Zora’s eyes lingered on Layna, but when my captain showed no sign of leaving, the head servant crossed to the door.
“I’ll leave you to get cleaned up.” She hesitated but then slipped out into the corridor without speaking further.
I watched her go with a creased brow. It was almost as if she had wanted to speak to me alone.
“Now that you’re safely here, I should be going also,” Layna said, pulling my focus back to her.
“You’re not going to stay the night?” I asked in surprise.
“I would like to examine the village and its surrounds for myself before the scene is completely trampled,” she said. “And then we will ride for Bronton before nightfall.”
I twisted my lips. “I suppose you have to report the attack.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Certainly I must do so.”
I sighed. “Maybe you could downplay it just a bit?” I suggested. “Just to my parents?”
The sides of Layna’s lips quirked up the slightest bit. “I’m afraid that wouldn’t be possible, Your Highness,” she said gravely.
I winced.
“However,” she continued, “I expect I shall be called upon to make my report to the queen and my commanding officers rather than your parents.”
I brightened slightly. “Yes, that’s likely true.” I could only trust that my aunt’s vested interest in keeping me here would make her view the threat with less alarm than my parents no doubt would.
“You won’t get in trouble for leaving me here?” I asked.
Layna shook her head. “The Academy is the safest place for you at present, Princess. As has clearly been demonstrated, I would need a much larger force to protect you on the open road.”
I nodded. “And at least you can truthfully report that Captain Vincent and his guards proved more than capable at keeping me safe. And they would presumably be even more effective behind the walls of the Academy where they are also on their own turf.”
“It has certainly relieved some of my concern to see the captain’s squad in action,” Layna said. “They are well trained.”
I wanted to ask her if she thought my aunt and parents would call me back to Ardann once they got her report, but I restrained myself. Layna was an excellent personal guard, but she wasn’t privy to the crown’s policy concerns, and she certainly knew nothing of the factors that must be weighed in my aunt’s decision.
I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but I would have to trust that my newly assigned role would be enough to keep me here. Aunt Lucienne certainly had no other simple alternative for keeping a line of communication open with Darius.
I sighed softly. Not that Darius had looked interested in communicating with me. My eyes strayed to the tapestry before I pulled them away.
“I must be going,” Layna said. “If we manage to discover the identity of your attackers, I’ll send you word.”
I forced a smile. “Thank you. You fought well, and I know you must have greatly depleted your supply of compositions.”
Layna bowed. “There is satisfaction in using them for their created purpose. Not many opportunities present themselves in Ardann. Thankfully,” she added quickly.
I smiled again to show I understood. “Well, you may be satisfied that your workings performed admirably.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. And farewell.” She bowed again and hurried out the door.
Leaving my sitting room, she almost collided with a figure in a white robe. The tall girl stopped in my open doorway, and Layna hesitated, meeting my eyes over her shoulder.
I waved my guard away. I might not like Dellion, but I no longer suspected her of wishing me harm.
Both of the elegant trainee’s eyebrows were raised so high they almost disappeared into her elaborate arrangement of golden hair.
“I heard a rumor you had arrived looking like a drowned rat, but I must confess, I doubted it. It hasn’t been raining lately.”
“It was in the village,” I said flatly, not in the mood for verbal fencing with her.
Her eyebrows, which had dropped down, rose again. “So the rumors of an attack are also true. How fascinating. Who wants to kill you, I wonder?”
“If you find out, let me know,” I said.
“They’re not bundling you straight back to Corrin, then?”
“Not for now.” I wrung out a portion of my robe, hoping she’d get the message.
“A pity.” She sighed and then smiled nonchalantly. “It’s not personal, of course. Things would just be…simpler without you.”
“If you’ll leave me in peace to get into dry clothes, I’ll promise not to take offense,” I said lightly.
She laughed and wandered away from my doorway, not bothering to close the door behind her. I sighed and crossed the room to do it myself.
As I cleaned myself up, making use of the selection of clothes I’d left here the year before, I found I believed her. I didn’t think it was personal. But Dellion was the granddaughter of General Haddon and niece of the queen. And while it didn’t seem they had been the ones trying to kill me last year after all, they still weren’t happy about the interest the king’s supporters had shown in me—or rather in the alliance with Ardann I represented. If King Cassius and my aunt managed a proper treaty, it might tip the delicate balance of power too far away from the general.
I considered her words and attitude as I twisted my hair inside a towel. She had sounded almost weary of the pressure she had alluded to being under from her family. As if she would have preferred to be free to view me as just another year mate. Possibly even a potential friend.
I chuckled at that thought. Dellion might be less wedded to her family’s opinions than I had thought, but the predatory air to her movements and the competitive glint in her green eyes were all her own. Even without their involvement, I had no doubt she would have seen me as someone to prove herself against.
But maybe it could have been a friendly sort of rivalry. Maybe it still could be.
A knock sounded on an outer door, and I hurried out of my bedchamber. My heart sank, despite myself, when I realized it had come from the corridor door and not the one behind the tapestry. Opening it, I found Ida waiting outside.
She bobbed a curtsy. “Welcome back, Your Highness.” Tension radiated from her as she brought my bags inside, and several times she opened her mouth only to close it again.
Once she had finished putting away my gowns, collecting those that needed pressing, I had her place her hand on my door and spoke her name.
“Now you’ll be safely able to come and go,” I told her. “Just like last year.”
She dropped into a second curtsy, made awkward by the pile of garments in her arms.
“Thank you, Your Highness. And thank you for understanding about the attack.” The second sentence seemed to burst out of her. “We were all ever so shocked to hear of it! A dangerous attack in our own village! Of course none of us would have anything to do with such a thing. We’ve all been in a tremble to think what might have happened to our families if they hadn’t hid themselves away.”
She glanced up at me as if checking to see whether I carried any resentment toward the villagers for not rushing to my defense.
“It is a good thing they did so,” I said. “Or things might have turned out ugly indeed. But from what I understand, no one was harmed in the end.”