Page 57 of Winter's Fate

Having finished her breakfast, Brin leapt onto the back of Laena’s hand and skittered up her arm, startling her out of a most inappropriate thought of what they might do with the time they had before taking to the road.

Callum cleared his throat. “The poisonkeepers sent a change of garments,” he said. “Gretchen insisted on trousers, and I was able to procure some for you as well.”

Clean clothing, herbs, and breakfast. The man was nothing less than a hero. “The bandits are traveling with us?” she asked.

“The poisonkeepers have agreed to house them in Inasvale for a few weeks. Perhaps they’re hoping to perform.”

So the master had no trouble offering accommodations to thieves, then. It was only disgraced princesses he objected to.Laena had difficulty imagining the man enjoying any kind of performance from Maynard and his crew. Perhaps a very pious one. Or an angry one.

Callum rose. “We ought to be going.”

Before Landon Moore had figured out her identity, before the master had tried to—before the humiliation and the wine and the kiss, gods thatkiss—Thaddeus had revealed his suspicions about the barrier, the Vales, and the Miragelands. He suspected it might be thinning.

Which meant he must suspect that the mages intended to return.

And she’d spent her evening drowning her sorrows over personal trials. She was as selfish as Kat always said she was, self-absorbed in a way a queen should never be. Could never be.

She’d been tired, a voice in the back of her head reminded her. Tired and sad, and so very sorry for everything. She might be able to work magic, but she was still only human. And so was Katrina.

“What of the thinning barrier?” Laena asked. “What of the crystal?”

Callum ran a hand through his hair, reminding her of Thaddeus for a moment. “Thaddeus has agreed to keep it here and study it.” He raised a hand, as if anticipating her objection. “And we will discuss it with King Hawk, as you planned.”

In truth, Laena had no objection to the plan. The crystal had been growing ever heavier, a burden she wanted to be rid of. It seemed to burn in opposition to her magic, and so she would not protest its absence.

Her instinct said Thaddeus could be trusted. She hoped she was right. Thinking of Ben, she supposed she had room for improvement when it came to character judgment, but there wasn’t much to be done in any case. She doubted the master would let her steal the crystal back, even if she demanded it.

Laena gathered Brin into her pocket and took one last biteof sausage. Her stomach protested, but Callum was right; it would help.

Unfortunately, they opened the door to find a courtyard full of soldiers preparing to take to the road. An audience. Including General Moore.

“Her taste turns to disgraced captains.” Moore’s laugh was ugly, his mouth stretched wide as he looked around, clearly hoping to share smiles and snickers with his men.

The other soldiers, however, did not join him in his mirth. Not a single one of them, even those Moore had brought with him directly from Vunmore. In fact, they were looking to Callum with such identical frowns that the expression might have been part of the King’s Guard uniform.

Callum walked over to Moore. “I will remind you a final time that Princess Laena is a designated emissary to Aglye, and will be afforded the respect she deserves. Or King Hawk will know why.”

Moore’s lip twisted. He stepped away from Callum, gave Laena a shallow bow, and mounted his horse, taking off into the city without another word.

“Well,” Laena said, “this is going to be a fun journey.”

“Don’t worry. If he bothers you, Edmun and the men will set him straight.”

“Oh? And what about you?”

Callum grinned. “I’ll set him crooked, my lady.”

“I’m not sure I want to know what that means.”

Inasvale didn’t have enough fresh mounts for the entire company, but Laena didn’t mind walking. There were still injured and exhausted soldiers, and she couldn’t shake the restless urge to move, to walk. To do something with herself, even if it was just a matter of moving arms and legs. Thaddeus’s herbs had eased the headache, with a gentle aftertaste of mint and basil that she was certain continued to soothe her stomach. Byflower leaves. She would have to research that later.

She kept thinking about ‘later’ as if it would involve her returning to her cabin, her garden, her life on the outskirts of the village. But the more this journey progressed, the more she thought that was unlikely to be the case.

Laena would not have been surprised if Thaddeus was kept too busy with his duties to see them off. Nor would she have been surprised to learn that the master had intentionally assigned extra tasks to prevent it. To her surprise, though, Thaddeus caught up with them as they neared the city’s outer gates.

He was breathing hard, his dark hair springing in every direction, and he gripped his robes in his fists.

“What’s the matter?” Callum asked. “Are you coming with us?”

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