Page 76 of The King's Queen

“Or Mavis got her.” Amír voices what none of us dare to say.

“And what of the captain?” I cut her off, not allowing myself to entertain that thought. “Has anyone seen Blaine?”

“Now that is something I do have some news on.” My second rises and fishes a parchment from her cloak. A map with a few drunken scrawls across it.

“There have been a few sightings of him. Some commoners have been housing him as he hops from town to town, making his way towards the border. They all were hoping for the next great love story and pity him. Within the next few days, he should be here.” Amír points towards a second circle, this one more elegant and less scrawling.

“Plant someone we trust there. Tell them to report back to me if they find anything.”

The gunslinger groans, but nonetheless slings her wet cloak back on and stomps out into the rain. The wind slams the door behind her. Behind me, Derrín, who arrived home this morning, whistles lowly.

“Why are we going through this trouble for a captain? I mean, I get Vera. She’s one of us. But why him?”

The mechanic takes to picking at the scabs lining his fingers as he speaks. Without a machine to fiddle with, he’s left restless. Kya slaps his hands away and dismisses herself to grab some gauze to wrap his fingers with.

“He’s important to her.”

“So? You’ve never given a shit before.”

“Didn’t he also threaten to kill you?” Kya corroborates as she reenters the room. With nimble fingers that rival her brother’s the assassin begins to wrap his scabs, and then his fingertips when he refuses to stop picking at the gauze.

“It’ll scar,” she tuts.

“We are mercenaries. We already have scars.” Derrín deadpans.

Their bickering fills the compound, which feels more empty than usual lately. The air feels heavy, as if the thought of never seeing Vera again crushes all oxygen from my lungs. Never seeing her smile, hearing her laugh, the smug look on her face as she thinks of something especially witty. It is all too much.

What is worse though? The thought that Mavis doesn’t have her, and that she chose to stay away on her lonesome? If Mavis or the Rebellion have her, then there is no force on this earth that can stop me from getting her back. I will tear this world apart to find her. But if she chose to stay away on her own… I won’t be another person who tries to control her. I will have to let her go.

“Hey, not that you want to think about this, but what are you going to do about your own plan if we can’t find Vera?”

I turn to face Derrín slowly, not missing the cautious wariness in his voice. The fear that I will do something drastic.

“You don’t have anything to worry about,” I groan as I run my hand through my hair. “I already have found an alternate way into the palace. Even if she never comes back, I know how to get in.”

Kya frowns. “Then why haven’t you killed him yet?”

“Gods, I have to spell everything out for you.”

I barely have time to dodge one of Kya’s blades with a yelp. She raises an eyebrow in challenging humor.

“If I kill him now, then who gets caught in the crossfire?”

Kya swears softly. “So you’re going to break her out then kill him?”

“I’m going to break her outandkill him,” I smile, “all in the same night.”

Vera and I planned everything out weeks ago. The king is planning an engagement ball for his daughter within the next month since she has been secretly engaged to some foreign nobleman. It will be the perfect occasion to sneak away. When the king announces the engagement, Vera will slip out to meet Kya and Amír at the balcony overlooking the royal gardens. While she disappears into the night, I will use the commotion to kill my father.

Kya frowns. “What will we do then? You know they’ll come looking for you, for one of two reasons you’ve probably thought about. Do you really think you’ll be able to hide right under their noses?”

I pause for a moment. All these years, I’ve thought of one thing and one thing only. My mother and getting her to safety. Taking her somewhere she doesn’t have to live in fear of my father finding us, where I can provide for her in ways more savory than being a weapon for hire.

Somewhere that Vera and I can be just a boy and girl. Somewhere we can breathe. Where we can live.

“No,” I admit. “I won’t be able to live in the shadows forever. That night will be the last night you see me.”

Silence.

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