My eyes flitted back to my husband.
“Ferren’s Keep was the next logical choice. Even if the rebels reside elsewhere, there is a good chance someone here knows how they were able to recruit. Her brother never served south, so it is highly probable that at least some of the rebels or their contacts reside north.”
“A very apt conclusion.” Nyx was nodding along, her shoulders relaxed, not one tense muscle in her stance. No wonder she had managed to keep her role so long without suspicion.
Then again, she was a highborn like her brother, the young advisor who’d overheard King Lucius’s plans so many years ago. And if there was one thing the Pythian duke had taught me, it was that every highborn could lie.
Ironic, really, that the leader of the rebels was a highborn that only recruited lowborns.
A short break of silence followed.
“I need a list of each unit’s men,” Darren said, “with their years of service. I need the names of the cities they transferred from, as well as any personal notes you or your guard find peculiar to their service. My team and I will start interrogating the first squad at dawn. Bring us the one Derrick was a part of first.”
“He received a promotion to Sir Maxon’s squad before he resigned from our keep. Maxon is returning from a patrol along the border. His men should be back in a week and a half.”
The prince shifted from one foot to the next. “Then bring us Derrick’s first. Perhaps someone there will have noticed a change before his promotion.”
“Certainly. We have a dungeon in the back of the keep, do you require such methods in your interrogation?”
Darren’s eyes went dark, and a bit of ice burrowed into my lungs. “I would prefer to question them before it comes to other… methods.”
But he would, if necessary. Darren had confessed that to me during our trip. He would do anything to protect his country, and if he had to hurt a man, or many, he would.
I had tossed and turned every night since.
I needed to make sure it didn’t come to that. If it did—it wouldn’t. This was why I was here. To lead the Black Mage astray. To keep the rebels safe.
To keep Darren safe from their blood on his hands.
“Then I will have them report outside the cell at first light. No other squads will be present. Is there anything else?” The commander’s eyes were on the prince, but I knew the question was for me.
“Private accommodations. And I want a row of cots for the rest of our unit just outside it. We will use our own guards.” My tone came out harsh and abrupt. It was reminiscent of Paige, and for the first time, I realized exactly how hard my friend’s station must have been, guarding a girl who believed she was capable of her own defense. There were people one inevitably let down their caution for, and they were the reason guards were needed.
I told myself I would make it a point to apologize the first chance I got.
Darren wasn’t safe, not until I had a chance to talk to Nyx and the others alone. I’d never felt so tense or alert in my life.
Lowborn modesties aside, I would sooner have the keep presume me demanding than allow Darren to sleep in a barrack full of armed men. Let them think I was the snooty princess from before. Blayne’s orders had given me all the leniency I needed. With Darren, my goal and the king of Jerar’s were one and the same.
I would play whatever role it took.
“King’s orders.” My smile was strained. “You understand.”
Darren was giving me an odd look; I didn’t sound like myself. I knew he would remark on it later, but for now, I kept my gaze locked on the commander.
“I’ll see that the two of you are given the chamber across the hall.” Nyx crossed the room to rummage through her drawers and produced a single brass key. “We reserve it for just this sort of affair. I would never want a prince of Jerar sleeping among the rest.”
I almost snorted, recalling just the opposite sort of reaction a year before. She had been most pleased that I had chosen to take up with the rest of the regiment’s women in the barracks, much to Paige’s outspoken disapproval.
The commander saw us back to the hall without incident. “I’ll have my men bring out cots for the rest of your lot.”
And here was my opportunity. “Thank you, Commander.” I grasped the woman’s wrist as she retreated, slipping a thin roll of parchment just under her sleeve. It was a move I’d practiced in the mirror that first night we arrived in Demsh’aa. It took all of three hours to perfect just the right twist of the wrist and shifting of my cloak.
The commander stiffened in shock but recovered far too quickly to voice her surprise aloud.