The Mirror King (The Orphan Queen, #2)(66)

Tobiah shifted his weight, uncomfortable at last. “Connor told me. He sent an urgent note to meet me in the gardens at the first hour. He sneaked past all the guards at the house, and went all the way to the King’s Seat.”

I frowned. Connor had sneaked out? And no one had known? I hadn’t known?

Tobiah blew out a breath. “I don’t know why he insisted on meeting in secret. I’d have gone to him, or had him brought somewhere warmer than the gardens. Guess it’s the Osprey paranoia.”

I crossed my arms and waited for the rest of the story.

“He was hoping there might be a way for you and me to mend our relationship—to keep you from going to Aecor. He’s worried. Terrified, though he did a good job of hiding it. But what happened at the wedding—that’s not the only reason you’re returning to Aecor.”

“It’s time for me to go.”

“That’s what I said to him, and he replied he was just relieved you’d still be able to write to him. The notebook magic was a slip.”

Sure it had been. Connor wasn’t normally what I’d call calculating. Maybe it was time to revise my view of him. But I said, “I see.”

“I’d be grateful for a way to communicate with my cousin while he’s away, though I understand if you refuse. I know your feelings on magic use have become more complicated lately.” He nodded toward the wardrobe where the wraith boy still hummed.

If I refused, I’d insult him yet again. And while annoying Tobiah didn’t usually bother me, maybe I owed him a favor.

“As long as you know what you’re asking.” I slipped around Tobiah to the desk and touched the smooth covers. He shifted his weight as though to look around me and watch, but I shot a scowl and he moved back without a word. “Wake up,” I whispered. “Be the same. What is written in one will be written in the other—at the same time and in the same hand—no matter the distance.”

Dizziness washed through me. Gasping, sweating, I swayed as blankness swarmed at the edges of my vision.

“Princess?” James’s voice was distant, but his hand on my shoulder was solid.

“I’m fine.” I’d leaned onto the desk, both palms digging against the wood. As my vision and stability returned, I breathed through the remaining light-headedness and stood, waving James off. “Thank you.”

He withdrew.

Magic this small didn’t usually hit so hard. But I hadn’t ever animated multiple things at once, and kept them animated. Add the wraith boy to that, and it was a wonder I was still standing.

I’d need to avoid using magic for a while.

“Your half,” I said, handing one notebook to Tobiah. “And your half.” I gave the second to James.

“Thank you.”

There was a hard look on the king’s face as he ran a finger down the notebook’s spine, as though feeling for the magic. “You can’t know what this means to me.”

Except I did, because I knew the bond he and James shared. I’d have given anything to be able to communicate with Melanie now.

Saints, I hoped she was well. Safe. Waiting for me in Sandcliff Castle.

Outside, a whistle blew, signaling the convoy’s imminent departure. “You should see your uncle before we’re off,” I said.

Tobiah swallowed hard and met my eyes for a long moment. “Farewell, Wilhelmina.”

That was all.





TWENTY-THREE


THE CONVOY LEFT Skyvale with much more pomp and celebration than it was really warranted. The cheers and bells followed us out of Hawksbill and on through Thornton, almost making me wish I’d stayed in my wagon, hidden and warm. But what I’d told Tobiah had been the truth.

I’d come to the Indigo Kingdom as a prisoner of war. I refused to leave in the same manner.

Through the crowded streets of White Flag, I was grateful for my hood, pulled low to hide my face, and my long cloak that concealed the fine cut and cloth of my dress. Ferguson plodded along near my wagon, but not so close as to give away my identity. James rode nearby, straight and tall on his own gelding.

At last, the city gate closed behind us, and the convoy began the long trek up the mountains, made difficult by the wagons and number of people. There had to be thousands of us.

“Are you doing well, Your Highness?” James asked as we pulled farther from the city. Bare trees shivered around us. A cold wind gusted through the woods, and the sky turned silver and sharp with the scent of a coming storm.

“I’m fine.”

“How does it feel to go home for the first time in almost ten years?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

James drew his horse alongside Ferguson so he didn’t have to lift his voice. “I think I’d be nervous. It’s your home, but so many things have changed since you were last there. You’ve changed.”

“I said—”

“I know, but you’re not talking. I am.”

“So King Tobiah sent you to annoy me.”

“That’s one of the reasons.” He lifted his face to the sky, drawing in a long, deep breath. “Another is that I asked to come.”

I pulled my hood lower over my brow and glanced at the wagons rumbling and the soldiers calling and the horses snorting. A few flakes of snow escaped the clouds, drifting between the evergreen trees. “Did you want to see Aecor?”