“I’ll be all right. Are you leaving?”
“Yes, but breakfast first.” He motioned to the window. “Out there. Herreki and Aunt Catriona have called a council.”
I finished dressing, choosing a tunic with the loosest sleeves I could find. The burns smarted and stung enough to warrant a detour to find Caldero, who was happy to show me where the physician had left his store of poultices. I gathered a few jars and bunches of herbs from the kitchen, stuffed them in my pocket, and headed for the courtyard.
Servants had brought out a table and chairs, arranging them in the center of the pavement and leaving plenty of room around the perimeter. Even so, it was a tight fit. I sat between Alastair and Edmund, who was idly scratching the delicate scales beneath his wyvern’s wing. The imposing figure of the Drakaina Herreki presided over the council, her golden gaze licking over each of us in turn before landing on me.
“Good morning, Miss Aliza.”
The cool and perfectly formal way she addressed me might have bothered me once, but not anymore. She didn’t try to hide her disapproval, but at least she hadn’t tried to immolate me this time. Akarra crouched next to her and Mar’esh on her other side, encircling us in a living wall of scales and dragonfire.
Lady Catriona handed me a cup of tea. “How are your burns, my dear?”
“They’re fine.”
“I should have razed Langdred when we had the chance,” Akarra growled. She touched Alastair’s shoulder with one wingtip, frowning at the red marks on his cheek. “Rookwood should not have left those shores alive.”
“But he did,” Herreki said. “What-ifs and what-should-have-beens are not our concern, kes-ahla. Now we must decide what to do.”
“We know what we have to do,” Edmund said. “Find the bastard who set the fire and hang him off the highest tower in Edonarle.”
The Drakaina shook her head. “Vengeance is not suited for times of war, Edmund, and we are at war. We must find the Vesh conspirators, yes, but we must find the ghastradi too.”
“And what then?” Julienna asked.
“Then we’ll make them tell us what they know,” Edmund said. “Whatever it takes.”
I listened as Alastair and Edmund went back and forth as to how they might bring about our enemies’ sudden eloquence, interrupted here and there by Julienna’s protests and Catriona’s flat refusals.
Petals on the stem and leaves on the branches. I pulled the herbs from my pocket and laid them out next to the little poultice jars in front of me. The Vesh were the leaves; the ghastradi and creatures like the Shadow Minister were the branches. There would be no victory until we learned what lay at the root.
“Alastair, Lady Catriona, did you have any luck with the king yesterday?” I asked suddenly.
Edmund sat back in his chair as Alastair and his aunt shook their heads. “Though not for lack of trying,” Lady Catriona said. “The Master of Appointments was implacable. I even took it to the Lord General, but Camron said there was nothing he could do. Delegations from the trade guilds have been lining up to present their cases for or against the treaty for months. They will not be dissuaded.”
“Not even if it’s life or death?”
“As far as they’re concerned, Aliza, this is life or death,” she said. “There are guilds with vested interests in keeping Elsian ports closed. If they fail, they lose their livelihood. The king has a duty to listen to them.”
My cheeks grew warm. Blast diplomacy. I focused on shredding the leaves in my lap. And damn the king’s duty!
“The City Watch might be able to help,” Alastair said after a moment.
Mar’esh snorted. “Some use they’ve been to us in the past.”
“They may have been hesitant to act before, yes, but now we have proof,” Akarra said. “Bring the Chief of the Watch to the ruins of the Sword and Crown and ask him to investigate. Show him the charred bodies of the Rangers. Have him walk the Fourth Circle with one of the Riders patrolling on foot because his wyvern’s lungs were too smoke damaged to fly, and see if he refuses then.”
“You know this Chief of the Watch personally, Alastair?” Herreki asked.
“We’ve worked together before. He trusts me. I’ll have his people combing the city by noon today. All the Riders and Rangers who are fit enough are already out there, but they won’t scorn the help. Rookwood, Wydrick, anyone who’s had a part in this: if they’re in Edonarle, we’ll have them by—”
“Who would the king listen to?” I asked.
I felt rather than saw Alastair’s flicker of annoyance, my eyes fixed instead on Lady Catriona. She looked surprised and considered.
“Well, I would say me, but this is a matter of statecraft as well as war, and I admit I have little experience there. Perhaps . . .” She pursed her lips. “The High Cantor. The Chief Magistrate. Lord Camron, but he’s been occupied with the ambassadors of late. If you were able to persuade several of the Guildmasters of the danger, they might ask to postpone the treaty talks long enough to investigate.”
“It is a start,” the Drakaina said. “Very well. Alastair, you, Edmund, and Whiteheart speak to the City Watch. Julienna, you and Mar’esh continue the patrol of the Fourth Circle with the other Riders, and Akarra, you watch the First Circle. What Riders have we stationed here?”
“Lena var Dooren and Old Hammerhand,” Edmund said, “and their wyverns.”
“Good. Catriona and I will visit the palace again.”
Herreki didn’t mention me, didn’t look at me again. The others finished breakfast with little conversation and hurried back to the house to prepare. In a few minutes only Alastair, Akarra, and I remained.
“I’m sorry about Herreki, khera,” Alastair said.
I shrugged and folded the torn hush leaves into the poultice.
“She doesn’t do that intentionally,” Akarra tried. “The snubbing. It’s just many years of habit, and . . . What are you doing?”
“There.” I daubed the edge of a napkin in the grayish poultice and took Alastair’s face in my hands. He looked startled but didn’t pull away, and I gently spread the mixture over his burns. “This is war. I’m not about to take offense.”
“Aliza . . .”
“You two have your work. I have mine.”
“Aliza,” Alastair repeated softly, and I stopped spreading the poultice. He took my hand. “Would you like to come with us?”
“You don’t have to say that.”
“I know, but I mean it. Would you like to?”
I looked at him long and hard, conscious of Akarra’s deep, steady breath above us as she watched me, watched him. He really did mean it. Leaf and Lightning, I’ll never deserve this man. I tossed the poultice aside, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed him. Akarra chuckled as he returned the embrace with equal enthusiasm, and for one glorious instant the fears and troubles hanging over us like some evil cloud evaporated, leaving only the warmth of his arms and the taste of his kiss. It was a minute before we separated, breathless and bright-eyed, and reality fell once more.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “You know I’d be no use to you at the palace.”