Igniting Darkness (Courting Darkness Duology #2) - Robin LaFevers Page 0,52

thrives instead of shrivels?” I lean closer to him. “I told you once that we trained not only in matters of death, but how to protect against it. How can you be so sure that I am not precisely what the queen needs right now, in her most vulnerable moment?”

“Are you threatening her?”

“Far from it, Your Majesty. I am serving her with all my skill and devotion, ensuring both her and the babe’s health. I know more about the nature of life and death than all of your bishops and philosophers and executioners combined.” I do not know where the words come from, but they pour out of me, like water from a spout. “I am an initiate of the saint God placed in charge of such matters. Is it wise to question the gifts He has given me, especially when the life of your wife and child are concerned?”

When I have finished, the king stares as if he has never seen me before, and perhaps he has not. He has only seen the palest reflection of me as I work in the shadows to dodge and spar with the queen’s enemies. But seeing the faint glimmer of awe mixed in with the fear and shock in his eyes, perhaps it is time to leave that pale reflection behind.

 Chapter 25

Aeva

The wasp is grumbling again. “I don’t think you’re taking us anywhere. You’re just going to force us to ride on horses until we die.”

“Would you rather walk?” She shoots me an exasperated look, but I did not mean it in jest. “Sometimes our legs need to move.”

“I would rather ride in a litter like the grand ladies do.”

I laugh. “You wish to be carried? And what does that prove to the world? That you can be carted about like a sack of grain? That you are a burden to be borne on the shoulders of others?”

Her mouth clamps down into a flat line, a sure sign that although she is mad, the point of my words has gotten through to her. “However,” I say in a more conciliatory tone, “you will be happy to learn we will be reaching our destination soon.”

“What destination?” She glances around at the rocky soil and pebble-lined beaches. “There is nothing here but the sea. Whenever I ask where we are going, you say, ‘West,’ but now we are west, and there is nothing here.”

“And which way is west?”

She hesitates, then points in the correct direction.

“And east?”

She points correctly again. I have been teaching her some small navigation skills along with how to use her knife so she can care for herself in the most rudimentary ways. It gives her sharp-toothed mind something to chew on other than my ear, and while she does not yet realize it, the more skills she has, the more confident she becomes. Both the confidence and skills will make her a little safer in the world.

And prepare her for the lessons at the convent.

“And north?” I ask. It always takes her a moment to get her bearings, but she points to the right. “Correct.”

“What is north of here?” she asks.

“Not much, now that we are this far west. Brest, then east from there—”

“You mean back the way we came?”

“Yes. Is Morlaix, then Guingamp, then Saint-Brieuc.” She falls quiet, thinking, and I am pleased that I have managed to redirect her thoughts. Then, just as if the gods had planned it, Beast, who had ridden on ahead to check for armed sorties, comes trotting down the road toward us.

“All clear,” he says. He gives the wasp a smile, but as usual, she ignores him.

The road curves just then, and we find we have come nearly to the end of it, the sea spreads out before us.

“Who are those people?” the wasp asks, her voice wary.

Three figures stand on the shore, a small boat pulled up on the beach behind them. The tallest, in the middle, is wearing a black cloak, and her long blond hair is braided in the style of Arduinna.

“It is Annith, your aunt,” Beast says. “We have arrived.”

 Chapter 26

Genevieve

Stay, the king ordered me, when he was called from his morning toilette by an urgent summons. As if I were some trained hound. I had feigned too much wine last night and acted as if I had fallen asleep on his couch. Out of tenderness or optimism, or possibly even embarrassment, he did not order me carried back to my own room. It is precisely what Sybella wished—for