Page 121 of Lady of Starfire

“Callan,” Tava said. “I do not know if you ever met Ezra, but—”

“You are Sloan’s son,” Callan said, staring at the young man. That was why he’d recognized the man’s voice. He took after his mother in a lot of ways, but he had Sloan’s pale blue eyes and blond hair. Sloan had always kept his hair cropped short. Ezra’s was a little longer, curling slightly around his ears. Callan had known Sloan had had a family, but he’d only met his wife a handful of times. And his kids? Ezra was a few years younger than he was. Closer to Tava’s age than his and Drake’s. He knew Ezra had three younger sisters as well. He had been the only boy, older than his sisters by several years. Sloan’s wife had become pregnant when she and Sloan were both so young, but Callan knew Sloan had regretted nothing about his life with her.

Ezra surveyed him, hand still on his sword.

A sword that had once belonged to his father.

And then Callan bowed to him.

When he straightened, Ezra was staring at him wide-eyed, his hand fallen slack by his side.

“Your father gave his life protecting my family. Protecting me and Eva. I can never repay the debt that is owed to you and your family,” Callan said thickly, emotion welling in his throat. “He was a man I was honored to call a friend.”

Ezra glanced at Tava, and Callan could see her smiling softly out of the corner of his eye. Then the man cleared his throat. “Tava says you are on our side. That you did not flee, but that you have been gone all this time finding help.”

“I have,” Callan replied.

“Let’s take this to another place,” Juliette suggested, gesturing back the way they had come.

Tava’s fingers intertwined with his, and she led them through the array of tents until they came to a larger one in the center. Ezra pulled the flap aside, Juliette and Azrael entering first, followed by Callan and Tava. The inside was spacious, candles and lanterns spread out and casting everything in a warm glow. There was a bed to one side, along with various trunks and a small washbasin. In the center was a long table with maps atop it. Drake and a few other men Callan did not recognize were standing around them. They looked up at the interruption, and Drake straightened when he saw Callan.

“What are you doing here?” Drake asked, rushing towards them.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Callan replied.

“There are many stories to share,” Juliette said, plopping unceremoniously onto a stool near the table. An elbow rested on the surface, and she propped her hand on her chin. “You will definitely want to sit, your Majesty.”

Several of the men excused themselves so that it was just Juliette, Azrael, the Tyndells, Callan, and Ezra in the tent. Callan turned to Drake and Tava and said, “Start from the beginning. How are you here? Does Balam—”

“Balam does not know we are here,” Tava interrupted. Her hands were in her lap, back straight and poised. Still a Lady, even in a godsdamn witchsuit.

“Where is here? Who put this together?”

“It is a safe site of sorts,” Juliette chimed in, chin still propped, watching them all curiously. “It has been in the works for quite some time. Set up by those who opposed your father’s rule.”

“My father’s…” His eyes widened in realization. “This was being plannedbeforeAlaric and Mikale took over?”

Juliette nodded, straightening some. Her eyes flicked to Drake.

“Yes and no,” Drake said. “It was originally being set up to aid those seeking refuge from Rydeon and Toreall. They kept your family in the dark about much of the happenings in those kingdoms, especially after the new rulers took the thrones. Balam made sure certain happenings were never reported to King Theodore. But word got out to the poorer people of Windonelle, and well…” He scratched at the back of his head. “There were a lot of unhappy people in the kingdom, Callan.”

He knew that. Well, he hadn’t known that at the time. Not until Tava had taken him to the poorer districts that first time. There would always be those discontent with how things were run, but this had been different. This had indeed been a people who felt invisible to their king. Who felt their king did not care if they lived or died, let alone cared about their quality of life.

He turned to Tava. “How long have you known about this?”

Her eyes were down, and she was worrying her bottom lip, but it was Juliette who spoke.

“I learned of it first,” she answered. “When we were searching for answers about the children in the Black Syndicate.”

“Scarlett knew?” he asked sharply.

Juliette shook her head. “Even then I had…abilities. I did not fully understand what they were yet, but I alwaysknewthings. Which path to take when we were tracking a target. When the best time was to sneak from the Fellowship…or into a castle. I found myself inside the right tavern at the right time one night and overheard a group of men from Rydeon speaking with some men from the king’s forces.”

From the king’s forces.

Callan’s gaze jumped to Drake. The Rydeon king was staring straight at him.

“You were part of this? This whole time?”

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