Cameron took a breath. “What else did the message say? Do they know who is behind the attack?”
“No. Nothing on that yet. But—” Alec looked down, his hands braced on his knees a moment, shoulders sagging forward. Sophie’s throat went tight and hot as he looked back, pain clear on his face.
“I regret to tell you, Cameron,” he said, “that our father is dead.”
When they emerged in the portal outside the gates of the palace, Cameron let go of Sophie’s arm so fast that she nearly stumbled. She caught herself on the wall of the small room, her fingers pressing against the smooth plaster for a moment, as she fought down the ridiculous feeling of rejection that mingled with the faint nauseous sensation of the portal transfer.
For a minute or so—the length of their journey back from the portal in Alec’s house—Cameron had actually been close to her again, and she had felt something other than the fear and grief that had swept down over her with each name Alec had recited on the list of the dead.
Her parents hadn’t been amongst the names, which made her feel first glad and then guilty as it became clear that Cameron’s father was only the first of what seemed like the names of half the court.
Cameron had gone stone-faced and silent ever since Alec had given them the news of Lord Inglewood’s death. He had listened to the rest of the list impassively and merely nodded when Alec had told them that they were ordered back to the palace.
Lucy had hustled Sophie off to wash and restore some order to her appearance. She’d found a black silk shawl for Sophie to wear over her sober gray dress, and that would have to do until proper mourning clothes could be found.
Presumably a court in disarray would have better things to do than worry about the finer points of etiquette. Sophie didn’t really know what to say to Lucy, who had just lost her father-in-law and was presumably dealing with a grieving husband and family on top of other losses. Sophie didn’t even know who Lucy’s family was. Alec was Lord Inglewood’s second son, so it was almost certain that Lucy was from the noble families. But Alec was five years older than Cameron and Lucy was also older than Sophie. She didn’t recall ever having seen the pair of them at court in the year she’d been attending the princess.
So she’d merely thanked Lucy for her care and then followed Alec and Cam obediently back to the portal gate. She was surprised that an out-of-the-way portal had a direct link back to the capital, but she was glad that it did.
She wanted to be back in Kingswell. To be at Eloisa’s side. To find out where her parents were and confirm that they were safe.
So when Cameron had taken her hand and tucked her in close to his side, she’d been startled by the rush of longing that had swept through her. Not just to touch him but to stay here with him. Suspended in the moment before they had to actually begin to deal with this dangerous new reality.
There were two Red Guards outside the Kingswell portal—which was not normal but made sense, she supposed.
When she and Cameron first emerged, the guards had drawn their weapons but relaxed as they recognized Cameron. And then her, it seemed.
Because the sight of her made them both come to attention and then bow in her direction.
“Lady Sophia,” the taller of the two, a dark-haired man with deep shadows under his eyes, said. “We have orders to take you to the palace.” He turned to Cameron. “You should report to the commander, Lieutenant.”
Cameron shook his head. “I will. But the prin—the queen-to-be charged me with Lady Sophia’s care. Until the queen-to-be tells me otherwise, Lady Sophia remains with me. I’ll escort her to the palace.”
The guard looked annoyed, but he didn’t argue. Red Guards couldn’t countermand an order from the royal family.
“Report as quickly as you can,” the guard said. “We need all the men we can gather.”
Cameron nodded. “I will. Come along, milady.”
He didn’t look back at Sophie, and she felt another pang, but she followed him to the palace, trying not to wander off toward the shining ley line that ran alongside the neatly paved path they took. She still felt the pull of the power—the ley line here was so bright she could hardly look at it—but it was strangely diluted now by the pull toward Cameron.
“Did Alec tell you anything more about what’s been happening?” she asked. She assumed Cameron had grilled Alec for further information when she’d been with Lucy. There might have been things in the message that were for Cameron only. She’d asked Lucy, but Lucy had claimed not to know anything more. Sophie hadn’t wanted to press her further, not knowing who amongst the list of casualties might be Lucy’s family. “Anything more about who did this?”
Cameron turned his head to her, slowed his pace a little. But kept walking. “Nothing more than it being unclear. Illvyans. Or those who act for them, presumably. There have been no other sources of unrest lately.”
Illvyans.
She’d assumed as much, but still, it was unsettling to hear the words spoken. There hadn’t been a serious attempt on Anglion by Illvya for close to ten years. The seas that surrounded Anglion meant the Illvyan wizards couldn’t bring their demons across the salt water. The last attempt had been an attack on a trade delegation in an effort to substitute a wizard into their ranks. But to set off an explosion in the palace itself? That was unthinkable. How had they breached the—