the mercy of their whims and tempers.”
“Some of us already are,” I point out. “Why would the regent not honor her agreement with Chancellor Crunard? He did her a great service.”
“Because she was protecting General Cassel. He has long been loyal to her father and the crown, and she did not want to see the king’s displeasure fall on him. He has been too good at being France’s brutal fist for too long.” He pauses to study me. “What did you do with the prisoner?” he asks again.
I shrug my shoulders. “Freed him, like you planned.” Oh, how that galls me! I lean closer, nearly putting my nose against his. “I do not think you comprehend what you have set in motion by forging that letter from the convent. Weren’t you afraid they would come after you?”
“Let them,” he says. “They chose to ignore you—and my own letters—for five years. They ignored every letter I sent. I am half convinced they have disbanded.”
My eyes narrow. “They haven’t, and if I were you, I would watch my back and have a better excuse at the ready when they come for you.”
Chapter 48
Sybella
My steps are light as I head back to the palace. While it is true that Beast’s safe return and news of the girls has lifted my spirits, that is not the entire reason. Nor is it that being with Beast makes me feel whole again. We are always stronger with each other at our backs.
Something else has changed. Something deeper and older. Gingerly, with the memory of Beast’s arms wrapped around me, I allow myself to pull that sliver of burgeoning awareness from its dark hiding place.
It is Charlotte, I realize. Somehow, getting her to safety feels inexplicably as if I have reached back through time and gotten my own self to safety. As if I have somehow managed to unravel the tapestry of fate and rewoven it with the ending I had wished for.
There is no longer a sharp barbed splinter residing there, only scar tissue, newly formed. It is as if from the ashes of my own innocence, I have created safety for Charlotte. Given her a childhood that will not have to end like mine.
The small black pebble that I carry with me grows warm, the first time it has done so since I made the decision to kill Fremin. Although I do not understand what causes the warmth—my thoughts, the heat from my own blood, the flush of pleasure that still purrs along my skin where Beast has touched it, or something else I cannot fathom—I welcome that heat. I have missed it. Mayhap it is simply yet another small miracle Mortain has left in his wake.
I nod to the sentries at the door. With all the festivities, there are many people coming and going, so my presence does not raise any questions.
Once inside the inner courtyard, I head for the queen’s wing of the palace. I want to savor what Beast and I have just shared. As I come around the corner, the pebble burns hotter. I frown down toward my pocket, then stop and begin to reach for it. But as my footsteps’ echo fades, I hear the faint sound of heartbeats. It could be two more guards, but one of the beats is familiar to me—both, I realize. I cock my head, trying to discern the direction. There. They are coming from the guard room at the base of the old donjon.
Moving silently, I use the shadows to cover my approach. As I draw near, I hear a voice, and recognition slams into me like a fist. It is Pierre’s voice.
“My men were not the problem,” he is saying. “You promised me my sisters—all of them—and still I have none. Surely those men of yours were the most inept soldiers in all of France.”
“You cannot be here. It is not safe for us to meet,” the woman hisses. The regent. A chill runs down my spine, then simply disappears. No familiar fear follows in its wake.
“You are ignoring my letters.”
“Letters you should not be sending. Besides, I gave you what you asked for—the ambush went off as planned. It is not my fault your men could not follow through on the opening we gave them. We are done here.” I hear two footsteps before she comes to a stop. “Get out of my way.”
“There was more to our agreement.”
“No there wasn’t. Brittany belongs to France now.”
“It was rightfully promised to my father.”
I