“But crime and the poor economy and hopelessness were symptoms of the real problem: magic and wraith. Those things, I’ve done very little to deter. My son is trying, though, and I must believe he will succeed where I have failed. But he needs someone like you to teach him about the world beyond these palace walls, because, in hindsight, I’ve done him a disservice by keeping him so close ever since his abduction. I hired Academy professors to come to him, instead of sending him to school. Tobiah graduated well, of course, but was never permitted to experience the equally important social aspects of an education.”
Well, that explained a lot about the crown prince’s attitude.
“Tobiah is a good young man,” said the king. “And he will be a good king one day. I’m afraid that, though I have the best physicians in the Indigo Kingdom treating me, I won’t be here much longer. As such, I cannot stop the wraith. Tobiah might be the savior of future generations, but if he’s to succeed, he will need someone to temper his blind enthusiasm. An adviser. A friend.”
Tobiah and I had used up all our friendship during the One-Night War.
The king seemed to have talked himself out; we spent the rest of the meal in silence, breaking it only to comment on the breakfast I could no longer taste. When I was excused, a footman guided me to one of the public areas of the palace, and then left me alone with debated and confidential just across the hall.
I waited until the way was clear before I slipped into the wraith mitigation committee chamber and shut the door behind me.
A banner of sunlight streamed through the window, so I didn’t need to turn on the gas lamps to see the map, which still hung on the wall, unchanged from yesterday. I followed the bands of color across the land, dragging my fingertip from the far end of some long-forgotten kingdom fallen to wraith, all the way to the western border of Liadia. Plains and rivers and forests and fields: all caught in the haze of wraith.
It would be the Indigo Kingdom’s fate.
And Aecor’s.
Tobiah was right: something did need to be done. But what? Could halting magic really change anything at this point?
I shook off the thoughts. I was here to work, and quickly, before anyone caught me.
“A lake?” I murmured. A small body of water near a border village was circled, but it didn’t look like there was anything special about it.
I took note of the coordinates and the surrounding area before heading to the desk. There was nothing useful, though, not in any of the drawers or files, or even in the locked false bottom.
Just as I was slipping my lockpick back into my shoe, the doorknob rattled. Should I hide? A noblewoman like Julianna would never huddle under the desk. I hurried to stand in front of the map again, just as the door swung open.
“My lady?” Clint Chuter paused when he saw me.
I’d posed with my hands behind my back, my shoulders straight, and my head cocked at a contemplative angle. My expression was a mask of sadness and nobility as I looked at him. “Captain. How nice to see you.” I offered a forced-looking smile, as though trying to hide my grief. “My apologies, if I’m not supposed to be in here. I was just looking at Liadia.”
“Oh.” He left the door open as he came to stand beside me. “You must think about it often.”
I allowed my voice to break. “Every moment.”
He gave me another minute before he said, “I’m afraid this room will be needed shortly.”
So please leave was the implied conclusion to that sentence. “Of course. A question, first?”
“Certainly.”
I pointed to the lake in Liadia. “What does this mean?”
“Wishful thinking.” He shook his head. “It’s only a rumor, and not a reliable one. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”
I bit my cheek to keep from frowning. Clint was supposed to be the one who liked me. He thought I was delightful. If he wouldn’t tell me, no one here would.
“Thank you for your time, Captain.” I gave a small curtsy and quit the room. Clearly, no one was going to tell me what was out there, and there’d been no information in Tobiah’s desk. But I wasn’t discouraged. I would learn this secret, even if I had to go to the wraithland to do it.