Rhys orders food. I sit here, nearly asleep, wondering if I’ll be able to choke anything down. Earlier, I was starving. But now I just want a bed.
It doesn’t even have to be a bed. Just somewhere flat, safe from Chasm tarantulas, tiraiths, and shadow wolves.
The man leaves, off to fetch Rhys’s order, and the knight turns back to me. “You’ll get stronger,” he says quietly. “It won’t always be like this.”
“What’s your sister like, Rhys?” I ask. “Is she soft, like me? Or is she capable and strong, like you? If you were kidnapped, would she be able to cross Draegan to find you?”
Rhys laughs. “Cassia is tenacious. She’s little but determined. Nothing stands a chance of coming between her and what she’s decided she wants.”
“I want to be like that,” I whisper. “For Braeton.”
Rhys leans closer, stroking a hand down my hair. “You are like that, Amalia. You just don’t see it yet.”
27
Edwin looks up, not seeming terribly surprised to see me at his door. He sits back, smiling. “Good afternoon, Cassia.”
I sit across from his desk, picking up the pewter frog and turning it over in my palms. “When do you think Rhys will return?”
“I don’t know. There are too many variables involved to make an educated guess. At the soonest, perhaps a few weeks? But it could be months.”
Nodding, I set the frog aside and rest my chin on the desk. I miss Rhys something horrible. I don’t know who to talk to, and there are so many questions in my head. I can’t discuss anything with Edwin—he’s too close to the crown. He has a duty to make the best decisions for his people.
If he knew the thoughts floating around in my head, he’d likely execute Braeton and be done with it.
“If you’re bored, feel free to go over these reports for me.”
“Do you think there is any way to defeat the curse?” I ask, sitting up. “Some way to vanquish it from our lands?”
Edwin is quiet for several long seconds. “I don’t know. Nothing we’ve tried seems to work. At best, we’ve been holding the curse at bay. But even then, it feels like it’s seeping in through the cracks. I’m afraid Father is right—our only chance of survival is escape.”
“What about Renove?” I ask softly. “What will happen to their people if we lay quiet, political siege on their kingdom?”
Edwin lets out a weary sigh. “Those are bridges we must cross when we reach them, Cassia. One step at a time.”
“It seems to me that if we can’t see the entire board, we should be cautious of our first attack.”
My brother chuckles. “Wise words, little sister.”
“What if we were to ally with Renove once more? Do you think, together, we could overcome the curse?”
Edwin narrows his eyes, the humor leaving his face. “I do not. I believe the only ones who can fix the damage they have dealt is the fae—and they abandoned us.”
As much as I don’t want to believe it, I know he’s right. There is no good, logical reason I can justify helping Braeton escape. If there were even a sliver of a chance, some farfetched way it could lead to peace, I would likely grasp it.
But there isn’t.
“Leaving so soon?” Edwin asks when I rise, already looking back at his stack of reports.
Before I’m out the door, Father steps inside. He looks surprised to see me—and not terribly pleased either.
“Excuse us, Cassia,” he says.
Bobbing a curtsy, I hurry past him, closing the door behind me—but not soon enough that I don’t hear bits of the heated conversation.
I glance back, concerned. I don’t like Father and Edwin being at odds, and it seems they’re in constant disagreement lately. The problem is they are both too stubborn, with strong personalities and opinions. I suppose they’re alike in that way.
If Mother were well, she would soothe their ruffled feathers, as she was always so good at. I’m afraid I’m not up to the task.
Shaking my head, I hurry down the hall, pushing the concern from my mind, choosing to think of something else entirely—namely, the nice weather we’ve had the last few days.
At heart, I’m as bad as Calvert.
I wonder if anyone will notice I’m missing if I disappear for a few hours.
Braeton looks up from a book when I step in his room, and a surprised smile lights his face. “You’re early.”
“We have a few weeks in Draegan when it’s not too cold and not too hot. It seems we’ve entered