Page 72 of Grave Situation

Back in the small ballroom—so named because it can only fit “intimate” groups of three hundred—the crowd has thinned considerably. Most of the soldiers are gone, probably to the real party in the barracks.

“If you want to go to the barracks party, we can delay our start tomorrow morning,” I tell Coryn, trying to sound casual. A short visit to a party and a later departure sound wonderful to me.

To my disappointment, he shakes his head. “Nah. I’ve partied with those guys more times than I can count. And the commander never knows what to say to me. He wanted to train me to take over one day, but I just want to do my job. Leadership seems stressful to me.”

He’s right. In the past two weeks, I’ve learned that leadershipisstressful, mostly because of the way the people you’re leading keep telling you you’re doing it wrong.

I look around and spot the king and Haftel talking to several others. I’ve taken five steps before I realize Coryn is no longer with me.

“Is there a problem?” I ask when I’ve retraced my path to him. The happy smile is gone from his face again.

He scuffs his boot on the polished stone floor. “Noooo.”

The gods must hate me. I swear, they do. “Coryn, tell me what the problem is.”

His pout is a thing of beauty. Seriously. How does the man makepoutinglook attractive? “Nothing. It’s fine.” He darts a glance toward the king’s group, and a worried gleam appears in his eyes before he looks away.

I turn around and study them all. He was fine with Haftel earlier, and from the enthusiastic way he talks about the king, I doubt he’s the issue, either. My gaze slides to the other three—two women, one older, one about my age, and an older man with the same supercilious, stick-up-his-rectum expression my father wears.

My eyes narrow. The man is tall, blond, and has the same nose as Coryn. “Is that your father?”

He gasps. “How did you know?”

“Lucky guess. Come on.”

“Wait, Talon…” He catches my arm. “It might be better if I don’t come with you. My father… he doesn’t like me much. If I’m there, he might say something mean to you.”

My mouth stretches into a smile. “I’m counting on it.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

The king looksup and smiles as I march over to the group, a reluctant Coryn dragging his heels in my wake.

“Talon,” he greets expansively. His bonhomie and the pink flush to his cheeks make me think he’s been partaking of the wine. “And Coryn! Join us. Haftel tells me— Ooof!”

Haftel’s elbow to his side cuts him off. Nobody told me the court mages were allowed to assault monarchs. Maybe I need to reconsider my stance on living at court. Good food, comfortable rooms, staff to look after my every whim….

“I’d hoped you’d been run through by now,” Coryn’s father drawls, looking at his son as if he’s gutter waste stuck to his shoe. Any desire I have to live at court flees with the reminder that people likehimpopulate the courts.

Coryn flushes but says nothing, looking at the floor.

Fuck that.

“What a terrible thing to say.”

Awkward silence descends, but that was my goal, so I forge on.

“I don’t know who you are, but the whole reason I came here was to recruit Coryn, so it’s lucky for me that he hasn’t been run through.” I smile. “Not that anybody would find it easy todo so. Tales of his prowess have traveled far. That’s why Master Kahwyn insisted Coryn was the perfect person to join us.” The last bit stretches the truth—okay, so it’s a lie—but given the secrecy of our mission, Jaimin’s name is the best weapon I’ve got against this snob.

Beside me, Coryn straightens. Good.

“Master Kahwyn?” the older woman repeats. “Jaimin Kahwyn, the plague slayer?”

That’s such a stupid way to refer to him. Aside from the fact that he’s so much more than just the healer who cured a plague, how fucking ridiculous does “plague slayer” sound? He didn’t kill it with a sword.

I open my mouth to share some of those thoughts, but Haftel jumps in, shooting me a warning look. I think if she’d been standing beside me, I might have gotten an elbow to the ribs.

“The same,” she announces. “But we haven’t made introductions yet. Mage Talon Silverbright, meet her grace, High Priestess Hierane of the goddess Malna, Duke Kelter, and Priestess Whynne, also of Malna.”

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