Havenfall (Havenfall #1)(27)

I work hard to keep my voice even and ask the Silver Prince, “And then what happened? What did you see at the juncture?”

“The soldier went into the Solarian tunnel.” The Silver Prince drops his gaze, clear regret crossing his face. “I didn’t follow. I didn’t think there was any danger in it. I thought—just a dare from a fellow soldier, or a girl …”

I think of Marcus earlier, warning me against being seen with Brekken. If he did have something to do with this and anyone finds out about the kiss, I’ll be shut out of talks like this, out of piecing together what happened with the Solarian door. No one will trust me to be neutral. No one will trust me, period.

“What did you and Bram do?” I ask.

The Prince lowers his head into his hands. Regret looks strange and incongruous on him. “I checked in the Innkeeper’s office while Bram went to intercept the boy, and I found it like this.” He looks up and waves a hand around, indicating the open drawers, the evidence of the place having been searched. “Then I heard a scream from down the hall. I ran out and found that thing—and no Bram. Just his sword.” He points at the carpet-wrapped corpse; his voice trembles with righteous anger. “I slew the beast, but it was far too late. And the Fiorden boy was gone. He must have opened the door to Solaria and then escaped back to Fiordenkill.”

My stomach turns over, swirling with sickness and questions. How could Brekken have opened the door when it’s been closed for almost a century? He has no reason, no ability. And yet, why else would he have been down here? Why would he take my keys?

And that brings a whole new tangle of questions to the surface: If Brekken lied to me, how deep did it go? Was everything between us just a ploy, a setup? My throat constricts as I glance at Marcus’s unconscious form. I’m sorry. You were right. The rise and fall of his chest is scarcely perceptible. I will him to move, to wake. But he doesn’t.

“We shouldn’t take rash action,” I say, trying to sound braver than I feel. “We don’t know enough about what happened to place blame. Not yet, anyway. We need to keep everyone calm and find a way to secure the door. Sal should look through Brekken’s room to see if he left any sign of what he might—or might not—have been up to. And we can sweep the grounds to make sure no other Solarians escaped.”

It feels like a paltry plan to me, and I expect one or both of them to push back, but neither of them does. The Silver Prince rises to his full, imposing height and inclines his head in my direction. Graylin, for his part, gives me a small nod and a sad smile.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” he says in the Silver Prince’s direction. “I swear it. We’ll run the summit until Marcus wakes up, and the other delegates and staff don’t need to learn what’s happened here tonight.”

The Prince turns and gives him a long look, but still nods. “Very well. As long as Madeline is the one making decisions if Marcus is unable, leading Havenfall.”

All the air seems to vacate itself from my chest. I understand why the inn needs a neutral leader, but when the Silver Prince puts it that way—

Lead Havenfall. My mind races, circling around the words. Just for tonight, but still. It’s almost more than I can process.

“Whatever we do,” the Silver Prince says after a few stretching moments, “we must begin now.”

Graylin says tersely, “I agree,” and then glances at me. Waiting, I realize, for me to weigh in.

“Sounds good,” I say. “I mean, yes. Start now. Let’s do it.”

Ugh. Whatever a leader of Havenfall sounds like, it isn’t that.

“I have to attend to my people,” the Prince says, gliding toward the door. He glances toward Marcus with a strange expression on his face. It’s worry, sort of, but not for my uncle—for what his condition means for the Prince. For Byrnisians. For Havenfall.

Then he’s gone.

It crosses my mind to worry about him, alone in the tunnels with more Solarians potentially on the loose. But that’s silly; I have the feeling he’ll be protecting us, not the other way around. I push off the desk and turn to look down at Marcus again, avoiding looking at the Solarian and its blood. We’ll have to do something about that, but first—“Should we take him to the hospital?” I ask, indicating my uncle. My voice breaks.

Graylin’s dark skin has gone sallow. He shakes his head a little. “I healed all his physical injuries. The rest is magically inflicted. The humans won’t be able to do anything.”

Helplessness seeps through my chest. I nod, trying not to let my lip tremble, but I can’t stop it. The bravado I found when the Silver Prince was in the room has deserted me now that it’s just us.

Graylin notices, his eyes snapping up to me, and his brow smooths out. “Oh, Maddie,” he murmurs, stepping forward to wrap me in a much-needed embrace.

“It’ll be all right,” he says into my hair. “Think of it as practice for when you inherit Havenfall for real someday.”

Tears slip free and crawl down my cheeks. I know I shouldn’t be worrying about myself at all right now, not when there could be Solarians on the grounds. But to be told to lead the inn at such a moment—I feel so small, so childish and unprepared. I expect to feel like this in Sterling, but not at Havenfall. Never at Havenfall.

“What if Marcus doesn’t wake up?” I say through a sniffle.