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“I’ll inform the queen,” he told Darvis.
“Should I send—”
“No.” Let the damn robed bastards ride on their own, Fadon thought.
He left the gate house and made his way to the east wing, hoping Mari was still awake—and decent. He met her personal guards at the door to her rooms and told them it was urgent he speak with Queen Alpha and also to send someone for the Servant.
Fadon waited. A few minutes later, he was permitted, and Fadon walked past the sitting room and to the back, where her bedroom was.
Mari was half reclining in a settee, several stacks of letters on her lap.
“Fadon, what is it?”
“I’ll leave, Queen Alpha,” Lady Lordes said. Fadon hadn’t noticed her sitting near the fire.
“No, stay,” Mari said, still looking at Fadon. “Well?”
“Did you invite the Owl?” he asked his sister.
Several expressions passed over her face. “I did not. Summon Demos.” She sat up, tossed the letters to the floor, and put her dainty feet into a pair of silk slippers. “Are they here, inside?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. They’re less than half a mile out. I already summoned the Servant.”
“My queen, I can go,” Lady Lordes offered again, standing now. She had several books, large and thick, in her arms.
Mari shook her head. “I’d like you to stay, Lordes. At least until Servant Demos arrives.”
“You think this has something—” Lady Lordes began.
“Later,” Mari snapped, cutting the seer off. Fadon knew something was going on. She was never rude to the seer.
His sister looked at Fadon. “How many Servants?”
“Ten, maybe nine. Still too far to tell. So, if you didn’t invite them, what, they just invited themselves? They’ll freeze to death!”
She snorted. “We can only wish.” She grabbed a robe that was at the end of the settee and stood, wrapping it around her and tying it at the waist. “I’m sure it’s just some official show. You said you summoned Demos, right? Yourself?”
He narrowed my eyes. She knew something. “No, I sent one of your guards to do it.”
She nodded and walked over to a small table, where a bottle of wine and several goblets sat. “We’ll just put them in one of the guest houses near the kitchens. Easier to warm. I want at least five guards on duty at all times, wherever they go.”
Fadon’s brow lowered. “Why? The Owl is no threat.”
Someone knocked on the bedroom door.
“Come,” Mari answered.
“My queen.” The guard bowed as he stepped into the room. “Captain, the Servant was not in his room. I’ve sent a few men to search for him.”
His mouth twisted in a grimace. “Very well. Let me know as soon as you’ve located him. It cannot wait.”
The guard left, and Mari poured herself some wine. “Shouldn’t be too hard to find him. I highly doubt he’s outside at this time of night,” she said dryly. “Probably the library, digging through some old tomes. Speaking of old tomes…” She paused and took a long sip of her wine. “Lady Lordes, tell Fadon about your conversation with the omega.”
“That can wait,” Fadon told her, crossing his arms. “Why the guards, Mari? Does this have to do with that idiotic Servant faction?”
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
“If it involves my men, my guards, it’s under my domain. What are you expecting?”
