A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers, #3)(81)

“If your sister’s motives are innocent, you should have nothing to fear,” says Nolla Verin.

“My sister wouldn’t have come here if she wasn’t desperate,” Jake snaps.

“Enough,” I say, and I keep my voice low. Jake’s eyes are fierce, his jaw tight. His devotion to his sister will not help us here. “Wait,” I say to him. “Please.”

I watch as defiance swells in his eyes, and I expect him to try to shove past me, my request be damned. When Jake and I first met, he was belligerent and antagonistic, but he’s also brave and loyal, just like his sister. In the moment I asked him to stand as my second, I said, “Taking orders requires trust, Jake. You would have to trust me.”

“I can do that,” he said then.

This is the first time I’ve ever asked him to prove it.

For an eternal moment, he says nothing, and anger clouds his expression. But he finally takes a step back to stand against the wall. “Fine,” he bites out.

I clap him on the shoulder and move on. At my back, Solt murmurs something to Nolla Verin, and I inwardly sigh. All of our attempts to unite our people were beginning to have an effect, and now it’s all seeming to unravel.

The infirmary is always a bit cold, because Noah often gets so distracted by his work that he forgets to add another log to the hearth, and this afternoon is no different. He’s sitting on a stool beside a narrow cot where Harper is huddled under a loose knit blanket, and he appears to be wrapping her ankle in lengths of muslin. Neither of them face the doorway, and Tycho sits on the empty cot beside them, the tiny orange kitten in his lap, chewing on the corner of his bracers. He’s speaking shyly. “Noah said I should name him Salam. It means ‘peace’ in … I forget.”

“Arabic,” says Noah.

“And then Iisak said—”

“Wait,” says Harper. “Who’s Iisak?”

“Tycho,” I say, and he startles so badly that the kitten leaps off his lap to disappear under the work bench, where it hisses at me petulantly.

“Grey!” Tycho says, but he quickly catches himself and straightens. “Your Highness.” His eyes flick to the doorway, and I don’t know if he’s seeing Nolla Verin or Captain Solt, but his face pales a shade. “I—I—drills were canceled—be-because—”

“I know,” I say. “I’m here to speak with Harper.” I glance at the door. “See if you can find Iisak. He should be made aware of what’s happened.” I feel pretty certain that Iisak has picked up on some of it, if not all of it, but Tycho needs a task.

“Yes,” says Tycho. He nods. “Right away.” He slips through the door.

Noah ties off the bandage. “You could’ve given us another fifteen minutes,” he says dryly. “It’s been a while since I could talk to someone who knows what a stethoscope is.”

“We’ll still have time.” Harper looks at me and then her gaze flicks to the heavily armed people at my back. Her expression evens out. “Or hold on. Maybe I’m about to be executed.”

One of the most admirable things about Harper is that she faces every challenge without fear, even when she has absolutely no reason to believe she’ll come out of a confrontation alive. Lia Mara was surprised Harper was able to convince a scout to find the queen, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if Harper had walked to Syhl Shallow on bare feet to knock on the front door of the palace herself.

“You are not going to be executed.” I gesture to the cot Tycho just abandoned. “May I?”

“Sure.” Harper glances behind me at Solt and Nolla Verin, both of whom are likely glaring at her. A light sparks in her eyes as her gaze returns to mine. “Your Highness.”

I can’t tell if she’s teasing me or mocking me, but I ignore it. I ease onto the cot, and then, just for a moment, I’m struck by a memory: sitting with Harper just like this, in the infirmary at Ironrose. Then, I was the injured one. My chest was tight with bandages, and Emberfall was under threat of invasion from Syhl Shallow.

Much like right now. Only this time, we’re on opposing sides.

The spark in her eye has clouded over, and I know she is remembering the same thing.

She blinks then, glancing away, and I suspect she is chasing off tears, but her voice is even. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

“Likewise,” I say.

She gives a humorless laugh. “I’m sure that’s true.” She glances at Nolla Verin and Solt again. “Who are your henchmen?”

Solt takes a step forward, and his tone is vicious. “You are speaking of the sister to the queen—”

“Captain,” I snap.

Harper’s eyes narrow, and she looks at Nolla Verin. “Oh right. I remember you. You were trying to hook up with Rhen.”

Nolla Verin doesn’t move. “I am glad I did not,” she scoffs, “if the prince and his people were so easily overcome by this enchantress, our forces will surely—”

Harper drops the shawl and surges to her feet, her hand going to the dagger on her thigh. Nolla Verin draws a blade.

“Enough.” I stand and put a hand up between the two of them. Harper is unsteady on her feet, but she looks ready to take on Nolla Verin barehanded if she has to.