James opened his notebook to the first blank page and dipped his pen in ink. “You’re sure you don’t know his plans?”
Melanie shook her head. “He wanted to take Prince Colin prisoner and execute him in the courtyard.” She squeezed my arm. “And on the off chance Prince Colin’s forces overwhelmed us, Aecor City was prepared to resist. Known loyalists have been . . . dealt with.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Imprisoned until they’re sufficiently encouraged to support you.”
“We’ll have to free them at once.” Saints, the things Patrick had done—and was willing to do—in my name. “And whatever he gains by being in prison himself, we’ll have to wait to find out. Prince Colin looks ready to murder me, and I don’t think Tobiah will have a much more positive reaction.”
“Oh, I can’t imagine His Royal Sullenness being happy about anything.” Melanie pulled away and sat on my bed. “Sorry, James. I know you like him. For some reason.”
James smirked and bent over his notebook. “Wilhelmina likes him, too.”
“Wil?” Melanie lifted an eyebrow, but I was not going to get into that right now.
Time to change the subject. “Where is Paige?” She’d been the other Osprey to side with Patrick. So far I’d seen three out of four of them. “Is she—”
“She’s fine. Waiting at the castle. We took it almost two weeks ago, while most of the regiment was still in Skyvale.”
“And the soldiers who had to stay in Aecor?” I asked, though I could guess. A pit of dread pulled in my stomach.
“Dead. Or imprisoned, if they had military knowledge he wanted. Same conditions as the loyalists.” Melanie sighed and ran her fingers through her short, choppy locks. “It’s been hard. Ugly. I’ve seen more death than I ever thought I would. But we’ve held Aecor City, which is more than I thought would happen.”
I tried to imagine Aecor City now. My memories of my childhood home were foggy with time, and charred black after watching the city burn during the One-Night War. I hardly knew it. Not like I knew Skyvale. Just closing my eyes, I could see the peaked roofs, the mirrors aglow in the light of the setting sun, and the blue mountains that surrounded everything.
But Aecor City as it stood now was a blank. Some queen I was.
Nevertheless, it was home. And it was right across the bay.
For a moment, we listened to the scratching sounds of James writing.
“Paige has made herself into quite the steward,” Melanie said. “Patrick told her to make the castle ready for your return. She’ll be so panicked when she realizes you’re here already.”
“We’ve lived in poor conditions before. I’m sure everything is more than adequate.” I pulled the tie off the end of my braid and threaded my fingers into my hair, unbraiding section by section. “Besides, Prince Colin and his regiment were living there, and the crown prince requires a certain level of luxury.”
“That he does. He—” She hesitated and shook off whatever she’d been about to say. “We have a lot to discuss. I want to know all about the other Ospreys, and how you ended up traveling with Tobiah’s bodyguard. And that boy who could be your brother.”
“So much has changed. Including this.” I touched her hair. “What happened?”
Her face darkened. “Oh—”
“Sorry to interrupt.” James turned from his notebook. “Melanie, I need to ask you a few questions.” He glanced at me. “Apparently he’s awake. He keeps writing where I’m trying to write. He says congratulations.”
“He doesn’t mean it.” I’d probably ruined a hundred of his plans I didn’t even know about.
“What is this?” Melanie grabbed the notebook and turned it over and around. “Both of you write in here? How does it work?”
“Magic.” I plucked the notebook from her hands. “I’ll explain later.”
More words appeared on the page—mostly questions with underlines and multiple pieces of punctuation—as I handed the notebook back to James.
“Thank you.” He started writing on the next page, as Tobiah’s questions continued appearing on the previous. “Let’s start with the goal of the ambush. Patrick’s force wasn’t big enough to invade, though you said you managed to take and hold Snowhaven Bridge for a matter of days.”
Melanie glanced at me, eyebrow raised.
“Answer all of his questions honestly.”
She gave a quick nod and faced James. “That is correct. Patrick had no desire to invade the Indigo Kingdom. He wanted Aecor as it had been. The ambush was on the Indigo side of the bridge for two reasons: to prove to the Indigo Army that we were truly a force, and to keep them out of Aecor.”
“I see.” James’s pen scraped paper. “And you took the bridge. How?”
While James and Melanie discussed, I slipped behind the partition and changed into my nightclothes. Once my dressing gown covered me, I stepped out to find James pushing back the desk chair.