A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers, #3)(44)

I ignore him. “Yes,” I say. “You acted to protect Harper. You followed her order. Did you not?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” she says slowly. “I did.” She glances at Dustan again. “If you are here to offer me back my position among the Royal Guard, I do not think it will work.”

“That is not my intent.”

“Oh.” She frowns. “Then … why are you here?”

“I worry for Harper. The enchantress has made her threats known. An attack from Syhl Shallow is imminent. We may have spies in our midst. Many of my cities have refused to acknowledge my rule. All of Emberfall is at risk.”

The cynicism slides off her face. “I know.” She pauses. “I worry for Harper as well.”

“Because she is your friend.”

“Yes.”

I glance at Dustan. “I understand that the Royal Guard has expressed … ah, displeasure at the fact that you continue to reside among their ranks?”

She frowns as if trying to figure out the path of this conversation. “Harper does not want me to leave.”

I offer a shrewd smile. “And I hear you enjoy entertaining the other guards in the early dawn hours.”

“They love it,” she says flatly.

“I would offer you another set of chambers,” I say. “Opposite Harper’s.” I pause. “And I would like for you to accompany us when we leave Ironrose later today.”

She studies me. “Why?”

“I feel she would be more assured at having you close. As would I.”

Her eyes turn a bit flinty, and she inhales to respond, but then must think better of it, because she says nothing.

“I would ask you to speak true,” I say. Her eyes flick to the guardsmen at my back, so I add, “Dustan. Copper. Wait in the hall.”

They do, but they leave the door open. I don’t fear Zo any more than I fear Harper herself, so I reach out and close it in my guard commander’s face.

“You and I have been at odds,” I say. “I no longer wish it to be so.”

She curtsies again. “Well of course, Your Highness.” The sarcasm in her tone isn’t strong, but it’s there.

“I asked you to speak true,” I say levelly. “Do you not believe me?”

“I believe you care for Harper. I believe you want something from me, and it is inconvenient if we are in a state of conflict.” I watch her steel herself again. “I do not believe you understand why we are at odds to begin with.”

Her voice is cold and frank, so I let mine match. “You acted in defiance of my orders and you lost your position in the Royal Guard. What is to misunderstand?”

“I did not defy an order. I did not betray you. I did not betray my oath.” Her shoulders are tense now, her eyes flashing with anger. “I protected Harper. She would have gone after Grey by herself, and you well know it. You put all of us in an impossible situation.”

“I was in an impossible situation,” I say tightly.

“I know!” she says fiercely. “We all know!”

“You do not know—” I begin, but I catch myself. As always, my anger, my frustration, is not with the person in front of me. I break off and sigh. The wood stove snaps in the corner. When I can speak again, my voice is more measured. “If you understand the circumstances, then why are we at odds?”

“You ask why?” She looks incredulous. “Because Harper is my friend.”

It’s such a simple reason. Or it should be. But it’s not.

“Harper and I have resolved our differences,” I say.

“Until the next time, when you do not.”

I almost flinch. I am beginning to regret coming here, and I’m unsure if that’s because she is challenging me, or if it’s because she is right to do so. “So you are to hate me for … ever? Is that your position, Zo?”

She inhales like she intends to breathe fire, but she stops and lets it out on a sigh. “No. I do not hate you.” She pauses. “But you have an entire kingdom to rally behind you—and an entire kingdom to protect. Harper has no one—yet still she stays. For you.”

Those words hit me like a blow. My chest is suddenly tight, and I have to breathe through it.

“Her brother asked her to leave,” Zo continues more quietly. “To go with them. To go to Syhl Shallow.”

“I know.”

“Grey did not.”

I stare at her as the impact of those words sinks in. Grey didn’t ask, and Harper didn’t leave.

But she might have, if he had.

I don’t like the doubts that this conversation has sown. Harper stayed. She stays. For me. Just as Zo stays for her.

“I believe I owe you a debt of gratitude,” I say. Her eyebrows go up, but I’m not done. “And an apology.” My voice lowers. “Harper did not mention that the guards were harassing you.”

Zo shakes her head. “She doesn’t know. And I understand their frustration.”

We fall quiet for a moment. I wonder how much longer Dustan will give me privacy before opening the door to make sure Zo isn’t feeding my body parts to the wood stove.

“Did you truly think I was coming here to dismiss you from the castle?” I say.

“Of course.”