Page 46 of Stars May Fall

She smiled up at me in relief, though I saw lines of stress in the corners of her eyes. She squeezed my hands and looked like she wanted to collapse into me but retained her formal pose. “We’re fine.” Her expression hardened. “Lord Lyrason is completely overreacting.”

Callum relaxed, leaning against the wall as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Hey, what about me? Aren’t you going to ask if I’m hurt too?”

I ignored him and looked up and down the corridor, the tension not leaving my body. “Why are you waiting here? Whathappened?”

Sophie nodded toward the closed door. “Lord Lyrason wanted to speak to the king first and without us. No doubt he wants to get his side of the story over to the king. All he did was find us leaving his house.”

My heart stumbled. “What? What were you three doing in his house?”

She squeezed my hands again. She had a soft smile on her face, the one that calmed the deepest parts of me. “I’ll explain later, but we paid Mister Gregane a visit, got what we went for, and found even more information about the halfsouls.”

Callum took half a step closer. “We had a much needed conversation with Mister Gregane, but as Sophie says, it will best be explained later.”

I glanced at the door and licked my lips, my nerves only heightening. I faced both Sophie and Callum and guided them away from the door. I spoke too quietly for the guards to hear. “It’s risky for you to be here. Annabelle said they’re setting a trap, and I’m not sure what it is yet. I don’t want you caught in it with me or to make it easier for them by all of us being together in their clutches.” I looked at the closed double doors. “The king can’t be trusted. Who knows what he and Lord Lyrason are plotting to say to you right now.”

Sophie squeezed my hands again. She looked so small, yet so bright. “We’re all right, Kasten. And I have a plan to handle this.”

I looked at her, bewildered. Sophie had changed so much since being imprisoned by her father and bitten by the halfsoul.

“I’ll come in with you, even though I don’t understand what happened. I can help us make a quick getaway if things go badly.”

She shook her head, freeing one of her hands and placing it on my chest. “It will be easier if you wait outside.”

I almost gaped at her, but she was no longer watching my face.

She looked back down the corridor. “Get Annabelle. I heard a faint noise on my detector coming from the room next door. That could be her, couldn’t it? Using the listening device you gave her?”

I cursed and lifted my hand to above my right ear, twisting the dial to turn it to sensitive. “I’ve had my detector turned to low while I’ve been at the palace to save the kryalcomy. I didn’t even consider using it to track her.” Since I knew no halfsouls would be in the palace, I had dismissed its use.

But why would Sophie want Annabelle? The two had never met. Not while Sophie was conscious, anyway. But I had explained what Annabelle was like and our conversations in detail, knowing Sophie often noticed things I missed. The planwas for Sophie to befriend her at the evening gatherings, but we had missed the one last night.

The king’s voice sounded through the wood. “Lady Sophie and Mister Tavolyn, you may enter.”

She squeezed my hand one last time before releasing it, her fingers sliding out from between mine. “Ask Annabelle to walk into the office as if by accident.”

I shifted, still uneasy. “All right. I’ll be right here. I can get us out if need be. Just sound an alarm on your detector.”

She nodded and rose on tiptoes to kiss my cheek. She was so sweet, so innocent. Why had I dragged her into this infuriating and dangerous game? She winked at me as Callum opened the door. She turned and walked in with her head held high despite not being dressed as well as the average noble lady who was meeting the king. I could see she was nervous, though, no matter what she said. She always gripped her skirts when she was nervous.

Once the door closed, I strode to the room beside the king’s, following the faintest whine on my detector. Sure enough, Annabelle was sitting, crammed between two chairs in a crumple of skirts. She startled and let out a strangled squeak when she saw me.

I knelt down before her. “Are you listening to the king and Lord Lyrason?”

She glanced at the closed door behind me before standing up and smoothing down her skirts as if I had never caught her on the floor. “Yes. My maid told me as soon as they entered the palace. Sophie, Callum, and Meena have just gone into Father’s office.” She lifted her eyes to mine with caution. “Lord Lyrason is angry, but I don’t think he’s very prepared. He acted on impulse and anger. My father sounds amused and impatient so he should dismiss this, but I know they’re conspiring to remove you…”

I nodded. “I have a favor to ask. Sophie asked for you to walk into the room as if by accident.”

Her eyebrows raised. “Me? Whatever for?” She placed her hands on her hips. “I may be the king’s daughter, but I don’t normally barge in unannounced. Also I am yet to make Sophie’s acquaintance. As I’m sure you can remember, she was unconscious when I helped Dame Meena get her to your house in Highfair.”

Nerves and stress made my words clipped and hard. “Please, Annabelle. She asked for this before going in. Please.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Ah, fine. But you will owe me a favor in return. A big one. Father and I are already not on our usual good terms.”

I bowed in thanks. “I will grant you a favor. I will grant you several. Thank you.”

She pressed her lips together in a thoughtful but long-suffering expression that made me wonder how exactly she saw me. It was almost the expression a teacher would give a naughty but bright student who was causing mischief.

A sudden light dawned in her eyes. “The first way you can repay me is by finding out what happened to Regan Jones. He’s a sixteen year old who was watching Lord Lyrason’s house. His father is a leatherworker near the docks. He disappeared this morning, I think.”

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