Page 67 of The Uncrowned Prince

“Emmerick, I will send word when I can. Stay safe, and look in on Pren and Petrin if you have a moment. Just to ensure they aren’t being bullied. Oh, and I would be grateful if you could find a home for my cat. She’s a stray, but she’s used to me feeding her now.”

Emmerick grunted. “I’ll see to it. Stay safe yourself, and remember that I stand ready to accept any future… packages on your behalf.”

Vaniell nodded, and in that instant of farewell, Karreya finally caught a glimpse of the prince who had fought for so long in isolation. Weary, but proud. Determined, but heart-sore. A man who could inspire the loyalty of so many different people, but who struggled to believe that he was not a failure.

Until these past few days, his hesitancy would have made no sense, but now that she had come here and experienced profound uncertainty, she thought she understood.

Karreya had never before had cause to doubt herself. She was accomplished in all areas of her training, and knew that her superiors trusted her skills. And because she believed they respected and valued what she had to offer, she had faced the world with a wealth of unearned confidence.

She could kill anything that threatened her. Evade detection and capture, spy on the enemy and escape untouched.

But that was where her competency ended, and now she finally understood how much she lacked. How thoroughly she’d been kept in the dark. How she’d been isolated and manipulated and kept ignorant of the world in all its complexities.

No one had truly trusted her, and now that she was aware of it, a part of her confidence was gone. The moment there was no battle to fight, she felt lost and uncertain.

And Vaniell, too, as deeply as he managed to hide it, seemed to suffer from this same uncertainty.

Behind his joking irreverence and his magic tricks was a man of deep integrity and hidden strength, but he lacked the confidence that came from having people in his life who knew him completely and valued him not for his title or his abilities, but solely for himself.

He glanced once more at Karreya, but this time, it seemed he had no more to say. His gray eyes pierced hers with both sadness and farewell, and then he ducked beyond the curtain and was gone.

Silence fell heavily, as the four of them who remained regarded each other with stubborn suspicion. Unsure what to say, or what to do. Without Niell, they had no remaining connection, nor did Karreya desire one.

“We should go.” Emmerick’s face betrayed questions he longed to ask, but he was wise enough to keep them to himself. “If this location is discovered, it’s best they find nothing.”

Boden slipped away without a word, and Emmerick followed, after a brief nod at Karreya.

And then it was just her and Senaya, along with all of the memories she’d made in this room. She’d known Niell only a few short days, so why did it feel as if she’d lost something greater than a chance acquaintance?

“You cannot keep him,” Senaya said softly, breaking into Karreya’s thoughts with a voice of warning. “You will not want to hear me, but I do not speak out of ignorance. Even if he were not the heir to a Throne, even if you were not who you are… The connection between you is better severed now, before it brings more pain.”

Karreya whirled on her aunt, feeling the icy emptiness at the center of her chest begin to grow.

“You say you speak from experience, but have you no brighter memories that bring you comfort? Surely not all of your choices were borne of grief. Would you go back and change them, despite the joy they have brought you?”

Senaya did not flinch. “I do not know.” Her eyes seemed to have gone dark with remembered tragedy. “I have paid with years of pain and heartache for every moment of joy and freedom, and others have lost even more. For those I have loved, would it not have been better had they never met me? Never suffered the evils I brought down upon them?”

No one could answer such a question. And perhaps… perhaps she was right. The web of connections between Karreya and Vaniell was tangled enough already. And even if it were not, he was a prince of one of the Five Thrones of Abreia, and she was… no one his court could never accept.

“We should leave as little evidence of habitation as possible,” Senaya said, sounding once more coolly practical. She turned to searching the room, collecting the food and the blankets before shoving all of Niell’s other random possessions into a crate and hiding it in a corner. When the space was sufficiently tidy, she made her way toward the door and looked over her shoulder. “You know where to find me. For the sake of our relationship, and the impossible decisions you now face… I am willing to discuss your errand. If that is still something you wish to do.” Then she ducked through the curtain and disappeared.

Karreya cast one last glance around the room, remembering the warmth and camaraderie it had once held. Much like her heart, it felt empty and cold without Niell. But then, perhaps she would feel that way anywhere that he was not.

Had she done the wrong thing, letting him walk away from her?

Whenever this is over…He had not asked her to go with him. And she could not,wouldnot, beg. But these Abreians might not be able to keep him safe, and what if this was never over?

A brief scuffing sound met her ears, from somewhere beyond the curtain. It was tiny, but something about it raised the hairs on the back of her neck. Senaya might still be out there, but it did not sound like her aunt’s footsteps. Nor like clothing brushing against a wooden crate.

Karreya’s heart settled. Her breathing slowed, and her mind cleared. Like awakening from a dream, she entered a state of heightened alert, where every sound, every whisper of air carried meaning.

Something awaited her in the warehouse beyond this room.

Drawing a dagger, Karreya flattened herself against the wall nearest the curtain and listened. Whatever had disturbed the air currents was large. If it was human, there were more than one. She heard the faintest sounds of breathing, but no rustling or clanking, as she might expect with armored, booted guards.

It seemed likely that the intruders had taken Senaya—she’d not had enough time to escape—and if they’d done so without a sound, it meant they were well-trained and dangerous.

Without warning, all light in the room died.

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