Page 108 of Twin Crowns

“Wren isn’t truly capable of that. I know it in my heart.”

“Just like you know she’s not going to backstab you after tomorrow?”

Rose sighed as she threaded her arm through Celeste’s. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll talk to her.”

The bells in the clock tower began to chime. A new day had dawned, and there was much to do. “We should get back,” said Celeste through a sprawling yawn. “I’m sorely in need of a nap. We stayed up far too late last night, and I want to look my best for the feast later.”

“You’ll look radiant, as you always do.”

“As long as Princess Anika notices,” said Celeste with a glint in her eye. “She’s the only Gevran I’ll miss when those ships depart.”

“Now who’s the hopeless romantic?” teased Rose.

“Still you,” said Celeste as they headed for the palace. “It’s always you.”

They laughed as they parted in the hallway, the two girls peeling off to opposite wings to get ready for the Gevran Feast.

Rose made her way to the east tower, thinking again about Wren. Itwas preposterous for her sister to think she would still be Queen. That she was evenfitfor it in the first place. Wren was far too brash, not to mention she swore like a sailor and had horrendous manners. The very idea of her wearing the crown, much less trying to rule with it, made Rose chuckle to herself.

She was still laughing when she stepped into the stairwell, and was seized by a figure waiting in the darkness.

37

Wren

Wren grabbed her sister and pulled her into the shadows, a hand pressed to Rose’s mouth to keep her from screaming. “It’s Wren,” she whispered as Rose struggled against her. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”

In the dimness, Rose’s eyes were wide and frightened. They slid to Wren’s, and the fight seeped out of her. She relaxed her shoulders, and Wren removed her hand from her mouth.

“Do you have a death wish?” Rose hissed. “What are you doing down here? You’re supposed to be hiding in my bedchamber!”

“I got bored,” said Wren defensively.

Rose glared at her. “I almost screamed just now.”

“Good thing I’m quicker than you.” Wren winked as she tapped the pouch at her waist. “And anyway, the tower guards are asleep.” She had spelled them both with ease before winding her way down the stairwell, where she had been waiting impatiently for her sister’s return.

“I have a good mind to fire them for their incompetence,” muttered Rose.

“If you want real protection, you should seek it from the witches,” said Wren. “Didn’t you learn that in Ortha?”

Rose’s lips twisted. “The last time one of your witch friends used magic on me, it wasn’t to protect me. It was to kill me.” She shivered at the memory, and Wren was seized by a sudden, violent protectiveness.

Wren curled her hands into fists. “Who tried to kill you?”

“Rowena,” said Rose in a quiet voice. “She threw me off the Whisperwind Cliffs.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this last night?”

Rose shrugged. “Would you have cared?”

Wren stared at her sister in alarm. Did Rose really think she meant so little to Wren? That she was too callous to care if her only sisterdied? “Of course I care,” she said, biting off a curse. “When I see Rowena again, I’ll wring her neck. I leftexplicitinstructions that you were not to be harmed.”

Now it was Rose’s turn to look surprised.

“Come with me.” Wren grabbed her sister’s hand and led her down the rest of the spiraling steps, where the shadows rose up like waves to claim them.

Rose clenched Wren’s fingers. “What are we doing in this dusty old cellar?”

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