A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers, #3)(92)

Maybe I’ve been looking at this the wrong way. Maybe the message isn’t in what he says, but in what he doesn’t.

What did Harper say about a spy? She says her family was killed by Karis Luran. She said there was a faction against magic that had gathered artifacts.

Ellia Maya’s family was killed. And she knew everything about the faction because she herself was researching it. She told Nolla Verin no weapons had been uncovered—because she’d sold the blade to Rhen herself.

Ellia Maya wasn’t with them when she left—which must mean she was killed among the soldiers from Emberfall.

And if Ellia Maya was working against me, she might not be the only person in the palace who was involved with this faction. My blood goes cold.

This is what Grey suspected. This is why he offered no further information—not just about Ellia Maya, but about their own plans.

Oh, how I wish he were here. My people feel so uncertain about my rule, about my choices, about my alliance with a man who bears magic. I don’t want to make the wrong decision.

Maybe that’s been the problem all along. I’ve spent so much time worrying about how my actions would be perceived that I’ve forgotten to pay attention to what actions would be best.

Surely the worst decision would be to do nothing.

My army is prepared for war. Grey is in Emberfall, potentially trapped or dead—or worse, at the mercy of some enchantress.

I can’t protect him, but I can protect my people.

I look at my sister. “Call for the generals. Don’t send a messenger; I want you to speak with them directly. We cannot risk any further insurrection. But if Rhen has sent a force north, we will send a force through the mountain pass.”

She drops her fork. “Right away.”

She practically vanishes from the room, leaving me with Noah. My chest feels tight.

I look at him, my own worries mirrored in his brown eyes. “Your sister fought in a war?”

“She did.”

“Was she victorious?”

“She died.”

His words drop like a rock in a pond, breaking through the surface and plummeting to the bottom. “Forgive me,” I say softly.

He smiles a little sadly. “She died fighting for what she believed in,” he says. “I don’t think she’d want you to be sorry for her loss.”

“I’m sorry for yours.”

He reaches out to give my hand a squeeze. “I have faith in them, too, Lia Mara.” He stands. “I’ll prepare supplies.”

I blink at him. “Supplies?”

“You’re sending an army to war.” He pauses. “If I learned anything during the battle in Emberfall, they’ll need a medic.”





CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

HARPER

If I wasn’t popular before, I’m less so now.

The attack in the woods was terrifying, because I know Rhen didn’t send soldiers after us, and I know he wouldn’t send another regiment that far north. He was planning on yielding. I know he was.

I don’t know what this means, though. Is Lilith forcing him to do this? Or is he making this choice on his own? I keep thinking about our conversation during our last night together, when I told him that I started expecting him to make bad decisions—and how he’d started expecting me to do the same.

I came for Grey in the hopes of saving Rhen, and now I’m worried I made the worst choice of all. I’m not bringing a rescue, I’m bringing an attack.

I might feel a little better if Grey weren’t being so distant. It’s unsettling to watch him wield magic. It’s like he’s Scary Grey for a whole new reason.

But it’s more than just the magic. He seems to have stepped into a role, rising to a challenge he didn’t want. The soldiers might not wholly trust him, but they sure listen to him. And my brother! The last time I saw Jake and Grey together, hatred flared every time they made eye contact, but now there’s no tension between them. They’re friends. More than friends: They respect each other. That might be more shocking than anything else. I’ve been clinging to Jake because I don’t know anyone, but I can tell that his loyalty is to Grey, to these soldiers, to this army. To their cause.

I think of all the tension and uncertainty around Ironrose—throughout all of Emberfall, really—over the last few months, and it all makes me a bit sad.

Or maybe it’s just the fact that I’m sitting by myself, on a log, near a dwindling fire.

It’s probably an hour till full dark, and the other soldiers are beginning to pack up the horses. Motion flickers at the corner of my eye, and I think it’s Jake bringing me dinner—or breakfast, or whatever we’re calling it since we sleep all day and ride all night.

To my surprise, it’s Grey. He’s said maybe ten words to me since we left Syhl Shallow. Three of them were, “Were you harmed?” on the morning we were attacked, and when I said I wasn’t, he gave me a nod and then moved away to look after his soldiers.

“Oh, hi,” I say. “You remembered I exist.” It sounds catty coming out of my mouth, but I’ve hardly slept in days, and I’m sort of freezing.

Grey takes a branch from the ground and uses it to stoke the fire. He ignores my tone. “We will reach Ironrose by morning.”

“I know.” We’ve been staying off the beaten path, but I’ve begun to recognize towns as we’ve passed them in the dead of night.