A Red-Rose Chain

WE EMERGED FROM THE Shadow Roads into the master bedroom of the diplomatic suite. May was already stretched out on the bed. Spike was curled on her chest, thorns flat with distress. Walther was standing next to her, crouching as he trimmed the ends of her hair into a small bowl. He stopped and straightened when he heard my butt hit the floor. Spike made a whining sound, but didn’t move.

This time it was Quentin who managed to keep his balance, largely by grabbing hold of the bedpost and hanging on for dear life. Only Tybalt—winded and wheezing—remained upright, his baleful glare going to Walther as the only moving target in the room.

Walther was unmoved. “Good, you’re back,” he said. “I need you to come help me extract this arrow.”

“Rhys sent people after us into the city, and they got the laundry, which means they have a lot of my blood,” I replied. “What can they do with it?”

“Whatever they want,” said Walther. “Now come help me. We have too many emergencies to deal with them all at the same time, and I can’t start trying to provide May with medical treatment until I have the arrow out.”

I picked myself up from the floor. “I hate this Kingdom,” I announced. “I hate everything about it. There is nothing in Silences that I do not hate.”

“Noted, and under the circumstances, not offended,” said Walther. He handed me a piece of red leather. “Wrap this around the shaft and push as hard as you can. The idea is to force the arrow out through the back of her shoulder, not yank it toward us. That could break her collarbone, and she’s going to have enough problems without adding broken bones to the mix.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, even as I followed his instructions. “You’re calm.”

“I’m furious, and I’m scared out of my mind,” said Walther. “May’s my friend. Don’t mistake my calm for anything other than anger, and the need to focus.”

“Got it.” I pushed down. The arrow slid through her flesh with sickening ease. I could feel it break the skin on the other side. I stopped pushing. “Now what?”

“Let go.” Walther waited until my hands were clear. Then he reached over, shifted the leather up slightly, and twisted until the remaining shaft snapped in two, leaving the part with the fletching in his hand. He offered it to me. “I’m assuming you’ll want to confront the King about shooting her. This proves the elf-shot came from his armory.”

“I know how to read arrows,” I said. “Still, I appreciate it. This is probably better than carrying the whole arrow into the presence of the King.” Angry as I was, I didn’t want to give him an excuse to try and arrest me again—and I knew that the false Queen would be more than happy to encourage him to do it. She’d hated me even before I took her crown away. I couldn’t imagine how much she had to hate me now.

Then again, maybe I didn’t need to. I watched Walther lift Spike off of May’s chest. The rose goblin whined as it slunk off to the side, thorns rattling. Walther lifted her halfway into a sitting position before he reached around with his leather washcloth, wrapping it around the point of the arrow. It came free of her flesh with a wet sucking sound that turned my stomach. He placed the arrow on the nightstand, still wrapped in red leather, and eased May gently back down to the bed. Spike immediately leaped back onto her chest.

“I’ll wrap and bandage her shoulder, and I have some herbs that will help to prevent infection,” he said.

“What about the antidotes you were working on?” I asked. May wasn’t moving. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I heard Tybalt move up behind me, but he didn’t say anything or put his hands on me, and for the first time, I was grateful for his restraint. If he tried to offer comfort, I would break, and then I wouldn’t be any good to anybody.

“I’m still working on them.” Walther turned to look at me, expression grave. “I have five different rose strains that fit your description. One of them might be the answer, or none of them might be. I’m not going to stop, but I can’t make it happen any faster.”

“Try.” I stood, looking at the broken arrow shaft in my hand. “We came here to prevent a war, not to get picked off one by one by an asshole with an ax to grind. I need to talk to the King.”