The Queen's Secret (The Queen's Secret #2) - Melissa de la Cruz Page 0,23

question. Why, when you have so many apprentice assassins at your disposal, can you not wait a moment to blurt out her name to the Small Council? The duke tells you to pick a strong fighter and you practically shout her name across the room.”

“You trained with her this morning!” Cal sits up, indignant. “You know she’s a good fighter.”

“And she’s the only fighter you have, apparently. I remember a time when you didn’t want a ‘girl’ trailing around with you. Now everything’s changed when some pretty thing from the mountains rides into town.”

“Are you accusing me of something?” he demands.

“Not at all,” I lie. “You will have your companion, and I will have mine.”

“What?” Cal looks incensed. “So Hansen’s your companion now?”

“Why not? We’ll be sharing a bed, after all.” The more I talk, the more out of control this conversation becomes. I know that deep down, but I can’t stop myself. Cal is right—I am jealous of Rhema and highly emotional. Never in a thousand years would I admit this to him. Not while he’s being so rude to me. How dare he question my devotion? I risked everything for him. He knows I love no one but him.

“I’m not Shadow anymore,” I tell him. “I can never be that girl again. I’m Queen Lilac now, and for the rest of my life. You have to accept that.”

Cal stands up. “The only thing I have to do,” he says, his tone curt, “is go.”

“You’re really leaving?” I ask, and he looks puzzled, almost impatient.

“You heard the Small Council. You heard your husband, the king. I must ride at once to Renovia. There’s no choice in the matter.” Cal reaches for his jacket, the only item of clothing he’s removed tonight.

“I mean now,” I say in a softer voice. I don’t want this to be our goodbye. I don’t want the last words exchanged between us to be angry and jealous.

I don’t want to sleep alone tonight—not when I may not see Cal for months.

“Days are short,” he says, matter-of-fact, as though he’s sniping at a stable hand. “We need to be on the road at daybreak, and there’s a lot to prepare.”

I open my mouth to protest, but no words emerge. Instead I just stand there, defeated. Cal’s already gone—I can see it in his eyes. The mission has taken over; he’s imagining the winding trails through Renovia, its secret highways. And he’s angry with me—angry with me for being the queen and agreeing to perform the queen’s duty. Angry because of the things I said tonight.

“Be safe,” I manage to say, and for a moment I imagine that his eyes have softened. He stands at the end of the bed, ready to go.

“You too,” he says. “Take care, Lilac. Trust no one.”

Cal doesn’t even kiss me before he leaves. He just disappears into the chamber’s far corner, and I hear rather than see the door open and close. I wait, hoping he’ll change his mind and return. But too much time passes, and when I clamber out of bed to look through the window at the courtyard below, I can make out a tall figure stalking toward the stables.

I lock the door to the Queen’s Secret, and resettle the heavy tapestry that covers it. Who knows how long it will be before I hear a knock at this door again?

Perhaps I never will.

Chapter Nine

Caledon

They saddle their horses before dawn, the animals’ warm breath misting in the cold courtyard. Cal notes the guards outside the tower door and strolls over.

“Any activity during the night?” he asks, and they say they’ve heard and seen nothing. Cal sends them in to search the tower earlier than planned. If something—or someone—is found, it’s better that he’s here to deal with it.

The tower has eight floors but few rooms. The ground level is almost entirely devoted to the chapel. Guards swarm inside, and in the morning quiet of the yard, Cal can hear their boots stomping up the long staircase. The old scribes won’t be happy to be woken this early, but the priest, Father Juniper, emerges from the building in his white robes, looking unhurried and calm, as though he were already up and ready for the search. In the early light, his robes look pale as the waning moon.

“Chief Assassin,” he says, with a bow in Cal’s direction. “Thank you for overseeing this. I know you must be eager to be on your way. You have a long journey ahead,