He jammed his fingers through his hair. “I must do something to show I am not complicit, nor do I approve of what was done today, regardless of your instructions—or lack of—to the wraith boy. There was a murder. Further lives were lost in the fight. Your wraith boy cannot understand the consequences of today, but surely you must see that being relocated to a comfortable house in Hawksbill is a punishment offered only to queens.”
I glanced at James, and he shifted closer to Tobiah. “Don’t punish the rest of the Ospreys.”
“They’re already on their way to the house.” He pulled open the door. “Your maid will be up to help you pack the necessities. The black bag isn’t one of them. And when it’s time to move your friend, a box will be provided.”
“I have another idea.”
Tobiah waited.
“You said Prince Colin would leave for Aecor—” After the wedding. After the disaster. “You said Prince Colin wanted to quell Patrick’s rebellion and retake Aecor City.”
“Yes.”
“I will go with him.” I lifted my chin. “You say I’m not your hostage or prisoner. Let me prove it to my people. In the meantime, it will get me out of Skyvale. No one wants me here.”
Muscles around Tobiah’s jaw flexed. “There’s war in Aecor City. You’d be walking straight into danger.”
“If I don’t take that risk, I have no business being queen.”
For the first time since the wedding, he locked eyes with me. But there was no warmth. No worry. Nothing but assessment and barely contained grief. “Fine. But you’ll go without the other Ospreys, and you’ll be closely guarded. You will be under Indigo Kingdom authority, with none of your own. You are still a ward of the Indigo Kingdom and subject to all that entails.”
“I understand.”
When both boys left the room, I began to pack.
TWENTY-TWO
“HOW LONG DO we have to stay here?” Connor asked.
“Until King Tobiah gives you permission to leave.”
By Hawksbill standards, the house was small, but it had plenty of space for us. Several rooms had a private washroom attached, so no one would have to share. The kitchen pantry was fully stocked, and Carl had already declared his intentions to learn to cook. Four small desks had been moved into the library for their sessions with Alana Todd. Mirrors on every wall and ceiling made the house a fortress against the wraith boy, who was locked in a wardrobe, which was tucked into a broom closet.
In spite of the generous accommodations, to the Ospreys, moving from the palace to the house was not much different from being transferred from one prison to another.
“I don’t want to stay here.” Carl picked up a silver box of mints and started to put it in his pocket, but laid it down instead. He didn’t even want to steal anymore.
I paced the length of the parlor, the plush carpet softening my footfalls. “You’ll follow the king’s orders, attend your lessons, and behave exactly as you would for me.”
Theresa cocked an eyebrow.
“Better than you would for me,” I amended. “Behave as if you actually know what it means to be nobility and future leaders in Aecor.”
“Shouldn’t we go with you?” Kevin asked. “There’s only a few months until the anniversary, and if we’re supposed to meet that deadline . . .”
The other Ospreys nodded in agreement.
“None of you are coming with me.” I held up a hand to forestall Theresa, who perched on the arm of a chair, tracing the fleur-de-lis pattern in the upholstery. “No, not even you.”
She scowled and slumped back. “What will people say, you going to Aecor without a female companion?”
“What does that matter, compared to what they already say? I can silence entire rooms by walking through a door.” It had been two days since the wedding and I’d been back and forth from the palace seven times to sign things, answer questions, and mostly just be inconvenienced. As though forcing me to make the short trip so often were anywhere close to the punishment I deserved.
But I was a princess—a future queen: nothing they were permitted to do would ever come close to making reparation.
“I don’t like you going alone,” muttered Kevin.
“I’ll be traveling with Crown Prince Colin,” I said, “and heading toward Patrick. I won’t drag any of you into a war.”
“How will we know you’re safe, though?” Connor turned his silver mirror in his hands, faster and faster. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“The wraith boy will be with me.” I glanced at his broom closet. “He won’t let anyone hurt me.”
The room went silent while everyone took that in.
“What is your plan?” Kevin asked. “You’ll be traveling with enemies, and the wraith boy isn’t exactly trustworthy. And in Aecor . . .”
There’d be Patrick and the Ospreys who’d followed him, and the resistance groups who’d united to fight in my name. The Red Militia. Not to mention the other dangers present in a city whose leadership was in flux. Crime. Violence. Desperate people doing desperate things.
“Will you declare yourself queen?” Carl asked. “That’s what Patrick wants you to do. And what everyone will expect.”
The others all nodded, their message clear: they’d like me to declare myself queen, too. They viewed it as a solution to all our problems.