Page 80 of The Threadbare Queen

“Thank you.”

He gave a stiff nod, and she knew it was because he thought she was refusing to be honest with him.

“Why do you think I’m like Melodie?” She first needed to know what he’d seen.

“The night Melodie was whispering with you, I was watching. I could see through part of your hand.” His gaze settled on her hand for a moment, and his expression echoed the horror he must have felt at the sight. “And then you spoke to Melodie in such a matter-of-fact way. You knew she wasn’t making it up.” He hung his head, hands clasped between his knees. “She’s stopped telling me things, because she thinks I don’t listen. That I don’t help people when I could.”

Ava tucked her arm beneath her head and sighed. “I understand you’re only protecting her with your choices.”

“After I put Melodie to bed, I stood watching you.”

Ava went still at his confession.

“I saw you throw that rope into the fire and watched it burn green. Then I saw you braiding a new rope, even though you could barely stand. Even though parts of you looked too translucent.” He looked sideways at her. “Even if you aren’t like Melodie, you understand her world better than I do.”

Ava curled in on herself, closed her eyes against the sting of the smoke from the fire. “I don’t understand it as well as I should, because my mother tried to shield me from it as much as possible, like you’re doing to Melodie.” She opened her eyes and held his gaze. “As you can see, that didn’t work out very well.”

He looked sick, as if he wanted to vomit. “What can I do?”

“Believe her. Let her know you believe her. And explain to her why you ignore some of the warnings she gives, but not all of them. She needs to understand and trust your decisions, or she’ll end up giving herself away to the wrong person.”

He nodded slowly. “And how can I help you? Because my conscience, and Melodie, won’t let me do otherwise.”

She thought about it. “I’m better than I was since I destroyed the rope, but I’m not as strong as I’ll need to be to escape. You can help me by tucking a needle and plenty of thread somewhere on your cart that I can easily reach from the outside.”

He frowned at that. “That’s all?”

She nodded. “It is a lot. Why are you headed for Grimwalt? Is it to protect Melodie?”

“Yes.” He clasped and unclasped his fingers. “She is going to expose herself sooner or later. I’d rather it be in a place like Grimwalt than anywhere else.”

“I agree, but the border is supposed to be closed to everyone who isn’t Grimwaldian. Do you have a place you are expected, a job you are going to?”

He shook his head. “Madame Croter is going to say she’s invited me in to do some work for her in Taunen. She thinks they’ll let us in because she knows the border guards well. Once we’re through, I can work as a traveling blacksmith, but I have no fixed plans.” He sounded grim and determined. “You’re Grimwaldian, aren’t you? I can hear it a little in your speech."

She nodded, thought through the offer that was dancing on the tip of her tongue. “I own a house in Grimwalt, in the Finster region. Ask for directions to the Yngstra estate. It will be empty. My grandmother’s estate manager and her housekeeper should be there, but because the person who hired Sirna to capture me has a lot of power in Grimwalt, they have been arrested to keep them quiet. However, I don’t think the house is being watched any more, and I would be pleased if someone could watch over it for me until I can find Tomas and Velda and bring them home.”

She didn’t know if her grandmother’s estate could ever be home for her again. Wherever Luc was, she would be. And while the Speaker lived free, she would never be safe in Grimwalt.

She would not give it up, though. Not without a fight.

“So the danger for you has come from within Grimwalt?” He looked stricken. She saw the hope they would be safe there die in his eyes.

“The Speaker of the Grimwalt court wants me as his captive.” She didn’t say why, but she could see the understanding in Gregor’s eyes. “He has hunted me for months. Spell casters should be safe in Grimwalt, and most of them are. But nowhere is truly safe.”

Gregor studied her face. “This is information that is difficult to hear but important for me to know.”

She was sorry to disillusion him, but he was right, he did need the unvarnished truth. “The offer is there for you to take when you get to Grimwalt, or not. As you think best.”

He gave a curt nod and stood, took a few steps and crouched beside the fire. He looked over the camp site, a casual glance to check for watching eyes, and then pulled the handkerchief from his pocket. He flicked the tea in it onto the flames and some of them were caught by the swirl of hot air, and spiralled up in a glitter of green.

“What was it?” Gregor asked.

“I think it was a way to control minds.”

He must have thought back to what Melodie had said in the cart. “She is special, isn’t she?”

Ava nodded. “Make sure Sirna never knows.”

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