scraps in the moat. The eels have to eat something.”
She went back to surveying the courtyard. “That’s all who’s awake right now. Servants and Overwatch. I don’t think the queen ever gets up before the sun. And thankfully, I don’t see any Overwatch.”
Theo looked up. “Not even on the walkways.” Which seemed odd. A little warning bell went off in her head. “Something’s not right. It’s too quiet.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” Robin scratched at his beard, and a clump of hair came off in his fingers. He made a face. “Either way, we should take advantage of it and get to that fountain now.”
Theo couldn’t argue with that, but the feeling of unease remained with her. Getting out seemed like the best possible solution. “All right.”
“I’ll lead. Mother, you stay in the middle, and Theo behind. On three.”
“On three,” Theo repeated.
He counted down and on one, they took off for the center of the courtyard. The fountain bubbled like an oasis in the desert, the frothy palms and blooming plants surrounding it only adding to that illusion.
A few feet to go.
Vesta stepped out of the greenery in a dress patterned with leaves and fronds and flowers. Obviously, her attempt at camouflage. A successful attempt, sadly. In her hand gleamed the royal sword known as the Heartseeker. It was nearly half her length and held a ruby the size of a toddler’s fist embedded in the pommel.
With a speed that surprised Theo, Vesta brought the sword to bear on Robin’s chest, stopping him from doing anything with the dagger he’d pulled from his hip sheath.
“Drop that, or Heartseeker will taste blood.” There was nothing pleasant about Vesta’s smile.
He let the dagger fall.
Her nasty grin widened. “Did you think a ratty moustache and beard would fool me, husband dear?”
“We aren’t married, Vesta. And haven’t been for nearly twenty years. Now let us pass, and I’ll let you live.”
She laughed and leaned on the sword a little harder. It bent slightly as the tip dug deeper. Theo prayed Robin’s battle leathers were doing their job. “You always were given to flights of fancy. But it’s time for you to come down to earth and see that I have the upper hand. I have had it since day one. And now that you’ve threatened my life, I cannot allow you to go unpunished. Guards!”
A small troop of Overwatch sprang from the recesses of the courtyard, swords drawn. Theo wanted to cry and scream and launch herself at Vesta, no matter the outcome. She didn’t, though. She stood there and watched the guards surround them. Four of them. And Vesta. She must have expected them to fight.
Or she was far more afraid of Robin than she let on.
Vesta was still smiling, her sword still against Robin’s chest. “I will kill you myself. I think that’s only fitting, don’t you?”
A soft whistle rang out in the otherwise quiet courtyard. It was loud enough to be heard above the water’s bubbling, but it ended as quickly as it had begun with five new sounds. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk-thunk. Crack.
Those were the sounds, Theo realized, of arrows finding their targets. The feathered shafts bloomed almost simultaneously from the backs, shoulders, and torsos of the men around them.
The arrow intended for Vesta sliced open her upper arm, but found its home in the palm behind her. Blood spilled from the wound, staining the sleeve of her green gown. Six inches to the right, and it would have pierced her heart. Terror filled her eyes. The sword in her hand had fallen away from Robin’s chest to tremble at waist-height. “What have you done to me?”
Robin looked as shocked as she did. “This wasn’t my doing, as much I wish I could lay claim to it.”
Marken and two other men ran in, bows strapped across their backs and swords in their hands. Marken addressed them while his men went to work securing the fallen Overwatch. “Sire, Lady Pryn, are you all right?”
Pryn nodded. “Yes, thank you for rescuing us.”
Marken grabbed the Heartseeker from Vesta’s hand and held it to her chest the same way she’d just done to Robin. “I hereby arrest you for crimes against the citizens of Limbo. On your knees.”
With a whimper, Vesta sank to the ground. She clutched her injury while glaring at Robin. “How dare you? You set me up. Once a traitor, always a trai—”
Marken closed Vesta’s mouth with the point of Heartseeker under her chin. “You will not speak to the king that way, prisoner.”
She