14

“Why?” I asked. “Because I like maps?”

“No,” he said, “because you’re worldly.”

I blinked at him. “What?”

“I do recall you chose a Shiangan sword to fight me with,” he said, “not to keep bringing up the arena. But I was struck by that. No other competitor wanted it. They were challenging to wield.”

“It’s just a reflection of my training,” I murmured, even as pride bloomed in my chest. “And my interests.”

“Well,” he said, “I’m glad you’re coming with me on this trip, then. Maybe I’ll have you show off some of those sword skills.”

“Before I was sent for the Choice,” I said as I gazed out toward the horizon, “my dream was to travel as far and wide as I could. I dreamed of seeing the entire world if I could.”

“Do you no longer dream of that?” he asked.

“Well,” I said, “now that I’m queen, it’s not like I can take off for a trip whenever I’d like.”

“Maybe not whenever,” he said, “but your role as queen doesn’t mean you can’t leave Efra.”

I looked over at him. He was watching me closely as we walked, his head tilted to the side slightly. The mid-morning sunlight brought out the flecks of gold in his warm brown eyes. The days of travel had turned the faint shadow along his jaw into a fuller beard, which made him look even more rugged and handsome than he usually did. The outdoors and travel suited him.

“But we have duties,” I said. “We both do.”

“Certainly,” he agreed, “and often our duties will involve things like this. And, of course, the Nightfall Court is established enough that we can take trips for ourselves, too.”

“Like a vacation?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “Like a vacation.”

I sighed and gazed back out over the horizon. The weather was beginning to improve, and the breeze was cool and refreshing as it rustled my hair.

“I don’t understand,” I admitted. “That shouldn’t be a priority.”

Elias hummed. We walked in silence for a few moments, and I could almost hear him gathering his thoughts. “Of course, our personal travels and engagements will come second to the duties that leading this country requires,” he said. “But I didn’t choose you to be queen as a way to punish you.”

I pressed my lips together. It had felt, especially in the days leading up to the wedding, like he’d chosen me to be his bride simply because I was the one who had the audacity to not want it. In a way, part of me had assumed he wouldn’t want me to be happy—or worse, he wouldn’t care either way. Hearing him say aloud that wasn’t what he wanted made my throat tighten unexpectedly.

“I want you to be happy,” he said. “I want us to be happy together.”

His candor shocked me. I looked back over and saw nothing but honesty in his eyes: honesty and perhaps a bit of nervousness. “You don’t want to keep me locked up in Efra?” I asked, half-teasing and half-serious.

“I think if I tried to do that, you’d break out within the hour.”

I laughed, surprised, and nodded in agreement. “I’ve done a bit of lockpicking in my time, it’s true.”

It was still dizzying to think Elias might not only let me travel as a diplomatic convoy, but travel for myself. Not as the Queen of Frasia—just as me. Reyna of Daybreak—no, of Nightfall. Maybe I could even begin to learn to draw maps myself from the court cartographers. The fantasy was just beginning to spin out in my mind when a sharp, loud bark broke through the quiet morning air.

One of the two king’s attendants raced down the path, moving swiftly in his wolf form toward the convoy. Kodan swore loudly and rushed to our side. The attendant wormed past the caravans, nearly spooking the horses, then shifted back into his human form mid-run. He tumbled over the dirt before clambering to his feet, and Kodan caught his upper arm so he didn’t slip off the pass and roll down the hill.

“General,” he gasped. “Ambush.”

“Ambush?” Kodan asked. “Where? By whom?”

“Waiting for the king,” the attendant said through his heaving breaths. “Five men. We killed three. One escaped. Selwy captured the fifth. We don’t know who sent them. He won’t talk.”

“Good work,” Elias said in a low, furious growl. “I’d like to speak with the prisoner myself.”

His voice sent a shiver down my spine. A memory flashed in my mind: Elias in the center of the ballroom, snapping the neck of a traitorous court member. Whoever had ambushed the scouts would face a fate much worse than that. He was still the Bloody King.

“Kodan,” Elias said, “stay with the convoy and defend the women.”

“Sir,” Kodan said in acknowledgment.

“Thaddeus, show me to the prisoner,” Elias said.

“I’m coming with you,” I said.

“No, you’re not,” Elias said immediately. “There may be more men waiting. It’s too dangerous.”

“Then give me a weapon,” I said.

“Reyna.”

“I can defend myself,” I said. “You’ve seen me do it.” I crossed my arms over my chest and leveled him with my gaze. If Kodan was staying here, the king needed someone else to watch his back. And, as his queen, I wanted to be a part of this interrogation.

Elias rubbed his forehead. “Fine. But only because I don’t have time to argue about this.”

Kodan snorted. “Come on, Fina, Adora, we’re taking a short break,” she said.

“What’s going on?” Fina asked as Kodan corralled them toward the carriages.

“We’ll be on our way shortly,” Elias said, his voice still a low, enraged growl. “Just sit tight.”

Thaddeus, the attendant, shifted back into his wolf form. Elias and I shifted as well, then began to follow him at a brisk run, down the pass until we were on the other side of the mountain. Thaddeus led us into the tree line, then into a small clearing. In the center, the other attendant—Selwy, I assumed—sat on a stump, bandaging a thin gash on his shin. A blond man in peasant’s clothing was hogtied and leaning up against a tree, blood dripping from his mouth as his chin tipped forward. The coppery smell made my nostrils flare.