begin with," Bryony said. "Destroying the council's attempt at a new bill doesn't make up for what the two-natured already suffer."
"They'll be in hiding." Nora looked up from her lap, glancing between us. "Any two-natured in the capital, they probably won't be registered. Most of the work moves the families north, and it's easier to hide farther from the council."
Bryony hummed, her focus glued to Nora as she nodded. "That's a good point. You think it's a fruitless mission to send Cresswell to speak to them?"
"Not fruitless but dangerous, perhaps," Nora said softly. "Any you might find on the street…well, they'd want to know how you discovered them, wouldn't they?"
Bryony looked to me, her eyes growing wide. "Of course. Of course, you're right. And two-natured in hiding won't like the idea of a man being able to spot them out from yards away."
Nora nodded again, more quickly, sitting up straighter. "They'll assume it's a trap of some kind. It won't help if anyone is able to recognize Cress or Owen as your Chosen."
"And we just rode at your side in a carriage during the funeral parade," I said to Bryony.
She groaned and slouched back in her chair with a huff. "Damn."
"Your Highness, if I might be…well, honest," Nora said with her own huff, "you have a great deal of support amongst the shifters. I-my—"
"Your brother," Bryony murmured gently.
Nora's lips pressed together, and she nodded. "You have his support and he's very involved. And it isn't just him."
"My friend Griffin," Bryony said.
"You know Griffin?" Nora asked, brightening and eyes glowing. "Oh! I haven't seen her in ages. No wonder Jack trusts you so, he is very—well, never mind that. It's enough to say that the two-natured know you have their interests. It's simply a matter of when you may act on them."
Bryony sighed and nodded. "Which just brings us back to the crown. As usual."
I studied Bryony. She was getting weary of the chase, and I think she only saw a brick wall ahead of her when I was sure she was really facing dozens of pathways to the throne. Enough to overwhelm her.
"Did Sam say there were other two-natured amongst Camellia's Chosen?" I asked.
Bryony nodded absently, picking at her bottom lip. "But Camellia is running through them. Who knows where those men ended—Oh! We do. Amos said there were some in the dungeons didn't he?" I shrugged as Bryony stood, expression growing sharp and predatory. "Then I think we should go and visit them. If Camellia threw them in there, I'm sure they must have something interesting to say."
"I took the liberty of moving them into…better accommodations, Your Highness," Head Guard Amos said, leading the way into the dungeons.
Bryony's hand was in mine, Cresswell on her other side, his eyes carefully scanning the hall, ever the guard.
"Have they seen doctors?" Bryony asked.
Amos nodded, "With great improvement, for the most part. Their bodies are healing, at least."
Bryony's fingers tightened around mine at what was unspoken. Not unlike Sam, I suspected that Camellia's former Chosen were a long way from healing their own minds.
"Is it safe for you to speak to them?" I asked Bryony, and Cresswell stood straighter at her side.
"You'll take every precaution," Cresswell said.
Bryony nodded. "I will. Owen will you…be able to tell from outside the door?"
"I think so."
"He can go in with Amos," Cresswell said, and Bryony's lips pursed with her own unspoken objection.
I raised her hand to my lips, kissing her knuckles to hide my smile. She wouldn't like me taking any risks she too wasn't allowed to take.
"As I am not a small, fierce, blonde princess, I think it will be safe for me," I said and grinned as she rolled her eyes.
Bryony leaned around me and Cress as we arrived in a brighter, more open hall. "This is where Lily was held."
"Yes, Your Highness. These were originally intended for nobility. I would've kept the Goddards here if they hadn't fled the country."
Our steps slowed as we approached a door, Bryony rising to her toes briefly to glance inside the grate. She grimaced and turned away quickly, looking at me.
"Igor. Do you get anything?"
I released her hand and stepped closer. The man inside—who was pleasuring himself in a way that seemed a bit bored and compulsive—was familiar. He'd been one of the ones Camellia had brought with her to the Winter Palace. His head turned, eyes skimming aimlessly over mine as his hips began to buck.
I leaned away, frowning and shaking my head. "Just a man