“The coronation is inside. Rain won’t matter.”
She lowered her voice. “Do you think it means anything? A big storm on coronation night?”
I shook my head and smiled. “You sound like Connor, all signs and superstitions. Are you keeping a mirror in your pocket, too?”
“The mirror thing turned out to be real.”
She had a point.
In the Ospreys’ suite, Kevin was pacing again. “We should be preparing for your coronation, Wil.”
I gave him a sharp look. “Don’t say anything like that tonight. Show respect to Prince Tobiah.”
“But you hate him.”
“After tonight, he’ll be the king granting us sanctuary. It doesn’t matter how I feel about him; he’s taking care of the people I care about, and that earns my respect.”
“Fine.” Kevin slumped onto the sofa between Carl and Connor. His limbs splayed out everywhere, forcing the younger boys to dodge flying elbows. “This is boring. When can we go into the city again?”
“Never.” That came out too harshly. I softened my tone. “Not for a while. It’s not safe.”
“The city is never safe.”
Theresa flicked her little finger at him. “Oh, stop your whining. There are so many worse problems out there than your boredom.” She stomped toward the balcony door and vanished outside. A ribbon of cold wind cut through the room, and was sliced off by the slamming door.
Carl crossed his arms. “What’s her problem?”
“Maybe you should ask her yourself.” Not that I was sure what was bothering her, either. “Do you like your new tutor?” I perched on the corner of the table.
“She’s fine,” said Connor.
“Fine.” Carl shrugged.
“Really pretty.” Kevin shot a rueful grin. “Smart, I mean. She knows a lot about the Indigo Kingdom. Even Aecor. This morning we went over how to behave at the coronation.”
“Do you think you can manage?” I asked.
“Give us some credit. We managed the memorial last night. You were the troublemaker.”
I scratched my chin with my little finger.
“We had a vote.” Carl leaned forward. “We don’t like your wraith friend. We think he’s a bad influence. And messy.”
“He is messy. And definitely has worse behavior than any of you.” My smile was faint. “What about the Wraith Alliance? Have you made any progress on that?”
“We’re still working on it,” Kevin said. “You only asked us to look at it the other day.”
I pushed a note of impatience out of my tone. “All right. Be quick, but thorough. The sooner I sign it, the better leverage we have getting Aecor from Prince Colin.”
“If Patrick doesn’t get it first.” Connor folded his hands in his lap. “What if the Indigo Army finds him? He should be in trouble, but what about Melanie and Paige? Ronald and Oscar?”
“Melanie is on our side, and the other three didn’t kill King Terrell. They didn’t try to kill Prince Tobiah. The Indigo Kingdom wants them, but not as badly as they want Patrick. That will be taken into account.”
Connor nodded thoughtfully. “And what about us? Do we get to punish him, too, when he’s caught?” His tone was careful and even, betrayed only by the white of his knuckles and tightness of his jaw.
“When Patrick is caught, he’ll be tried for all his crimes, including sending Quinn and Ezra on the mission that killed them. And all those who came before them. We’ll build memorials in their honor, right?”
All three boys agreed, solemn now.
I stood and smoothed my dress. “I’m going to check on Rees. Make yourselves useful. And be nice to her when she gets back in.”
On my way out, I grabbed a blanket to ward off the cold.
Theresa was leaning on the rail, staring east over the woods. Gold and red leaves of late autumn rained like drops of colored ink, breathtakingly beautiful in the gloaming.
“Is it possible to be homesick for a place you can’t remember?” Her voice was soft, caught up and carried away by a gust of icy wind.
“I think so.” Next to her, I put the blanket around both of us, and she rested her cheek on my shoulder. “We’ll go back home one day. Soon. And we’ll make new memories there.”
“I wonder what Patrick and the others are doing now—if they’re thinking about your coronation, too. He always intended for you to take it back on the anniversary. That’s only a few months off.” The clock tower chimed fifteen, and a cloud-shrouded full moon started to rise over the horizon. The early moon, the storm-darkened sky, and the frigid wind made the afternoon feel like evening.
The acrid scent of wraith rode on the air, but it was faint. For now.
“I don’t want to talk about Patrick and the others.” I pulled her toward the door again. “Come on.”
Just as we started to move, voices below caught me.
“Let’s speak out here, Your Grace.” Prince Colin strode into the garden below our balcony, just beyond the rail.