Stormcaster (Shattered Realms #3)(53)

He decided he didn’t care.

It had been a long time since he’d worn anything but the drab brown healer’s garb at Ardenscourt and the nondescript breeches and coats that had served him well on the road from Ardenscourt to Fellsmarch.

He was just fumbling with the tiny buttons on his shirt when someone banged on the door.

“Come,” Ash said, guessing he was far enough along in dressing to entertain company.

It was Lila Barrowhill Byrne, unfamiliar in the blue uniform of the Queen’s Guard. She ran her eyes up and down the length of him and snorted.

“Back for a day, and already tricked out like a proper princeling,” she said, flopping into a chair. Something about the scene reverberated in Ash’s memory, recalling his last day at Oden’s Ford, when Lila barged into his room and invited him to a party at Wien House.

“You should talk,” Ash said. “Looks like you’re planning to join the family business.”

She shook her head. “Nah,” she said. “I’m in disguise.”

“That’s a disguise?” Ash raised an eyebrow.

“I’m disguised as someone who could fit in here,” she said, thrusting her fingers into her collar and yanking at it until a button popped off. “That’s better,” she said. “This comes off as soon as I cross the border. By the way, you can forget Lila Byrne. I’m still Barrowhill.”

“Barrowhill? I was just getting used to Byrne.”

“As someone who has more names than a clicket-house rusher, you’ll get no sympathy from me.”

“But . . .”

“I’m a spy,” Lila said. “And a smuggler and a fixer. If I want to keep working that line, I can’t show up here at court and be Captain Amazing Byrne’s daughter. If you think this place isn’t full of spies, you’re wrong. There’s too great a chance I’ll be seen by unfriendly eyes and heard by unfriendly ears.” She gave him a measuring sort of look. “Somebody gave you up to Arden, and that somebody wasn’t me. It wasn’t widely known here at court, either—I hear that the queen didn’t even tell your little sister. So who would it’ve been?”

Ash couldn’t help thinking of Micah Bayar, his father’s default when it came to villains. “You’d probably know better than me,” he said.

“Anyway. I need to get back to Ardenscourt before everyone forgets how very helpful I can be. Out of sight, out of mind, you know.”

“You’re going back there?” Ash stared at her.

“I’m leaving within the hour.”

“I thought maybe you’d stay here permanently now that you don’t have to watch over me at Oden’s Ford.” Though keeping Lila here had its risks, Ash was suddenly eager to have someone around who didn’t remember him as a thirteen-year-old runaway. “I’m sure Captain Byrne could use your help to—”

“No!” Lila said. When Ash stared at her, she added, “I hate it here. Isn’t that enough of a reason? This is just a job to me. The family I care about is at Wolf’s Head, on the coast.”

“Wolf’s Head?”

“You wouldn’t know it,” Lila said. “You’re not supposed to. Anyway, they’re the ones who raised me. I’m traveling south by way of Spiritgate so I can visit with them.”

“Oh,” Ash said. “All right then.”

But Lila seemed compelled to make her case. “You don’t think the queendom needs eyes and ears in Arden with a new king and a civil war in the offing? Anyway, the food is better down there. I’ve never been much for barley, and I do love me some Tamric wine.”

“Don’t you think that with King Gerard dead and the thanes in rebellion, King Jarat will have enough on his hands without turning his eyes to the north? Especially since my mother didn’t spurn his offer of marriage.”

“Maybe,” Lila said. “I wouldn’t count on it. Besides, if this war ever ends, I’ll be out of a job.”

“Maybe,” Ash said. “I wouldn’t count on it.”

After a brief silence, during which Lila showed no inclination to leave, Ash said, “Is there something you want, or are you just trying to fill the empty hour until you go?”

“Who will be at this reception tonight?” Lila was staring up at the ceiling, but Ash couldn’t help thinking she was focused closely on his answer.

“I don’t know,” he said. “My mother said that it would be family, close friends, and high-ups. The general announcement of my resurrection isn’t until tomorrow, so I can’t imagine it would be a big crowd tonight.”

“What about Shadow Dancer? Will he be there?” Lila cut her eyes toward Ash, then away again.

“If he’s in town, I expect he will be,” Ash said. “I haven’t seen either Shadow or his father in years, and they were practically family, growing up.” He paused. “Why?”

“Oh, I worked with Shadow quite a bit on various . . . projects . . . having to do with Arden,” Lila said, nibbling on a fingernail. “The last time I saw him was at Chalk Cliffs. It was right after his fiancée was killed in an Ardenine attack. He was in pretty bad shape.”

Ash was embarrassed to know so little about what had been happening in his homeland. Lila had never lived here; in fact, she said she hated it here, yet she was much more up on the latest news than he was.