The Mirror King (The Orphan Queen, #2)(102)

I started for the hall to tell James, but Melanie grabbed my arm, pulling me back. “Rescue boats are already on the way. Look.” She turned her attention outside again. “James trained everyone well.”

She was right: a dozen boats sliced through the water.

“Who would do this?” Desiree Symonds pressed a handkerchief to her mouth. “Saints help them.”

“Lien. Of course it was Patrick Lien.” Prince Colin was still in the room, witnessing the whole thing from my father’s chair at the council table. “Who hates the Indigo Kingdom? Who resents their coming here? And who wants Wilhelmina to be queen?”

Melanie shifted her weight toward me. Her fingers grazed mine before she took my hand. “He said he had a plan to keep Indigo Kingdom refugees from crossing into Aecor, once you were safely home. But he didn’t tell me how. Like I said, he was very careful about who knew what, and how much. He didn’t want to have to change his plans if someone was captured.”

I frowned and watched as the first boats reached the bridge. Heavy cables dangled into the water, and the deck had slid down even farther, but the rescue was in progress. Horseback soldiers and medical wagons approached from the road.

“But I’ve been here over three months. Why would he wait until now?” What had changed between yesterday and today? “Skyvale.”

Melanie nodded. “The city fell, and the Indigo Kingdom is in shambles. It’s the Red Militia’s way of shutting the door on their faces when they need us most.”

“The Red Militia will pay for this.” The former crown prince quit the room, leaving Melanie and me to watch the rescue for several more minutes. The deck finally slid into the water, creating a deep suction. Boats strained against it. People vanished beneath the waves and didn’t surface again.

“All those people.” I pressed my hands to my chest as bodies began washing to shore. Some were alive. Some were not. “Can we repair it? It’s just one section.” One section of an enormous, ancient bridge.

Melanie rubbed her temples. “I’m not sure. Maybe we can do something to get the rest of the refugees across, but it would be temporary.”

“Once the injured are cleared and the dead removed, I want someone to ensure there are people working on the bridge. Get boats to the other side, with ropes and ladders—anything people can use to climb down. Their possessions might have to wait, but at least they’ll have their lives.”

“I’ll assign someone immediately.”

“Good.” I faced my friend and lowered my voice, because beyond her, the rest of the nobles and their guards were staring out their own windows. “Once you have someone on that, I want you to come with me. We’re going to visit Claire.”

“Do you think she’s responsible?”

“We’re going to find out.”





THIRTY-SEVEN


IT WAS THE middle of the day when I warned James that Melanie and I were going out. We disguised ourselves as boys, armed ourselves, and headed toward the lowcity.

News of my impending coronation had already spread outside the castle, along with gossip fueled by the bridge explosion. The subjects mixed together like spilled inks, darkening the rumors I’d have to address later.

“The queen will be crowned tomorrow, and her wraith boy collapsed the bridge to trap the Indigo Kingdom people here.”

“No, the Red Militia did it because they don’t want Wilhelmina to be queen.”

“It was those Indigo people. They’re protesting the coronation.”

“But why would they collapse the bridge?”

“I don’t know. . . .”

The rumors swirled on and on as Melanie and I slipped through the crowds, the hoods of our cloaks drawn low to hide our faces. Midday heat pressed against the city like a solid force, though it was too early in the year for hints of summer.

Maybe it was an effect of the wraith on the way.

I shuddered as Melanie and I made our way to the water-processing factory. At the door, she knocked twice, waited a beat, and knocked three times—our code for Claire that we were about to enter.

She waited in the center of the room, her hands on her hips. “You’re here about the bridge.” There were rarely questions with her, just blunt, straight-to-the-point statements. “I didn’t do it, and I don’t know who did.”

“Will you find out?”

“Why should I?” She strode toward us, her jaw tight and eyes hard. Her steps echoed and the whole place had a sense of emptiness about it. Though we rarely saw many of the others, there were often signs of their presence: whispering, clothing dropped in corners, and packages of food. But now, I sensed only stillness in the factory.

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

“Gone.”

“Working?” Melanie didn’t sound hopeful.

“Maybe.” She gave a one-shouldered shrug and tilt of her head, trying to look casual, but red rimmed her eyes, and the skin underneath was swollen.

I made my voice gentle. “Claire, what happened?”

She shook her head and started to turn, but I grabbed her arm and drew her back. She pulled a knife and held the edge to my neck.

Melanie already had her daggers out, one on Claire’s wrist and the other on her throat. I, too, had snatched a dagger with my free hand, and pressed it against Claire’s stomach.