“Is everything ready?” Calix asked.
Galen bowed his head. “The Saepia are prepared to escort the queen.”
“We need a carriage.”
Galen gave a nod. “It will take a few moments to procure.”
“Good. Meet me immediately upon her departure. I’ll leave you here, wife,” Calix told me, catching my chin and kissing me again. He paused for a moment, and pressed another kiss to my mouth before letting me go.
“Be safe,” I told him.
“You too.”
He let go of me, and Galen gestured me back toward the large hall.
Galen glanced at me once, but I looked away. Calix was already punishing him for comforting me, and I did not want to make an issue of it or to add anything more to his sentence.
I first noticed Zeph’s arrival when I saw men practically jumping to clear a path for him. He was stone faced as he strode through the hall, a giant of a man making everyone else seem little. He came to kneel to me.
“Oh, Zeph, you know I hate that,” I reminded him.
He stood, scowling down on me. “Yes,” he said. “And when we are not in front of half the army, I will give you a very stately hug instead.”
“Easy, soldier,” Galen told him, raising an eyebrow.
He crossed his arms. “Don’t tell me ‘easy.’ Theron will have bragging rights for far too long because of this night.”
I smiled. “I’ll see what I can do to endanger my life when you are on duty.”
Zeph nodded, satisfied. “We’re leaving this damn city?” he asked.
“As soon as possible.”
They led me outside the hall and into the cool night, and once the door was closed, Zeph caught me up in a hug that lifted me straight off the ground.
I laughed, hugging him back. “I’m all right, Zeph.”
He put me down with a sigh. “From the stories I’ve heard already, I’m not sure how that possibly can be. But I am grateful for it.”
“As am I,” said a voice behind him. My heart cracked the moment I saw him, even before I noticed Osmost wheeling above, and I started running toward him. Kairos took big, lunging steps to get to me, pulling me into a tight hug. “Great Skies,” was the only thing he muttered into my hair as he clutched me.
Tears pressed behind my eyes, but I was hugging him so hard it didn’t really matter if they fell or not—they wouldn’t ever be seen, ever be betrayed, always hidden between us.
He let me go, looking at my cuts. “You should try not to get in so much mortal danger,” he told me.
I laughed. “You should try to be as useful as your hawk.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Don’t encourage him; his feathers are plenty fluffed out already.”
“Looks like we were both late to the fight,” Zeph said ruefully, nodding to Kairos as he let me go and Osmost landed on his shoulder.
“No, I infallibly appear when I’m needed most,” Kairos told him. “You were late.”
Zeph growled at this like an unhappy dog.
“Where’s the hero of the hour?” Kairos asked. “I hear Theron fought off an army of sorcerers for my sister.”
“Three hells, that didn’t happen, did it?” Zeph grumped. “All I get to do is take her for walks.”
“Skies, stop wishing more danger on my head,” I told him. “I thought Theron was resting. Will he join us?”
Galen nodded. “I’ll let him rest a while longer and send him to catch you on horse,” he told me. “If it pleases the queen.”
I looked at the ruin of the tower, where I had almost lost my life. “Yes. Let’s go back to the Tri City.”
I wasn’t so tired that I accepted the carriage, and without Calix there to protest, we all left on horseback. Our pace was fairly easy and gentle, so Theron could catch up to us by the end of the first day.
On the second day, Kairos and I rode close together, talking quietly while Zeph and Theron and the other guards drifted behind us, and I told him of everything I had seen in the communes and the Summer Palace.
“Do you think he’ll really stop experimenting on them?” Kairos asked me.
I drew a breath slowly. “I don’t know. Can Rian find out?”
He sighed. “I’ll get word to him. Do you think you’ll want to know the answer?”
No. Yes. I had no real answer—which was worse: to realize that my husband lied to me, or to never know that he did?
“What about this elixir?” Kairos asked.
“It’s real,” I told him. “He’s seen it before. He used it to attack the islands. I have to talk to Kata again.”
He nodded, glancing at my guards. “I’ll make it happen.”
“Thank you,” I told him. “Did you ever tell Rian of that spy in his camp?” I asked, looking behind me to measure the distance of the guards.
“Tassos?” Kairos said. “I found out who he is. He’s not well-placed enough to be a threat, and besides, Rian seems to suspect that the Tri Crown has put several spies into the Resistance. They won’t learn anything of value.”
I nodded.
“And you must forget such things, little sister. The less you know of Rian’s cause, the safer you’ll be.”
“Yes,” I said. “Safety is so clearly part of my daily life already.”
Kairos gave me a wry look, but didn’t respond, and we rode on in silence.
The next day, we entered the City of Three, and people were waiting for us, shouting and throwing flowers in front of our horses, the delicate blooms bright and whole for a moment before the horses crushed them beneath our weight.
Give Up
When we reached the Tri Castles and dismounted, I stretched with a yawn, smiling. “Zeph or Theron, could we go to the mill? I’d like to see how things are faring in my absence.”
Zeph nodded. “I’ll escort you, my queen.”
“Would you like to come, Kai?”
“Not unless you need me,” he said, dismounting and kissing my cheek. Osmost yelled but didn’t come down from the skies. “I will see you tonight.”
Nodding, I glanced around for Adria. She wasn’t there, and I didn’t feel like I should have to call her to attend to me, so I didn’t.
“You don’t wish to rest, my queen?” Zeph asked.
I stretched my arms out and yawned. “Skies, no. I’m desperate for a walk. I only wish the mill was farther away.”
He grinned. “You’re a very strange queen.”
I knew this wasn’t a rebuke, so I smiled and shrugged.
The stone underfoot, the fresh air in my lungs—it felt good. It wasn’t enough to shake the darkness of the days in the communes from my heart, but it felt good.
When we reached the mill, the ground rumbled and vibrated beneath my feet. Walking out to the back, I saw the lines moving fast, growing shorter. My effort was helping. It was doing something.
I went inside, and to my surprise, I didn’t see only the plain linen and cotton dresses. I saw blue and pink and silver silks, shiny hair, and soft, silly slippers.
The pounding stopped as the women saw me. It was Domina Thessaly, and Adria beside her, who first came over to me. They came forward and bowed, and the rest of the women bowed behind them.
“My queen,” Domina Thessaly said. “Welcome.”
“What is going on here?” I asked her.