so.”
“You speak Perispi well,” he said. “Your Nisseran accent is light.”
“My brother is an Omnilingual, and I had a very strict governess. I also entertained many a Perispi guest until my…” I trailed off and cleared my throat. “How did you learn what Nisseran you know?”
“My father was the royal huntsman before me, and he would take me on outings. When King Myron entertained prominent Nisserans, they liked to go hunting. To our people, it’s not a sport. It’s putting a meal on the table. But we were expected to help entertain the guests by leading them to quarries and letting them make the kill. King Myron let me join the princess’s language lessons so I could become a better host.”
“Did you ever take my parents?”
“Yes,” he said. “Your father was a skilled hunter. And he could not stop singing the praises of his ‘beautiful, intelligent’ daughters.”
“Trying to capture the king’s interest, no doubt,” I scoffed. “Did you meet my mother?”
“No, but I know that during her visit, she used her magic to help Halithenica’s crops thrive after a season of heavy rains.”
My power had done the exact opposite. I took a regretful swig and passed him back the ale. He scratched his chin and took a drink. Impressive, how he didn’t grimace. When he set the mug down, I caught him looking at my scar.
“Lovely, isn’t it?” I asked.
“I expected worse.” He smiled. “It’s strange. The description the town crier gave was something like ‘blond hair, fair skin, and a horribly disfiguring scar.’ But…” He gestured at me, bewildered.
“Sounds like Ambrosine,” I sighed. “That’s an advantage, I suppose; if she has all of Halithenica searching for someone with a disfigured face, perhaps no one will recognize me.”
“Perhaps,” he agreed.
“Do you have any friends you still trust at the palace? Anyone who could help you get a message to my brother?”
Sev pursed his lips. I noticed that the top lip was thicker than the bottom, which leant his mouth a natural pout when he wasn’t looking grim. “It’s hard to know, considering everyone remaining at the palace fears her,” he said.
But he hushed when someone knocked three times on the front door.
TWENTY-TWO
GLISETTE
WE both froze. The visitor knocked again, more urgently.
“The cupboard,” Sev whispered, pointing to a door in the kitchen. I stood and tread carefully over creaky boards, looking back at him for reassurance before wedging myself in among jars and depleted flour sacks.
Through the crack, I watched Sev lift an axe from high pegs on the wall. His grip flexed around it as he strode across the room and opened the cottage door just wide enough to look outside.
“Oh,” he said, swinging it wider.
“Three knocks,” a woman said. “Didn’t you know it was me?” She had an Erdemese accent. She removed the hood of her cloak, revealing onyx hair and stunning features. Her complexion was a warm brown rather than the medium olive of most Perispi people.
“You can’t be too careful.” Sev ushered her inside and replaced the axe on the pegs. He seemed to trust her, but without an invitation, I didn’t dare emerge. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “You didn’t come in the cold just to bring that, did you?” He indicated a laden sack in her hand.
She shook her head. A jewel sparkled in her nose. “No, I’m here on business.”
“Sit down,” Sev said. “Have some ale for warmth.”
“Yannis’s ale? No, thank you,” she laughed. I had to work a little harder to understand our common tongue through her accent. Thankfully, she sat facing me, which allowed me to read her lips.
“I came to tell you that the Uprising plans to question you about the princess’s whereabouts,” the stranger said. “You need to flee.”
“I don’t know anything—”
She put up a hand. “I don’t care what you know. I only care that you and your family are safe. The Uprising knows the queen used you. They’re very protective of the princess, and they will torture you if they think it will help them find her. They consider you an elicromancer sympathizer, just like your father. Maybe you could give them enough to stay valuable and alive. But it’s a trap. Once you give something to the Uprising, there’s no going back. You’re loyal to them or you’re dead.”
Elicromancer sympathizer. Uprising.
My exhausted mind managed to make the connection: this had to be the same group who had killed Mother and Father.
But King Myron had told us that the anti-elicromancer rebels had been swiftly tracked down and