Page 48 of Fragile Oath

“Anyway, I didn’t want you to walk in blind.”

Like I had done to him. Unsure if the subtle accusation was intentional or not, I only nodded.

Another long pause stretched between us as I watched the snowflakes fall onto his dark lashes. The wind howled and lashed at us, but I welcomed the piercing cold, anything to escape the overwhelming void that was growing inside me.

“Speaking of which…” He reached into the pocket of his fur-lined cloak, pulling out a tiny furled-up scroll and handing it over.

I unrolled it, looking at a hurried scrawl that was far messier than one would expect from royalty. But then, Rowan had never been one for meeting expectations.

Dear favorite (albeit, most-vexatious) cousin,

Nils has written, concerned that he hasn’t heard from his nephew in some time. So naturally, we are searching Socair high and low, as there is no reason to think he went anywhere else.

We did, in fact, have a visit from a couple from Ram today.

I sucked in a breath.My parents had made it safely to the palace.

It’s been eventless so far, which is more than I can apparently say for home. I wanted to come, but Avani insists my presence would cause more harm than good.

It absolutely would,if I knew the lairds here at all, but it was telling that she was concerned. I scanned to the end of her letter where she poked fun at her new life and told him she missed him in her Rowan way. When I was finished, a strange combination of relief and worry mingled in my gut.

My parents were safe. But between the King’s presence and Rowan’s concern and Gallagher’s cautious glances, I wasn’t convinced that the same could be said for Davin.

ChapterTwenty-Four

DAVIN

The gatesof Lithlinglau hadn’t even shut behind us before a soldier came forward to meet our party. He had been sent by my parents to direct Uncle Logan and me to the Assembly chamber that hadn’t been used since before the war two decades past.

That already boded well. My confidence in this entire situation grew dimmer with each new revelation that unfolded.

He handed us each a hot towel to wash our face and hands, under my mother’s guidance no doubt. It was all the freshening up we were going to be allowed to do before facing down a room full of accusatory lairds.

Once clean, my uncle withdrew a simple golden circlet from his satchel — his travel crown, as we liked to refer to it — carefully placing it over his brow. Though neither of us was expecting to be dragged into an Assembly meeting the moment we passed through the castle gates, we did know how important appearances were right now.

After he was confident it was situated perfectly, he turned and gestured for me to follow him, but I held back.

“I’ll make sure everything is taken care of with Galina’s rooms,” Gal said, correctly interpreting my hesitation.

She had been taken from that room once before. I wasn’t anxious to just throw her back into potential danger without knowing who was on guard.

I gave him a sharp nod of appreciation before releasing my reins to the stable hand, resisting the urge to look back at Galina. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see her reaction to being back here.

I followed my uncle in through a back door of the castle, winding down servant’s halls and corridors until we found ourselves in front of two massive iron doors. I had been in this room many times while growing up at Lithlinglau, but I had never seen it used, let alone with this many people.

The Assembly chamber was already full, semicircular rows stuffed to the brim with lairds and the only two ladies who currently sat on the Assembly. Some of those in attendance were even forced to stand along the edges of the room, as there were no seats left.

Somehow, even the outlying title holders from as far as the outreaches of Oakenwell to Dead Rock had managed to make an appearance, for what was clearly the Assembly of the century.

I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered or offended that so many of them had shown up so quickly. Then again, I suppose they had been headed this way for the vote already.

Mamá and Uncle Finn sat among the Assembly instead of at the seats up front, my father noticeably missing. We were going for subtlety, then.

If the lines of exhaustion rimming their features were anything to go by, they had been having as much fun here with the lairds as we had on the road. My mother's gaze raked over me in concern, assessing me for injuries. When she found none, she nodded, giving me a small warning look that wasn’t hard to interpret.

Whatever had happened, she didn’t feel confident in these proceedings. We needed to be careful.

My uncle and I sat on the bench behind the table at the front of the room next to Lairds MacArthur and Jameson.

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