Cortney clears her throat. “Once a guard indeed.”

That makes me smile. “I do not wish for you to earn a reprimand on my behalf,” I say. “If you would like to return to the palace, we can. But I would much rather learn about Syhl Shallow from its people than its rulers.”

The guards exchange another glance, but Talfor finally sighs. He unbuckles a pouch on his belt. “Are cards the preferred diversion in Emberfall?” he says.

“They are.”

He cups his palms together and shakes, resulting in the rattle and jangle of steel. His hands open and six silver cubes dance across the tabletop between us. “Welcome to Syhl Shallow, Your Highness. Here, we play with dice.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

LIA MARA

Nolla Verin is pacing in my room, the sheer rose-colored overlay of her robes floating around her as she walks. “It has been hours,” she says.

I keep my eyes on my book. I have ordered documentation on Iishellasa from the palace library, hoping to determine what my mother could require from Iisak, but after Grey “lost” Nolla Verin in the city, I’ve been hearing about nothing else for hours. “Mm-hmm.”

“What could he be doing?”

I flip a page. So far all I’ve learned are things Iisak has already told us: that the scravers and the magesmiths were allies—and only by magic or by winged flight could anyone reach the ice forests of Iishellasa. The rocks and trees of Iishellasa were said to have special properties that left them immune to the forces of magic. The magesmiths tried to find warmer climates, but they were ultimately destroyed by the King of Emberfall.

Well, most of them were.

“Lia Mara!”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I asked what he could be doing.”

“I really don’t know.”

“Perhaps I pushed too hard. He seemed so aggravated when we raced past that child in the streets.”

My eyes lift. “What happened?”

“A child ran into the road. I would not have harmed her, but he reacted as though I planned to trample her in the street—”

“Nolla Verin. What did Grey do?”

“He drove my horse to the side and plucked the child up onto his own.” Her nose wrinkles. “Quite like a nursemaid, really.”

My heart flutters in my chest, and I have to fix my gaze on my papers before she notices the warmth crawling into my cheeks. I turn another page. “Quite.”

“No, not like a nursemaid.” She makes a frustrated noise and flounces over to drop on the end of my chaise. “Dear sister, please help me.”

That makes me set the documents aside. “What do you need?”

“I need to understand him. To figure out what will make him yield to whatever Mother wants from this alliance.” She bites at her lip. “I cannot face a second rejection.”

This feels unfair, that I should have to help my sister plot a way into Grey’s heart, to manipulate him for our mother’s purposes. I frown and make no effort to hide it.

“Why do you wear that look?” she whispers.

“You are asking me to help you trick him,” I say. “He is a good man, Nolla Verin. I believe he would be a good king.”

“I would hope so! But he will never be any kind of king if we do not unite against that wretched prince in Emberfall.”

“Well, perhaps you would have had more success in turning his head if you’d made an attempt to talk to him instead of racing through the streets of the Crystal City.”

She bites at her lip again, then sighs. “I suppose.” She lies back until her head is against my knee. “He really is quite handsome. I only offered to race because he was saying so little.”

I spend a moment trying to figure out the note in her voice, and when I have it, I giggle and stroke the hair back from her face. “Nolla Verin. Are you intimidated?”

She lifts her eyes to look up at me. “Would you think less of me if I said … a little?” She hugs her arms to her chest and sighs. “He is so very stoic. And the manner in which he declared himself to Mother … I do not know if I would have dared.”

“Hmm.” I have been trying very hard not to think of Grey, but my memory conjures him standing in the throne room, dressed in finery with the others at his back. That cool determination had been fixed in his eyes, the way it was in Blind Hollow—or the day we escaped from Prince Rhen. In front of my mother, he looked as though he would not back down from an army.

“Did you see his magic?” says Nolla Verin, her voice hushed yet full of curiosity. “When Prince Rhen tried to have him killed?”

“The prince had him flogged.” I give an involuntary shudder. “It was terrible. Grey’s magic caused the prince and his guards to fall unconscious. That’s how we were all able to escape.”

She sits up straight. “Unconscious!”

“Yes. Did our spies report otherwise?”

“Mother was told it was Rhen alone.”

“No. It was everyone in the courtyard.”

“How many?”

“Two dozen at least.”

Her eyes are wide now. “I shall have to tell Mother. Our spies did not indicate his magic worked at such a level.”

I frown, feeling as though I have put Grey at a disadvantage somehow. Then again, perhaps it is better if my sister is a bit wary. Maybe they won’t try to maneuver his affections.

I have never felt so torn, so off balance. I do not want to put my country at a disadvantage either. These political games feel so unfair, when real people and true emotion sit at the center of it all.

A knock sounds at my door. “Enter,” I call, almost in relief.

A servant eases through the doorway and bows to my sister, who is still sprawled on my chaise. “Your Highness. The prince has returned. The queen has indicated that he will escort you to dinner at sunset.”

Nolla Verin grins, her face bright like a moonbeam.

My mouth forms a line. “You should go prepare.”

My robes for dinner are pale green and shimmer in the light, and my attendants have laced a wide black belt adorned with emeralds in place over the top of them. I sneaked a slender book from my collection into a tiny bag that disappears among the folds of my robes. I wish I could read it for distraction right here at the dinner table, to avoid watching Nolla Verin using my information to manipulate Grey. But I have no desire for my mother to set my entire library on fire. So I sit, and I listen politely, and I wait for the moment when everyone will leave the tables to mingle and dance and drink, and I can vanish onto the veranda.

Candles are lit throughout the crowded hall, making every inch of silver and gold gleam. For her “small gathering,” Mother has accumulated over one hundred people, mostly families from the five Royal Houses. Grey sits at the middle of the center table with Nolla Verin. His clothes are the finest Mother could provide, the colors echoing the gold and red of Emberfall. The others sit to his side: Jake and Noah and Tycho, all dressed similarly.

Nolla Verin, in white robes, leans close to Grey, brushing a hand across his forearm. His height and the breadth of his shoulders make her look like a doll beside him. A tiny, lethal, agile doll. I can’t hear what she says, but he laughs.