one day before whispering to Annith that she really didn’t want to spend her entire day being fitted for new gowns.”
I laugh with relief and joy that Louise felt comfortable enough to state her desires so plainly. “And what of Charlotte?”
“She took longer to warm up to any of them. Insisted on sleeping outside with the Arduinnites for the first two nights. But Sister Thomine arranged with Aeva to have her come watch as they were training in the yard, and that got her attention. They told her if she trained with them, she would be allowed into the armory to see the weapons. After that, she moved into the dormitory bed next to her sister.”
“Does Louise partake in the training?”
“No, she is enamored of the horses and has attached herself to Sister Widona.”
My mind reels back through time, to my own arrival at the convent. I arrived damaged and broken, nearly feral with grief and anger. “Widona and Thomine were the ones who calmed me when I first showed up on their doorstep. Louise and Charlotte will be naught but a breeze for them after what I put them through.”
He gently takes my hand, covering it with his blunt, warm fingers. “I have met them, Sybella, and I know they would take issue with the suggestion that you had put them through anything. Indeed, I think they would say instead ‘after what you had suffered.’”
His words are meant to comfort me and challenge the way I see myself. They succeed at both. “Did Balthazaar seem to mind them being there?”
“No.” Beast grins. “Especially once he was reassured they were not yet more of his daughters.”
I snort. “Won’t Annith love that—never knowing if her consort’s unnumbered children will be showing up on her door.”
“She seems to take everything in stride.”
“I’m sure she does,” I murmur, remembering how comfortable she’s always been at the convent. How strong she’s always been in her faith. How she was the one who oversaw the younger girls’ happiness, ever since I’d first arrived.
I allow the knowledge that my sisters are safe to soak in. Feel it ease the gnawing at my heart that I have endured for months. “Is that what took you so long? Waiting to get the girls settled?”
“No.” The word is almost gruff, and something inside him shifts. “There is more to the story, I’m afraid. None of it good.”
I pull back to better see his face, but it is mostly hidden by shadow. “What is it?”
“Rohan is gearing up for something.”
“What do you mean? I thought that was the entire point of overriding the queen’s counsel and installing the king’s man as governor of Brittany?”
“One would think, but we could not get through to Rennes. All the roads to and from the city were patrolled by Rohan’s men. We sent scouts and learned that everyone had to check in with the city watch and state their business. We could not take the risk. Not with my face being so recognizable. It also seemed too great a risk to try to contact Ismae or Duval if Rohan had the entire city under that close a watch. We left the next morning for the convent.”
Beneath me, his heartbeat shifts, increasing ever so slightly. “Our path to the convent took us through Rohan’s lands, which slowed us down considerably, as we did not wish to be seen. But worse than that was that every one of his strongholds was fully garrisoned, with additional soldiers encamped outside the keeps. We had the devil’s own time evading them without being seen. Fortunately, we had the Arduinnites’ help in that.”
He squints down at me. “Is it possible that word of our absence reached the king and he sent word to Rohan to intercept us?”
“No. The king did send a search party the second day you’d been gone, but he was looking for Fremin’s henchmen, not you.”
“Did they find them?”
I meet Beast’s steady gaze. “No.”
He nods. “Good.”
“And what of your return trip?” I ask. “Did you try to contact Ismae or Duval then?”
“I had hoped to, but in the few days I was at the convent, even more troops had amassed. I decided it was more important to report this situation to the queen rather than pursue Duval.”
“And here you are.”
He pauses. “And here I am. Lingering with you when I should be making my report.” He sits up and begins to pull on his shirt.
“You couldn’t have very well stormed into the coronation ball and made your