poorly, tossing and turning all night, and rose to the buzz of an entire town preparing for an evening of dancing and festivities. Nothing could have been less aligned with my mood.
When Gabe appeared mid-morning I dragged him aside, not willing to spend another day dancing around what I truly wanted to know.
Gabe could have read my words four times over in the length of time he stared at the parchment. Finally he looked up and sighed.
“No, I haven’t. And I’ll admit, I was expecting I would have by now.”
“I don’t want to leave you,” he said. “Not here with Leander.”
Gabe still hesitated, and I could tell he wanted to argue further. But I gave him a stern look, and he deflated. As much as he hated to turn tail and run, he knew I was right. No one but Gabe could hope to bring the royal guards back here. Not with the current, deteriorating state of the kingdom. Those at the capital would do whatever they could, and use any excuse, to avoid such a dangerous course.
Relief filled me at his acquiescence. Gabe would be far out of reach by the time the celebrations commenced. As the night of the party had approached, my tension had increased. Alone, I could not keep Gabe safe. If the royal guards weren’t going to arrive in time, then Gabe needed to be far from here. It wasn’t an argument I had bothered to put forward, however, since I had known his own safety would weigh little with him. But for his kingdom, he would leave.
At least, having made up his mind, Gabe acted with decision, gathering supplies and departing without hesitation. He had his stallion, Cobalt, with him, and he would move as swiftly as any messenger. There was no chance he would be able to bring the guards back in time for the celebrations that evening, however. Would he bother to send apologies to Leander? The party was supposed to be in his honor, in name at least.
Sure enough, a disturbance swept through town some time after he left. The innkeeper had reported his departure far and wide, and everyone wondered if the festivities were to be canceled. But no such word was received from the Keep, and everyone soon resumed their preparations.
Wren needed extra assistance most of the day since the children were unsettled by all the excitement and resentful they were not to be allowed to go. Naturally, given their irritability, Audrey was nowhere to be found, and I didn’t manage to escape until they were all settled in bed after the evening meal.
Juniper had been safely deposited with Cora—only the promise of being allowed to spend the night in Cora’s room consoling her to the news that her mother intended to attend the party without her.
“Lord Leander may be a villain,” Wren told me, “but the other attendees are all our neighbors. And I want to dance.”
I had hopes that this sudden desire to attend was motivated by Ash, so I made no argument against it. It was Gabe who Leander had designs against, and he was safely out of the way. For my own part, however, I had no desire to attend.
But when I returned to my own room, I found Audrey waiting for me on my bed. She bounced to her feet at my arrival.
“There you are! I’ve been waiting forever.”
“And why is that exactly?” I asked warily.
“Because I brought you a dress,” she said, her eyes alight with restless energy.
“I’m not going to the party, Audrey.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course we’re going to go. There’s still another godmother object somewhere in that stone heap that is keeping both your swans and your voice captive. And if we don’t find and destroy it before Gabe’s guards arrive, who knows how many men and animals will die? And what better opportunity could we get to make it past the gate?”
I frowned. “Leander will know we’re there.”
“Will he?” she asked with a