Page 58 of Hollow Court
He handed me a tiny scroll, the nondescript seal already broken.
“Did it come this way?” I asked, gesturing to the jagged bit of wax.
“Oh, no. That was all us.” Da’ smirked.
Of course it was.They were, in fairness, the unofficial collective spymaster of Lochlann, so I should have expected nothing less.
I unfurled the parchment to find very familiar handwriting.
Dear Favorite Cousin (until now, that is),
Did you, perchance, get back to Lochlann with something of ours? We’ve been in rather a tizzy looking for it everywhere, and the guards mentioned you might have seen it when you were here the first time.
Of course, I assured them that wasn’t the case, because I was quite certain you would have mentioned that to me, your cousin, best friend, former co-captive, and the queen of the kingdom from whence said item hails.
In the unlikely event that you accidentally got away with it, kindly let me know. There are those who would wish for me to tell you to return it at your earliest convenience, but I don’t want it to get broken coming back through the tunnels so soon.
A significantly smaller portion of my love than usual,
Row
I felta sharp stab of guilt. Though Rowan was joking, she was clearly hurt, which was fair. And yet, I didn’t miss her warning. Even now, even without knowing the circumstances, she was solidly on my side.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. When I looked up at my parents, ready to defend the way we left things, my father shook his head.
“You’re both here safe now. That’s all a discussion for later. For now, you need to clean up in time to escort your betrothed to dinner.”
I bit back a sigh.
I still wasn’t sure what to say to her, how to feel about any of this now that the consequences had been made so glaringly apparent.
“Where are her rooms?” I asked.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding them. They’re the ones across from yours,” Mamá said in a tone a shade too neutral.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Was there something wrong with the other twelve rooms in the family wing?”
She met my gaze with all the innocence she had never possessed. “It was for appearances, obviously.”
“Obviously,” I deadpanned, turning on my heel to leave.
“Don’t forget to stop by the vault on your way up,” Da’ called after me.
Stars.
Because ring shopping was exactly what I wanted to add to my ever-growing list.
Still, I nodded and headed to the vault. We had to make thisflawless, and the ring was the next step in that direction.
I was beginning to miss the days on the road when all I had to worry about was someone popping up to murder me.
TWENTY-ONE
Galina
My lackof sleep was catching up to me.
As usual, I had spent half the night plagued by relentless thoughts of what was happening back home, but now, I was struggling to keep the thoughts out during the day as well.