Marcus nodded, letting out a breath that carried much of his tension with it. “Now what?”
“I am going to see Raesinia,” Sothe said. “I had thought to stay away, but...” Uncharacteristic indecision showed on her face.
“Stay away? Why?”
“She relies on me more than she should,” Sothe said. “I will not always be there to care for her.”
“She trusts you.”
“There should be more than one person in her life whom she trusts.” Sothe cocked her head. “You will protect her.”
It wasn’t a question. More like a command. Marcus straightened automatically. “Of course. I love her.”
“Good.” Sothe’s face relaxed, just slightly. “That’s good.”
“She wants a meeting tomorrow,” Marcus said. “A strategy conference.”
Sothe nodded. “The queen puts a great deal of faith in your ability.”
“I keep thinking about Winter. She’ll be there, of course.” He shook his head. “How am I supposed to treat her? She’s my little sister, but I hardly know her, not really.”
“She’s a soldier,” Sothe suggested. “Like you. You may have more in common than you realize. Perhaps you can start from there.”
RAESINIA
It was amazing how quickly things could become routine. Since she’d been old enough to walk, Raesinia had slept alone, in vast, cold beds as befit her status as Princess of Vordan. Her days with Marcus were brief by comparison, a bare instant, but now she felt his absence like a missing tooth. She’d grown used to lying beside him, warm and dreamy from their lovemaking, and listening to his breath gradually slow as he relaxed into sleep.
Before, she’d spent most nights working. Now she paced her bedchamber, nervous and irritable.
Winter really made it. Marcus seemed to believe the notes he’d received from “Janus,” or whoever was truly pulling the strings, but Raesinia had been privately skeptical. But unless it was a trap of surpassing subtlety, the communications had been genuine. Winter was here, and with her a chance to defeat the Beast. Or so we think.
Raesinia’s instincts told her they should be making plans at once, that there was no time to spare. She had to remind herself that ordinary humans needed sleep. Winter’s probably exhausted from her journey, and she said she had things to talk to Marcus about. And we’re still waiting for Sothe.
Sothe...
It was as though her thoughts were a summons. There was a quiet scrape at the window, which was Sothe’s version of a butler’s politely clearing his throat, a deliberate sound from someone who could have been perfectly silent. Raesinia turned and found her standing on the other side of the room, a slim, dark shape in the light of the brazier.
“Your Highness.” Sothe bowed deeply.
“You’re back.” Raesinia walked around the untouched bed, snatching a candelabra from a table by the door. In its flickering light, Sothe’s face was the same as Raesinia remembered, imperturbable and dispassionate, the faintest touch of sarcasm in her mobile eyebrows and severe features. She was dressed in the slightly scuffed black she always wore, capable of vanishing into the nearest shadow and no doubt full of hidden weapons.
“Where,” Raesinia said through clenched teeth, “have you been?”
“I asked Marcus to give you a message,” Sothe said. “Did he fail to do so?”
“He told me you were alive,” Raesinia said. “That was it! Not where you were going or when you planned to return. Nothing!”
“Don’t hold it against him,” Sothe said. “I didn’t tell him, either.”
“And you couldn’t have sent a letter? A message? A carrier pigeon?” Raesinia waved the candelabra in Sothe’s face, scattering drops of wax on the floor. “I needed you.”
“I am sorry, Your Highness. I thought...” She shook her head. “I had tasks to complete, and I hoped events would stay quiet for a time. Obviously, I was wrong.”
“Damn right, you were wrong. I almost ended up married to the Second Prince of Borel.”
Sothe raised one eyebrow. “A dire fate.”
“He’s not so terrible,” Raesinia said, with an affectedly casual air. “It’s his father who got on my bad side. The point is that it would have been nice to have a little help!”
“You seem to have escaped,” Sothe said. “And, from what I hear, Cora and Marcus have been of some assistance.”
“Cora has been amazing,” Raesinia said. “And Marcus... yes. But they’re not you. I...”
Raesinia’s voice died. Wax pattered softly from the candelabra, and she sniffed and set it aside.
“Do you know how worried I was?” she whispered. “At first I would listen for you, after dark, when the castle got quiet.”
“That was foolish,” Sothe said, with a hint of a smile. “You know you’d never have heard me coming.”
“And then,” Raesinia said, ignoring her, “I thought you weren’t coming back. That you’d been killed, doing—?whatever it was you were doing. And I...” She rubbed her eyes with her knuckles. “I was so angry. And then guilty, for feeling angry, when you were lying dead somewhere, and here I was hating you for not being here, and—”
“I wasn’t dead.” There was something in Sothe’s voice that might have been a touch of emotion, well suppressed. “I went looking for Orlanko.”
Raesinia looked up. “Did you find him?”
Sothe nodded. “He won’t trouble us again.”
Orlanko. For all that he’d been the force behind the plot to usurp Raesinia’s throne, it had been ages since she’d thought about him. He seemed like such a nightmare a year ago. And now he was gone, a roadblock smashed flat on Janus’ rise to power, like so many others. Like me, if we lose.
And Sothe had hunted him down. You could almost feel sorry for him. But not quite.
“And then you found Winter and brought her here?” she said.
“It was considerably more complex than that. But yes, in essence.”
Raesinia let out a long breath. “Well. You’ll have to give me the full story sometime.”
“Winter can tell you most of it. Marcus knows the rest.”
“Why?” Raesinia felt the hairs on the back of her neck rising. “Where are you going? If you say you have more ‘business’ to take care of—”
“I have a part to play in stopping the Beast,” Sothe said. “I am... not sure what will happen.”
“Oh.” Raesinia relaxed a bit. “If anyone will be fine, you will.”
“Do not be so certain. I am... only human.”
“Enough,” Raesinia said, feeling something tighten in her chest. “No more of that sort of talk, understand?”
“As my queen commands,” Sothe said, smiling. She bowed again. “What shall we discuss instead?”
“Send for something to drink,” Raesinia said, forcing a grin. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”
MARCUS
Marcus slept poorly, despite the brandy.