passing on information to Avalon Tower. But we know for a fact that he’s not the one who let Raphael go.”

“Right. And what do you know about Duke Ker-Ys? Talan wants me to mind control him, to force him to confess treason. In private.”

Nivene frowns. “If he wanted to get rid of Ker-Ys, he would have made the confession public. So, I assume he wants you to do it for blackmail purposes?”

We reach the upper floor, where chandeliers hang from pointed vault arches high above us. Stone statues of knights line the corridor.

“Yes, I think blackmail,” I whisper back. “What do you know about him?”

Nivene sighs. “Okay. This is where it gets more complicated. Ker-Ys is likely plotting against Auberon, but not with the help of any humans or our agents. Just out of his own self-interest. The problem is, one of our assets has been involved in this. His name is Goulven, and he works with Meriadec. Ker-Ys has no idea that he’s aligned with us. If you force a confession out of Ker-Ys, that might land our asset in the torture chamber, giving up every secret he knows.”

I swallow. “How do you know all that?”

She shoots me a sharp look. “I’m a trained spy, Nia. It’s literally my job to uncover things like that with my sharp deduction skills. Also, Meriadec told me.”

I exhale. “Okay, so I can try to remove Goulven’s name from his confession, if I can.”

“If you can’t, Goulven is fucked, and hopefully, he doesn’t break under torture,” Nivene says darkly. “But if there’s no way around it, get the confession with his name in it. He knows the risks, like we all do. And fortunately, he doesn’t know about you and me.”

I swallow hard as dread dances up my nape. “Right.”

“I nipped back to Avalon Tower earlier today,” Nivene says. “Briefed Viviane and Wrythe.”

My jaw drops. “Wrythe, too?”

“There was no way around it,” Nivene says grimly. “He realized you were gone and demanded to be included. Anyway, we have our instructions. First of all, the Fey are advancing quickly through Scotland, getting closer to Edinburgh and Glasgow every day. If they get there, the casualties will be astronomical, and the war on Scotland will be lost. The Americans have sent troops, buying us some time, but it’s not looking good.”

I swallow. “How long?”

“A month at the most. Our sources report on special strategy plans that the Fey have. You and I need to get our hands on them. If we do, we might be able to reverse the tide of the war.”

“Any idea where to start?”

“None. Keep your eyes open.”

We pass thick, gothic-arched doors inset into the walls. I think her room actually is around here. “Okay, what else?” I whisper.

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