Page 14 of Sharpest Court

Arun seemed to enjoy my rasping answer, probably because it gave him a reason to wring me for a different one. “You’re of a similar age to the lady, I believe. Imagine yourself in her position, abducted by rebels who only wish to punish your betrothed. Lady Alissa is an innocent. Yet she could be suffering as we speak.”

He smiled with false pity, and I knew he didn’t care about the people of Daradon. He wouldn’t care about me if I confessed my true identity and explained why I’d escaped.

For whatever reason, Arun just wanted to be the one to find me . . . Perhaps so he could hand me to the king himself.

I was fighting a shudder when Valeria began repacking my bag. “I doubt Miss Summers can extend much sympathy toward anybody when she herself is wounded and feverish.” She latched my saddlebag shut. “Miss Summers, Mr. Cromwell, thank you for your cooperation. We’re done here.”

Zeke’s head snapped up. “What?”

“Your Highness.” Arun’s eyes roamed over her face. “I should expect you, more than most, to want to extract this information.” His voice dropped, menacing and coaxing all at once. “I saw your brother very recently. Though he remains defiant, he is not faring well. And until Lady Alissa is recovered, I’m afraid he will only continue to suffer.”

Valeria glared at him, her jaw ticking faster than my own thumping heartbeat.

We might spare your brother the pain he is currently enduring under Her Majesty’s orders, Arun had said. I’d been chewing on those words and now they came apart in my mind, their pieces forming a horrifying picture.

Clearly, the Ansoran authorities wanted to find me—badly enough that they would send the Minister of Intelligence to question refugees.

And from the sounds of it, the minister was also questioning Keil.

The Ansorans must have learned about our intimacy back at court. They must have asked Keil for information about me—information they believed would lead to my location. He remains defiant, Arun had said. Because perhaps Keil had refused to divulge that information. So now they were punishing him, hurting him . . .

And they wouldn’t stop until they found me.

“My brother,” Valeria said, slow and firm, “would agree with my decision to prioritize the wellbeing of these refugees. Regardless of how he is faring.”

My stomach plunged at the unfiltered pain in her eyes, which was confirmation in itself. Keil was suffering. And it was because of me.

Tension bled into the silence. Keil had told me he was only a prince in title; the empress held the reins of Ansora. Yet there had to be more nuance to this hierarchy than I currently understood, because as Valeria held the minister’s stare, the air sparked with the steel-on-steel friction of two equally matched opponents.

Then Arun’s mouth twitched into a wry smile. “In that case, I’ll be sure to ask him. I’m certain that I’ll be seeing him very soon.”

While I shivered at his words, Valeria only turned from him and slid both bags across the desk.

“We can go?” Zeke asked, still stunned.

“You’ll need to retrieve your citizenship papers from the checkpoint,” Valeria said. “But yes, you’re free to leave, so long as you consider this your only warning. And please also consider speaking to our physicians, who can help you wean yourselves off dullroot.”

“And if we don’t want to wean ourselves off?” Zeke’s lip curled with disgust. “If we don’t want to be like all the out-of-control Wielders in this empire?”

“Then I suggest finding passage back to Daradon,” she said flatly.

Zeke seemed about to argue again, then must have realized his good fortune, because he grabbed his bag and darted out.

The tent fabric was still swaying when Valeria held out my saddlebag. “You should visit our physicians before leaving, Miss Summers. They’re setting up a new clinical station in the harbor house.”

“Thank you.” I took the strap and stood, swaying a little.

“It was a pleasure, Miss Summers.” Arun smiled. “I hope our paths shall cross again.”

I met his gaze in quiet loathing before I plunged back into the sea-scented night, mercifully free and yet racked with new fear. Because as I weaved through the golden bustle of activity, one image forced itself upon me.

Keil screaming in agony, bleeding and alone.

I couldn’t shake the horror from my mind as I followed the signs toward the harbor house, which was tucked against a dimly lit stable. Hearing the whine of wheels, I paused and turned.

In the distance, Arun was entering a golden carriage.

I’m certain that I’ll be seeing him very soon, he’d said. So was he heading toward Keil now?