Page 158 of A Court Bright and Broken

How did he find out then?I asked.

I don’t know. After I left here last night I went right to my chambers. I didn’t even see anyone. Even if I had, I never would have told Father. You know I’d never betray you like that.

Feeling the fight drain out of my body, Pharis let me go.

I turned to face him, seeing the same sincerity in his eyes I’d heard in his mental voice.

“What am I going to do?” I asked. “I promised her I’d keep her safe.”

“Where is she now?” he asked.

“In the dungeon. After the wedding, he’s planning to install her in my new retinue–or his own.”

“The wedding? What wedding?”

“Mine.” I let out a tired breath. “To Lady Glenna of House Lalor.”

Pushing my hands into my hair, I began pacing again.

“It was all for nothing. Me asking you to use the matchmaker’s glamour, meeting Raewyn at the ball, keeping her hidden here…”

In a morose tone, I continued. “Falling in love with her. His Majesty King Pontus is still getting exactly what he wanted at the start of the Assemblage. For me to marry Glenna and cement his alliance with her father.”

I threw my hands out to the sides.

“Nothing’s changed—except for poor Raewyn, who’ll be kept captive her entire life,” I said. “That is, as long as he never finds out about the assassination plot—which he probably will. Obviously you’re not the only one who knows about her.”

I clenched my hands so hard the nails pierced the skin, and my broken hand screamed in pain.

“She’ll be right there within his reach when that deadly secret finally does reach his ears, in danger of losing her head every day, every moment. It’s all my fault,” I moaned.

“How is ityourfault?” Pharis asked.

“She was asking me to help her get home from the moment I took her out of the dungeon,” I said. “I kept telling her it was too dangerous, but I could have done what I tried to do last night, used the secret passageways and snuck her out during the night. The truth is I didn’t want to let her go and used the danger of discovery as an excuse to keep her around.”

“You don’t know it would have worked any better then,” Pharis said. “Her ankle was sprained, right?”

“Yes, but I could still have made it work—if I’d wanted to. Now I’ve doomed her.”

Dropping my head, I rubbed my achy eyes and tried to keep the impending tears from leaking out in front of my brother.

“Thelastplace she needs to be is here in Father’s crosshairs, as his bargaining chip,” I said. “But I’ve lost my chance to set her free.”

“You really do love her, don’t you?” he asked.

I bobbed my head up and down, unable to speak.

There was a long pause before Pharis spoke again.

“I can do it.”

My head popped back up. “Do what?”

“Free her. I can get her out of the dungeon and back to her village,” he said. “If that’s not far enough away, I’ll take her somewhere else. Somewhere Father will never find her—in case the assassin story does get out.”

A flicker of hope stirred in my heart. “You’d do that?”

“Of course. It’s what you want, isn’t it? Her freedom, her safety,” my brother said.

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