Defend the Dawn (Defy the Night #2)(81)



I have no idea which is worse: staying here, waiting for discovery, or heading out in the sunlight and praying that no one recognizes me.

I think of Captain Huxley standing with Arella and Laurel.

If you don’t have medicine, then what do you have?

Information on the king. On how he’s tricking you.

I’m not tricking anyone. This is more treason and betrayal—and as much as I hate to admit it, I’m a bit shocked it’s coming from Arella Cherry.

Corrick is gone. If I can’t trust my guards, I have no one.

Quint.

But if Arella is working against me, maybe I can’t trust Quint either. Maybe Quint is the one who had Violet locked up, and he’s just now gathering guards and consuls to come take me into custody, to parade me back to the palace in chains for doing the exact same thing Corrick was doing.

A chill crawls up my spine, and I make my way back to the wall of the barn, then slide back to sitting. The deepest, darkest part of me wants to run and hide, to lose myself somewhere. No one would ever know.

But that would mean abandoning my throne.

Abandoning my people.

If anyone deserves to escape this role, it’s my brother.

Without warning, I hear hoofbeats, and I freeze. It’s more than one horse, so it can’t be Quint alone.

I struggle to my feet again, then brace a hand against the wall when I begin to slip sideways. My heart stutters in my chest, then bolts, pounding so hard that I feel it in my head. I wish I had a weapon. I don’t know how long or how well I can fight, because the weapons master always goes too easy on me. It makes him nervous when my breathing gets strained.

But I rather doubt I’ll last long. Running as far as I did last night just about killed me.

Then, without warning, the barn doors are rolling open, the sun so bright that I have to blink it away. Figures fill the doorway. I recognize Violet first, because she bursts forward. “Fox!” she cries. “You’re still here!”

“Still here,” I say. My eyes are on the men following her. They step out of the sunlight slowly, and I’m frozen in place. Quint is there, his expression tense when his eyes land on me. I’m not sure it’s a relief, because he didn’t come alone, as I requested. He’s backed by two guards, Thorin and Saeth, and they look as fierce and foreboding as ever.

I keep thinking of Captain Huxley’s words in the clearing last night—or Rocco’s warnings to me and Corrick before he left. Thorin and Saeth are trussed up in weapons and armor. I’m exhausted and injured … and unarmed. They could kill me right now and there’d be nothing I could do about it. My fingers are clutching at the barn wall so tightly that splinters have dug under my nails, and I can hear my breathing shaking. It’s only slightly louder than my heart.

Thorin moves first. He takes a step forward, and my breath catches. I draw myself up and brace against the wall.

But he drops to one knee. “Your Majesty.” An instant later, Saeth and Quint do the same.

A relieved breath huffs out of my chest, and I almost sag against the side of the barn. I have to run a shaking hand over my face. “Rise,” I say, and my voice is rough.

Violet looks from me to them and back. “Am I supposed to do that?” she whispers.

“No.” I study her in the morning light. “You were gone so long. I thought something happened to—” My eyes fall on her bare feet, which are red and blistered, one toe stubbed and bloodied. I snap my gaze up. There are so many more important things to worry about, but I say, “I told you to buy boots, Violet.”

Thorin and Saeth exchange a glance.

Quint looks like he’s not entirely sure what to make of this conversation.

Violet doesn’t even look chagrined. “Well, I was going to, but I wanted to give some extra coins to Toby. Then I kept thinking about how you said you weren’t coming back, and I didn’t want anyone to think the Fox was gone, so I kept leaving a few coins on the other doorsteps. Just here and there.”

Of course she did.

Today, however, I can’t be irritated. It reminds me of the way Maxon gave me his medicine. And Violet likely risked her life.

“Did you run all that way in bare feet?” I say.

“I didn’t run the whole way. It took me a long time at the gate. And then I couldn’t find the palace. It’s not like I’ve ever been inside the Royal Sector. You could’ve told me it was in the middle.”

I look at Quint. “Have a pair of boots sent.”

He opens his mouth, then closes it. He draws a small book from inside his jacket and makes a note. “Of course, Your Majesty.”

I look between him and Violet. “I said no guards.”

She scowls. “I told him that, but he wouldn’t listen.” She huffs. “Gryff wouldn’t listen either. It took hours to convince him to fetch Master Quint. I had to sing until I didn’t think I’d have a voice left.”

I have the sense that I can’t follow this conversation. “You … you had to sing?”

“Yes. He wouldn’t listen. He said your ring was a fake. So I sat down and sang every annoying song I know, and it’s a lot, I tell you—”

“She sang until daybreak,” Quint says. “Meanwhile, when you did not return, I had to alert Thorin. We were beginning to discuss a discreet search party when one of the day maids mentioned the girl singing at the palace steps.” He takes a step forward, but then he seems to think better of it. He glances from my leg to my head, and his mouth forms a line. “Your Majesty,” he says quietly. “Forgive me, but you’re bleeding.” He pauses. “We’ve brought a closed carriage.”

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