Five Dark Fates (Three Dark Crowns, #4)(34)

‘Katharine, you are being unreasonable.’

‘I cannot bear the triplets, have you forgotten that?’ Katharine snaps. And once it is past her lips, it is like she has known all along. ‘I need another queen. A trusted one. One who loves me enough to bear them for me in secret!’

Genevieve’s mouth drops open. Then it closes, and she nods. She even seems impressed.

‘If you can secure that kind of loyalty, you would be an Arron queen indeed. Very well. We will wait and see.’ She turns to leave.

‘Where are you going?’

‘Back to the Volroy. To be your eyes and ears.’ She pauses at the door and looks at Pietyr one more time. ‘You have lost Natalia, and Pietyr is asleep. You have few people left whom you trust, and few who remain to give you advice. But I will give you a caution now, so that later I will not feel that I failed in my duty. Do not be quick to trust Mirabella. No matter how she might help or what she might say.’ She steps out into the hall. ‘A queen should never trust a queen.’





SUNPOOL




In the tavern off the square, Arsinoe and Billy sit at a table by the windows and watch Jules. She has been well now for nearly a week, and still she is mobbed wherever she goes. Cait, Ellis, or Caragh are always in her shadow. And Camden has not strayed more than a few feet since the two left the castle keep together.

‘It’s so good to see them without ropes and chains,’ Arsinoe says. She laughs when one of the rebels gets too close and Camden swats him with her good paw.

‘Always something for the Legion Queen to do,’ Billy muses. ‘Somewhere to be seen, someone she must speak to. And you’re getting annoyed by it, aren’t you? You haven’t had enough time with her.’

Arsinoe does not bother denying it. Not to Billy, who seems to be able to read her mind. ‘My days of having Jules all to myself are over. All of those simpler times are over.’

A frown flickers across Billy’s face, and he hides it behind a mouthful of fried fish. ‘At least she’s well.’

‘Or seems to be.’

‘Do you have doubts about the spell?’ He watches Jules carefully through the glass. ‘She doesn’t seem at all volatile.’

No, she does not. She seems like she has since the tether woke her up. A little deflated. A little ashamed. And underneath that, a little angry.

‘All the more suspicious, then,’ says Arsinoe. ‘Jules was always a little volatile.’

The tavern keeper arrives with fresh mugs of ale, and grimaces at the scabbed cuts on Arsinoe’s hand and forearm. The look on his face says he would throw her out if she were not the exiled queen.

‘Don’t pay any attention,’ Billy says as Arsinoe tugs her sleeves lower. ‘They don’t know that it’s those cuts that gave them their Legion Queen back. If they did, they’d be asking to kiss them.’

‘Then I guess I’m glad they don’t,’ she says, and Billy pulls her hand close and kisses it anyway.

In the square, the crowd begins to jostle and murmur like spooked sheep. Before Arsinoe can spot the source of their unease, Billy’s eyes bug nearly out of his head.

‘She’s got Braddock!’

Arsinoe jumps to her feet and races out of the tavern. The great brown bear is up on two legs, his large lips extended in a low roar, just outside the gate. And just inside of it is Emilia, dangling a strip of meat to try to entice him inside. ‘Emilia, you idiot!’ Arsinoe gets to them as fast as she can, sharp elbows making an easy path through the people. ‘What are you doing?’

She holds her hands out to Braddock and he comes back onto all fours. His big dark eyes are frightened until Jules arrives with Caragh, and use their naturalist gifts to calm him.

‘I was bringing him to you,’ Emilia explains. ‘For what is a bear queen without a bear?’

‘A bear queen who leaves her bear in the wild outside the city, where he belongs!’

‘But he must be seen occasionally,’ Emilia says. ‘And I wanted to test my new bit of naturalist gift.’

Jules shakes her head, but it is not a true admonishment. To Arsinoe’s horror, Jules seems merely amused. ‘Why would you think you’re suddenly a naturalist?’

‘The spell. Arsinoe said it might . . .’ She trails off and shrugs. ‘And it must be true. For the bear is here, and I am alive.’

‘You could have chosen a better way to test it,’ Arsinoe says, her arm slung protectively around Braddock’s large head. ‘I’m taking him back out to the woods.’ Inside the walls, there are too many people. And even outside has become dangerous, with the soldiers’ training grounds spilling into the dunes and hills. So many noisy swords clashing and stray arrows shot by rebels who have never held a bow before.

‘I’ll come with you,’ says Billy.

‘And so will I,’ says Caragh.

They walk together back through the gate, past the open mouths of those gathered. Perhaps Emilia was right, and seeing the bear will make them look upon Arsinoe more fondly. Arsinoe purses her lips. What need does she have to garner favor with the rebellion?

When they reach the trees, Billy digs in his pockets for a little strip of dried meat and offers it to Braddock as one last treat.

‘Though I’ll miss him,’ Arsinoe says, ‘I have to ask you to take him back to the Black Cottage.’ She turns to Caragh. ‘When do you think you’ll return?’