Page 37 of Hollow Court

The wordgossipmade me wince a bit.

“Do I even want to know how much gossip this arrangement will generate?” I gestured vaguely to myself.

“No.” He softened the blunt word with a lopsided smile.

“Well. Thank you for your honesty.”

Gallagher leaned his head against the arm of the couch, pressing in further against the cushions. “And thank you for yours.”

It was too bad that he was takenandDavin’s family, really. I didn’t feel anything close to attraction for him, but he was kind. Safe.

And safe was something I would never take for granted again.

FOURTEEN

Davin

Gwyn fussedwith the high-necked Socairan gown for the thousandth time in the handful of minutes since she put it on, and I subtly nudged her with my elbow.

Straightening, she made her way into the carriage. Thank the stars it was still dark outside, because her confident stride was nothing at all like Galina’s delicate footsteps.

I followed her in to find her yanking at the neckline once more, huffing irritably.

“Problems?” I asked cautiously.

She forcibly placed her hands in her lap, shooting me a sideways glance.

“This entire situation is a problem.”

“One you volunteered for—insisted on, actually,” I reminded her, trying to keep the bite from my tone.

“I’m not talking about this.” Gwyn gestured to herself. “I’m talking about all of it. I’m talking about the fact that you’re so keen on villainizing our own but won’t even consider that Galina might have let the truth slip to someone before she left.”

I took a deep breath, calming myself before I bit something back at her. She had a legendary temper under the best of circumstances, which these most certainly were not. The carriage took off with a jolt, rocking me back in the seat.

“I’m notkeenon blaming our own, but we both know Galina being the source doesn’t make any sense,” I told her quietly, leaning forward. “The far more likely scenario—the only real scenario—is that it was one of our men.”

At least one, I thought to myself but didn’t see the need to add insult to injury. Not that I was enjoying this any more than she was.

She scoffed, shaking her head. “James and Scottie were practically in the nursery with us, and the others have trained alongside us for years. They aren’t just our men, Davin. Some of them are our friends.”

With a sigh, I tilted my head back against the carriage wall. She wasn’t wrong, and I couldn’t pretend it didn’t sting. But it didn’t change anything.

“And some of them are our enemies,” I said softly.

Gwyn let out a sharp breath, turning her gaze to look out the window.

“Are they?” she asked, her voice even lower than mine had been. “Or are theyherenemies?”

Again, she wasn’t entirely wrong, though I wondered how quick she would have been to split that hair if she had felt more warmly toward Galina.

There was more than one sect of rebels. Our only real saving grace at this point was that they wanted conflicting things. There were those who desired nothing more than to go to war with Socair, by any means necessary. Some wanted a new monarchy, others a democracy, and still others believed the kingdom should be split.

Even then, they couldn’t decide who they wanted on the thrones or councils, so they never worked together. Whatever they worked for, though, their commonality was in working against us.

We still didn’t know what, exactly, the Uprising wanted.

“If they’re willing to betray their monarchy for their cause, doesn’t it amount to the same thing?” I pointed out.