A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers, #3)(91)

“I agree,” I say. My chest is tight with worry. I look at the other soldiers. “Break camp. We need to go.”

Harper looks at me. “What’s wrong? Do you know her?”

“Her name isn’t Chesleigh. It’s Ellia Maya.” I look over at Jake. “She’s not just a spy. She’s an advisor to the queen.”





CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

LIA MARA

They’ve been gone for days. There’s been no word, which is fine—expected, even—but I keep looking at the horizon, waiting for a scout to deliver bad news.

Noah dines with me and Nolla Verin in the evenings, and I appreciate the company of someone who’s also worried about one man in particular, not just whether Grey and my soldiers—our soldiers—are successful. My sister rarely leaves my side, so no one has dared to attack me, but with Grey gone, my nerves are tightly wound anyway, leaving me anxious and nauseated. After growing used to sharing my bed, now it feels cold and empty at night.

“You are both so dour,” Nolla Verin says on the fifth night. “Have you no faith in your beloveds?”

Noah and I exchange a glance.

“It has nothing to do with faith,” I say.

“When I was sixteen,” Noah says, “my sister was stationed in Afghanistan. It’s … it’s another place. A war zone. My parents were fine most of the time, but the dinner table, her missing seat … it was a constant reminder.” He paused. “It was a depressing year.”

“Your sister was a warrior,” says Nolla Verin.

“Yes, she was.” He pushes the food around his plate, but he doesn’t take a bite. He gives a laugh that’s a little sad. “I never thought I’d be waiting for news on a soldier again.”

A page appears in the doorway to the dining room, and my heart skips a beat. But the girl simply curtsies and extends a slip of paper in my direction. “A message has been delivered for you, Your Majesty.”

I take the paper to read the message. It’s from Captain Sen Domo in the guard station at the mountain pass.

Prince Grey has sent word that soldiers from Emberfall attacked their party. There were two casualties, including palace advisor Ellia Maya. They are proceeding toward Ironrose Castle. Reports indicate that another regiment from Emberfall has joined the first.

I have to read it three times, as if more information will suddenly appear, but of course none does.

Ellia Maya is dead? She was not with them. I don’t understand.

I can’t look up from this letter to look at Noah. His words just now about waiting on news about a soldier feel prescient. Jake and Tycho were among the soldiers. So was Iisak. Surely Grey would have known I would receive this message. I have no doubt he would have mentioned them specifically if he mentioned Ellia Maya.

I still don’t understand why she was there. She has been working in the city for weeks, trying to track the source of this anti-magic faction. She was the one who discovered the literature about Iishellasan steel, and the one who discovered that there was a faction to begin with.

I try to consider the meaning of this letter more deeply. They were attacked? The point of the small party was to be able to travel quietly, without detection. They wouldn’t have engaged in a battle.

I think of Harper, appearing to beg for help. Was this a trap? Have we been naive?

If this message came from Grey, he had to have a reason for mentioning her. He would know I’d be confused.

“Read it,” says my sister. Her eyes are intent on my face, her voice low.

I glance at Noah, then read the letter aloud. When I get to Ellia Maya’s name, my sister gasps.

Noah sets down his fork entirely. His eyes are shadowed and wary.

“Why would she be with them?” Nolla Verin cries. “Was she a hostage? Who has done this?” Her voice turns vicious. “And he has moved another regiment? They’re being led to slaughter. This is a trap.”

“I don’t think Harper was leading anyone to slaughter,” says Noah. He pauses. “I think Lilith is manipulating Prince Rhen.”

“Regardless,” says Nolla Verin. “More soldiers have moved into place. If we allow this to proceed unchecked, it won’t matter what Grey does, because he’ll be cut off from Syhl Shallow. He cannot stand against an army with a handful of soldiers.”

“You just asked me to have faith in him,” I snap. “And I do.” My thoughts are spinning, refusing to settle. I feel as though an answer is there, just out of my grasp. Grey would know I wouldn’t understand that message. Why wouldn’t he give me more information about Ellia Maya? It doesn’t make sense.

“Faith? Against an army?”

My stomach churns again. “Yes. Against an army.”

But she’s right. All the faith in the world isn’t going to stop thousands of soldiers. Even when Grey has spoken of the enchantress, her power is limited by location, by the number of people she can affect. She’s powerful, but she’s not all powerful.

Neither is he.

Including palace advisor Ellia Maya.

I read the letter again. And a fifth time.

“What are you doing?” my sister demands.

“I’m thinking.” I read it a sixth time. He’d expect me to be confused—and he’d also expect this message to pass through many hands before it would reach me.