Page 77 of Sanctifier

“Hill and Tenoria,” prompted Inda, not bothering to look up.

Ru’s stomach gave a horrible lurch.

“Yes,” said the regent. “Hill and Tenoria. They were caught wandering the halls last night. Why?”

Ru froze. Wandering the halls? Why on earth would her friends take such a risk, and how? They were supposed to be guarded at all times. Maybe they had managed to use the servants' corridors, like Ru. Or maybe this was all a lie, a game, a way to put Ru on the defensive, to unsettle her.

“We’re academics,” Ru said at last, forcing a smile. “We’re used to the Cornelian Tower, where we’re free to roam the halls at all hours of the night or day. It’s not in my friends’ nature to be constricted. I’m sure they were only looking at the architecture, or… something.”

“I see,” said the regent.

Ru gripped the arms of her chair as if to rise. “If that’s all, I have to—”

“That is not all,” said Inda, cutting her off. “Remind Miss Delara of the new regulations.”

“Yes,” said Sigrun. “Ruellian Delara, henceforth, you shall be accompanied at all times by a contingent of three King's Guards, in addition to Lyrren Briar. This is for your own safety. And that of the artifact.”

“And the kingdom,” added Inda, watching Ru with an empty gaze.

“In addition,” said the regent, ignoring Inda’s remark, “you will no longer be allowed to visit your friends in private. You may see them at public events only. They are a distraction.”

Ru opened her mouth to protest but bit her tongue at the last second. She needed to play along. There was nothing else she could do. She tamped down on a rising fear, tinged with scalding rage. The walls were closing in with the passing of every day.

“Thank you,” Ru said, her voice unsteady. She knew that if she said anything more, she would give herself away.

“You may go,” said Regent Sigrun.

Lyr stood waiting for Ru in the corridor, looking more perturbed than she’d seen him before. Three King's Guardswaited with him. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but upon seeing Ru’s face, decided not to.

There was nothing to say. But Ru knew what she had to do now. There was no time to delay in attending Prayer. It was her only lead, the only chance to learn how Lady Bellenet’s full power worked. The only way to try to stop it.

Flanked by four guards, Ru returned to her rooms. She had no intention of speaking to anyone for the rest of the evening and only summoned Pearl to bring her dinner and a tray of tiny cakes, and to send a note to Simon. The note, written in Ru’s best attempt at a coded message, reminded her brother of her need for white robes and impressed on him the importance of speed and discretion.

Ru felt untethered as she often did, helpless and alone, afraid to summon Taryel for comfort. Her meeting with the regent hung heavy and cold on her shoulders, a reminder of her place in the world now and the speed at which her fate was rushing toward her. And most heavy of all, the reminder that Lady Bellenet was always watching.

In the smallhours of the morning, long after she had crawled into bed with a heavy heart, Ru was awakened by the prickling sense of someone in her room. But even in that hazy doze between wakefulness and dreaming, she knew instinctively that it was Taryel. In the darkness, she heard the soft rustle of boots being unlaced, of clothes falling to the floor.

Then her blankets were lifted gently, and he joined her in that sleepy cocoon. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her against him, her back to his warm chest. His breath on her neckand shoulder, the sudden surety of his affection for her, flowed through Ru like a strong salve.

“I’m here,” he murmured in her ear, a reassurance.

She made a small sound, still half clinging to slumber.

He moved her hair out of her face, pulled the blankets close around them, and settled his head next to hers on the pillow.

Ru was floating toward sleep when Taryel spoke again. His voice was so quiet, so low and gentle that she wondered if he had meant for her to hear him at all. But the words, how easily he spoke them, cradled her heart. They held her. The yawning distance between Ru and the world, the emptiness around her, faded away. And in its place was Taryel.

“You’re not alone.”

CHAPTER 28

Ru woke with the sun on her face. It fell through the window in a pale cascade, doing little to warm her nose and fingers in the chill of the morning. She sat up, peering out at the light. It was late, later than she had risen in ages. Hugon had not come for breakfast despite his promise to subject her to the cavern today. And Taryel was gone.

An uneasiness flickered in her, a sense that something wasn’t right. But she shoved it aside — why should she be concerned about Hugon? His unexpected absence was a blessing.

Disoriented by the late hour, Ru struggled into a simple woolen dress and the most functional shoes she could locate in her wardrobe. She found that Pearl had brought in coffee at some earlier hour, but it had long since gone cold. Braiding her dark hair into one long plait, Ru went to the sitting room to warm herself by the fire.

Then, she supposed, she would seek out breakfast… but the concept gave her pause. Her breakfasts with Lord D’Luc were consistent and unending, and until now she had considered them a curse. But at the memory of Hugon’s broken gaze yesterday in the courtyard, a strange feeling seeped into Ru’s heart — concern.

---