Defend the Dawn (Defy the Night #2)(74)

“Good,” I say. My thoughts are spinning. “I need you to go to the Royal Sector. I need you to carry a message.”

“To the Royal Sector!” she exclaims.

“Violet, please. Listen.”

“I’m listening.”

I think of the dozens of obstacles she’ll face when she gets to the palace. There are footmen and doormen and guards everywhere—guards who may not be loyal to the king, if Captain Huxley was in the woods with Arella Cherry. I don’t know what to make of any of this, and my thoughts refuse to organize.

They tried to kill me once. Is this a second attempt?

Are they trying to kill Corrick?

A sob nearly forms in my chest, but I swallow it down.

“You will go to the palace steps,” I say to her, and her eyes flare wide, but she bites her lip to keep from exclaiming. “There is a footman there named Gryff. You will tell him that you have a private message for Master Quint. You will tell no one else. Do not stop pestering him until he fetches Quint. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” she whispers, nodding quickly. “Gryff the footman. Master Quint.”

I wince and stumble on my leg. Sweat slips down my back. “You are only to talk to Gryff and to Quint. No guards, no other servants.”

“Gryff. Quint.” She nods again.

“You will tell Quint that Sullivan was injured, and needs his assistance. But only he is to come.”

“Sullivan.” We ease through the barn doors. “Is that your real name?”

“No. But he’ll know what it means.” I let out a breath and ease against the wall of the barn, then drop to sit in the straw.

“How will I get through the sector gates?” Violet says. “It’s the middle of the night.”

Damn. I hadn’t considered that.

I swallow and reach under my shirt, to where my signet ring hangs on a chain. I tug it over my head. I don’t want to involve guards, but I’m going to have to. Then I pull the rest of my silver coins out of my pocket.

Violet’s eyes get even wider. “Fox,” she breathes.

“Keep the ring under your clothes,” I say, holding out the chain with the ring and the coins. “Try to bribe the guard at the gate first. Tell him you want to leave a plea at the palace steps but your mother would be upset, so you have to do it in the middle of the night.”

She nods. “Then why do I need the ring?”

“If he won’t take a bribe, you’ll need it to prove you need access to the palace. But still, my message stands. You have a message for Quint alone. Only use the name Sullivan.”

“I don’t understand. Why would the ring get me through the gates?”

I wince and shift my weight. I’m going to need bandages, too, before she goes. “Because I’m the king, Violet. And that ring proves it.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Corrick

This time, when I awake before sunrise, I stay up. According to my pocket watch, it’s not quite six, but if everyone on this boat is going to hate me, it feels like the only time to avoid a deck full of censorious glares.

It’s early enough that Rocco is still outside my door, cards in an array on the floor before him. I don’t startle him this time, but he begins to rise immediately.

I wave him back down. “Stay,” I say to him. “I hoped to get some fresh air.”

He stands anyway. “One of us should accompany you. I’ll fetch Kilbourne.”

“If you must.”

I don’t wait.

The sea is rougher this morning, and I need to grab the railing as I ascend. A few stars still twinkle in the sky when I climb above, the moon hanging at a distance. The sails throw shadows everywhere, and I spy a lone figure at the helm, but whoever it is, I ignore them and head for the front.

Knowing my luck, it’s probably Captain Blakemore.

When I step around the forward mast, I see that this end of the ship isn’t deserted either. Little Anya sits on the forecastle, just out of the wind, bouncing a tiny ball inside a low-walled box. She looks up in surprise when she spots me, drawing in a sharp breath. For an instant, I’m reminded of the way Tessa almost flinched when I caught her arm, and something inside me clenches tight.

I hate the way everyone sees me. I’m used to it in Kandala, but I can lose myself in the palace, where no one would dare to send a glare my way.

Here on this ship, the condemnation seems inescapable.

But recognition lights in Anya’s eyes, and instead of cringing away, her features brighten. “Do you want to play with me?”

Not really, but I’m not going to shun the only person who doesn’t look like they want to pitch me overboard.

“Sure.” I drop to sit across from her. Inside the box are half a dozen tiny wooden shapes in addition to the ball she was bouncing. “What are we playing?”

“Knucklebones,” she says.

“You’ll have to teach me.” From the corner of my eye, I notice that Rocco has come onto the deck as well, but he’s keeping his distance. Maybe he can gape at me like Kilbourne was.

“We take turns,” she says. “I bounce the ball and take a bone—”

“These are bones?” I say, feigning horror.

“No, silly. They’re pretend. Now, watch. I bounce it again, then try to take two, and then three, and if I miss, it’s your turn—”