A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers, #3)(82)

“Please don’t destroy my infirmary,” calls Noah, and both girls go still. He must have gone into the hallway to stand with Jake.

I look at Harper. She’s so pale, her eyes shadowed and weary. “You should sit,” I say.

Her eyes flick between Solt and Nolla Verin. “I don’t think so.”

“Jake says you were not fleeing Emberfall,” I say to her. “That you came here for my help.”

“Yes,” she says tightly. “I did.”

“You had to know you would not find the man who was once sworn to the Royal Guard.” I pause. “You had to know you would not find Commander Grey.”

That gets her attention. She blinks. Falters. “I did,” she whispers. “I did know.” But she stares back at me as if that is who she sought, someone who would give her a nod, call her my lady, and ask to be pointed at the nearest threat.

“Sit, Harper.”

She doesn’t sit, and she flinches at my use of her given name.

That small flinch tugs at something inside of me.

“I came here because you were my friend,” she says quietly. “Are you still?”

That tugs harder.

It must flicker in my expression, because her eyes soften and she takes a step toward me. “Grey. Please. I came here because Rhen was your friend, because—”

“He was not my friend,” I snap, and she stumbles back, her eyes flaring wide. My anger surprises even me, as if it waited all this time to surface. “I understand why he did what he did, Harper. But he was not my friend.”

“So—what? You’re just going to leave him there with her?”

“We are at war!”

“A war you declared.”

“I cannot save the life of a man readying forces against me,” I say. “You could not possibly think that—”

“He was going to call for a truce.”

I stop short. “What?”

“He was going to call for a truce.” New tears gleam in her eyes. “Or peace, or an alliance, or whatever. He wasn’t going to fight.”

“Lies,” snaps Solt.

“It’s not a lie!” Harper snaps back.

He swears in Syssalah. “Your prince has sent regiments to the border.”

Harper glares at me. “So has yours.”

“I’m not their prince,” I say. She inhales like she’s ready to breathe fire, so I sharpen my tone. “Harper. Sit.” I point at the cot. “Now.”

She clamps her mouth shut—but she sits. Her eyes have turned cold and hard. When she first saw me in the guard station, her eyes were full of relief and desperation, but now she looks at me like an adversary.

I don’t know if I can undo that. I don’t know if I should want to undo that.

She glances behind me again. “If you’re not going to help me, then just let me go, or throw me into a dungeon, or—”

“Gladly,” says Nolla Verin.

I sigh and ease onto the opposite cot. “Tell me what happened.”

“I’m not doing this like an interrogation. Tell them to go away.”

“You do not issue orders here,” says Solt. “You are a prisoner.”

“Then lock me up.” She holds out her arms, and in a way that only Harper can accomplish, she is both openly defiant and defeated. “I’m done.”

“We will allow you the privacy you request,” says Lia Mara from the doorway, and I turn, surprised.

“Nolla Verin,” she continues. “Captain Solt. You will retreat to the hallway.” They do, but Lia Mara stays in the doorway. “Princess,” she says in a way that is not mocking, but implies she knows everything about Harper’s farcical Disi. “I will remind you that I approached your prince with hopes of a peaceful alliance, and he took me prisoner and killed my guard.”

Harper stares back at her. “I didn’t do those things.”

“I know.” Lia Mara pauses. “I also know you helped Grey escape, undoubtedly at great risk to yourself.” Her voice softens, just a touch. “I know he sought out your assistance once before, when he was in great peril.”

Harper swallows. “I did that because he’s my friend.” She glances at me. “Was my friend.”

“I do not think so,” says Lia Mara, and Harper frowns, but she continues. “You may have been friends, but I believe you would have done these things for anyone who asked. I believe you are kind and merciful—and that is why you had no hesitation in riding into a country that has declared war on Emberfall, with the sole intent of finding help for a prince who has caused so much harm.”

“Kind and merciful.” Harper glances at me again, then frowns. “Grey once said that kindness and mercy find a limit, and then they turn into weakness and fear.”

“Truly?” Lia Mara eases into the room, capturing my gaze with her own. “Do you believe that?”

I look back at her. “Not anymore.”

The smallest hint of a smile finds her lips, and her cheeks turn the faintest shade of pink. “I will leave you to have a conversation in peace. I know you have much to discuss.” Her sister begins to protest, and Lia Mara adds, “If Captain Solt and Nolla Verin cannot keep their silence, I will find a task to keep them busy.” She slips through the door, taking them with her, leaving us in silence.