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Then came alert as a runner—one of Khandarr’s senior runners—galloped into view. The man pounded on the grand wooden doors, decorated with gold leaf and precious gems. Nadine was certain he had flattened a god’s face with his fist. Then guards admitted the runner, who tumbled inside.
A quarter hour later, six runners spilled out the doorway and hurried off in six different directions.
No Khandarr, but a message from the man. Of that she was certain.
So. Play the spy and see what scheme Khandarr has laid.
She slid through shadows and behind tapestries after the most senior of the runners. At the next guard post, the runner approached the squad captain. Nadine could not hear their exchange, but the night lamps cast enough illumination that she easily saw the man’s shock, the sudden blankness she associated with a disagreeable order.
Moments later, a dozen guards streamed toward the royal visitors’ wing. That was unexpected. Unless …
Nadine sped to the nearest servants’ corridor. She crossed over to the next wing along an open-air bridge, then circled upward to the floor where Duke Kosenmark and his family had lodged at the king’s special invitation. She had but a few moments before Khandarr’s minions arrived.
Two liveried guards stood outside the doors. Nadine stopped and held out her hands to show she carried no weapons. “Wake the duke,” she said in low quick voice. “Tell him the guards are coming to arrest … I am not exactly sure which of them, maybe the entire family, but most certainly the duke.”
The guard’s eyes narrowed as he scanned her face. “I recognize you. The Lady Heloïse’s companion. Is it only the duke we should warn?”
“Everyone,” Nadine said. “Now.”
He nodded. “My ladies are awake. You will find them in the library at the far end of this passage. I will tell his grace.” To his partner, he said, “Stay here. Do not admit anyone else, not even the king himself.”
Nadine did not wait to hear the rest. She was already pelting down the corridor for the library. All three Kosenmark daughters sprang to their feet as she burst into the room. “Danger,” she gasped. Panic had overtaken her unawares.
“Who?” Olivia said.
“The king,” Marte said softly.
“No.” Heloïse was smiling, a feral tooth-tipped smile that sent a river of cold down Nadine’s spine. “Markus Khandarr. He might act in the king’s name, but the plans are his. Am I right?”
“I do not know. I only know he has sent off a half dozen runners. One of them handed orders to a squad of guards, who are marching here. You and your sisters and your father must leave the palace at once.”
She was up and almost away when Heloïse called out, “Where are you going?”
“To Ilse Zhalina. Go. I will find you later.”
* * *
ILSE WOKE AT once to the pounding at her door. She bolted upright, heart thundering against her ribs. The king, the duke, a messenger come with terrible news … She stumbled from the bed, her feet tangled in the bed linens. The tiny room assigned to her, a servant’s bedchamber, was little more than a closet, and she had just escaped from the bed when the door crashed open, and a hand seized her shoulder. Ilse grabbed her attacker’s arm with both hands—it was a woman, the arm slim but strong. Ilse twisted the arm as she rolled to her feet. She shoved the woman away and swept up the knife from under her pillow, calling up the magic current.
Light flared from a candle. Nadine stood opposite her, breathing hard. Her eyes were bright and angry. She, too, carried a knife.
“Beloved,” she said. “How delightful to see tokens of your adoration. Alas, we do not have the luxury for dalliance tonight. Tell me, how much do you love your idiot Lord Kosenmark?”
Ilse stared. “What?”
“I said, how much do you love that man? Because you must act now. Markus Khandarr has sent a fleet of runners off in all different directions. He nearly had the duke arrested—I say nearly because I fervently wish the entire clan succeeded in shutting up long enough to escape. At least I hope they did,” she said in an edged whisper. “What you must know is this…”
She gave a succinct report of her spying. Ilse listened as she hurried into her plainest clothing—trousers and shirt and boots—and armed herself with the weapons she had yielded before. It was impossible that Markus Khandarr would act against the king’s explicit orders. She could only think that Khandarr had persuaded Armand to break off the trial. “I will go to Raul’s cell,” she told Nadine. “Tell Benno and Josef. They have quarters down the next corridor. If the king had decided against us, he and Khandarr will have them arrested as well.”
On impulse, she pulled Nadine close and kissed her passionately. Then she was off.
* * *
OLIVIA COLLECTED THEIR best swords and knives. Marte handed out leather helmets and the chain-mail shirts she had packed along with their other gear and clothing. It was Heloïse, however, who knew the swiftest passage to the outer gates. Within moments of Nadine’s warning, they and their father were racing down and around the nearest stairwell.
All along their father protested. “We must get word to the council.”
“We will,” Marte snapped. “As soon as we have you safely out of the palace.”
