Page 62 of Grave Situation

Oh no. “The priesthood? How do they know…Whatdo they know?”

She lifts one shoulder in a half shrug. “There are some mages who have strong religious ties. It’s possible one of them spoke out of turn and mentioned that the stone has reappeared in the world.” Her tone heavily implies that those mages are idiots. “I’ll keep my ear to the ground, but it’s good to know that if some deluded high priest tries to intervene and take the stone, it will express its opinion firmly.”

My mind races. “It will,” I agree, wondering what in all the gods’ names the priesthood could want with the stone—and how much they know about us and our reason for carrying it. “We’ll avoid the temples, just in case.”

“You’ll be busy with your search for the companion,” she points out. “I doubt you’d spend much time in the temple district anyway. Will you be wandering the halls in the hopes of meeting the right person? Or must your search extend to the city?”

Gods, I hope not. When I visit the city, I want it to be enjoyable. “The stone will tell me what I need to do when it feels like it.” I shrug again. “It can’t give us names or anything, I’m afraid, but it’s very good at conveying emotion. Right now it’s not saying much of anything.” I glance down at where it rests against my chest. “Stone, do I need to wander the hallways right now?”

~No~

“See?” I spread my hands. “Does that mean I can go back to my room and have a nap?”

The stone’s agreement is accompanied by a strong sense of judgment, and the king chuckles.

“That’s astounding. It really doesn’t seem to approve of you, though.”

“Sadly, Your Majesty, that seems to be my lot in life.”

“Perhaps the stone would like you to attend the little gathering this evening?” Haftel interjects. “The captain of the King’s Own Guard is retiring, and we’re having a little party here in the palace, to properly honor him at court, before the real party at the barracks.”

The barracks party sounds a lot more interesting, to be honest, and I cons?—

~Yes~

Really?I ask the stone. A court party? I trained to be a mage partly to avoid that very thing.

“We’ll be there,” Tia says before I can talk the stone out of it. “Thank you for the invitation. It seems the stone doesn’t want Talon growing moss from idleness.”

I resent that, but it’s not worth arguing with her about it while she’s in this mood. Maybe the party will mellow her. The one good thing you can say about a court party, according to what I’ve heard, is that there’s always plenty to drink.

“We’ll see you this evening, then,” the king says with a charming smile I wouldn’t have thought would suit his face, but somehow does. “I’ll call for someone to show you the way back to your rooms.”

“That’s kind of you, sir, but we’ve got it,” I assure him. I don’t want to wait until we get back there to demand answers from Jaimin. We take our leave of them both and close the door firmly behind us.

I wait until we’re out of earshot of the men guarding the door before I hiss to Jaimin, “What was that?”

“What was what?” Tia asks.

Jaimin takes us both in with his usual calm gaze. “Talon was anxious, so I fixed it.”

“By brushing his arm against mine, through all our clothing,” I add. Damn that clothing. “And I wasnotanxious. I was… annoyed. People are always trying to make a big deal of us being twins.”

“Oh,” Tia says, and the single word encapsulates so much. She tugs gently at my mind, and this time, I reach out.“Does he know?”

“I don’t think so. He probably suspects there’s something going on.”I hope, anyway.

“What do we do?”

“Nothing. Bluff. Hope he hasn’t guessed somehow.”

“Are you both done?”

The simple question has the impact of a boulder. I try not to react, try not to freeze, but I can’t stop my heartbeat from racing out of control… and damn him, he’s close enough to me and a strong enough healer to know that.

“What do you mean?” I ask. I’m sticking with bluffing for now.

“I won’t betray you,” he says, still in that calm, gentle tone, as though we’re discussing the weather and not something that could get me and Tia locked up and studied for the rest of our lives. Tia’s safety is the only thing that stops me from telling him everything.

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