Glenquartz regards the treaty apprehensively, as if he hasn’t considered it before.
I remove my jacket and set it on the bedside table. The surface of the table is polished and dusted, but the lantern’s wick is hardened, and there’s a layer of dust on the curved glass. The room has been maintained, but no one has used it recently.
“When’s the last time anyone stayed here?” I ask.
“It has been a while,” Glenquartz says. “King Fallow was dealing with some political…difficulties. We haven’t hosted our neighbors in quite some time.”
I observe the five empty beds. Hat would love it here. I inhale the dust of unfamiliar fabric, trying to summon the scent of cinnamon and salt, dirt and sweat.
I throw a half glance at Glenquartz. He’s watching me.
“How exactly do I get to the prison?” I ask. “It’s one of the only buildings outside the city, right? It’s to the west, but then what? North? South? It has to be close by.”
Suddenly I wish I’d paid attention to all the times that a Nameless was dragged off to prison. Mostly, I was busy getting as far away as I could.
“I can’t think of any reason you’d want to know that,” Glenquartz says, entering the room and fiddling with the lantern on the nearest table, “unless you were planning on going there. The prison is no place for the queen. The guards stationed there are not kind toward the Nameless, but I do have one friend who has agreed to watch over Hat as best she can. I wouldn’t be able to guarantee your safety if you went to the prison, let alone Hat’s. General Belrosa has agreed in front of the council to issue a command for her release.”
“Not a command. A request. She promised to ask for Hat to be released,” I say. “I need you to make sure they actually do it.”
Glenquartz agrees. “Of course, my lady.”
“Call me Coin,” I say with an incline of my head.
“Coin.” He says my name gently, almost reverently. “I’ll do everything in my power. Just remember that even though you do have some leverage as the heir, you’ll have to make concessions to the council and fulfill your role until the Assassins’ Festival.”
I sit on the foot of a bed. I peel off my outer green shirt with its torn sleeve to reveal a short-sleeved, once-white shirt. It has a few torn ruffles—it was once a dress shirt belonging to a Legal—and a few huge streaks of black. To prevent the Nameless from filching discarded clothes and pretending to be Legals, a lot of people either burn their old clothes or stain them with black dye.
Glenquartz blushes and busies himself organizing a stack of books, looking anywhere but at my face.
“Such a gentleman,” I say. “Do I offend your modesty? So, why do they call it the Assassins’ Festival, anyway? That doesn’t sound very good. Not for me, anyway.”
“The Assassins’ Festival used to be a weeklong festival, but now it’s only a day,” he explains. “Throughout the day, you duel the highest-ranked challengers. Like the council explained, if any of them wins, you pass the tattoo to them willingly.”
“Then why don’t they call it the Dueling Festival?” I say, glaring at him.
His lips pinch together. “Historically, the duels were to the death, and a lot of times the sovereign was assassinated before the duels could be completed.”
“When’s the last time a sovereign was assassinated?” I ask.
“Four generations ago, I think,” Glenquartz says. “Fallow got the crown from his parents, who got it from the Demure family. Three generations would’ve been the longest time the crown has been in one family. I mean, until now.” He catches himself and winces apologetically, as if I’m supposed to feel bad for breaking their streak. I sigh in frustration.
“It wasn’t me who named me queen,” I say. “Now. Where’s the bath? Two nights is a long time to spend in a dungeon, and I don’t think you’re standing that far away just because of my temperament.”
Glenquartz points to the water closet, and I’m already halfway to it when he adds, “There are some clothes in the wardrobes, and it’s a shower, not just a tub.”
“It’s a what?” I say, and my mouth drops open. I stop with one foot inside the doorway.
“A shower,” he repeats sagely.
Running water is common throughout Seriden, and most houses have it now—but it’s usually only installed in two places: a sink for the kitchen and the toilet with a complicated high reservoir and chain. When someone wants to take a bath, they cart water in from the kitchen after boiling it on the stove.
“Here at the palace, the water is heated,” Glenquartz says.
“Seriously?”
Glenquartz’s eyes light up when he sees what must be the biggest smile I’ve ever smiled. “Would you like me to show you how it works?”
I dash into the room, and he totters in after me. Though the controls aren’t complicated—a valve for the water and a chain for the drain—he enjoys teaching me. He fiddles with the controls, and when he turns around, I’ve already changed out of my clothes and I’m wrapped up in a towel. He bursts out laughing and slips, catching himself on the edge of the tub before he can fall over.
“You sure work fast,” he says.
I grin. “Now, Glenquartz, I say this with the utmost care…”
“I’ll be outside,” he says, and he’s barely containing his laughter.
* * *
The next morning, I wake up on the floor. At some point during the night, the bed was too soft and hot, so I dragged a layer of blankets to the floor and curled up between two of the beds. I lift myself onto the edge of a bed, stretching and enjoying the fact that my fingers and toes aren’t stiff from the cold or from clutching a weapon. I yawn lazily and realize that what woke me up was the sound of approaching footsteps. The door handle twists.
“Wait!” I shout, but it’s too late.
The door opens, and a small glass bowl falls and shatters. Glenquartz pauses, halfway into the room. He inspects the graveyard of glass shards and twine.
“What’s this?” he asks.
I slap a hand to my forehead. “An alarm.” I slide to the edge of the bed. “The glass bowl was netted with twine and looped over the door handle. Open the door, and the glass falls.”
“Clever,” he says, swallowing uneasily. “You’re an early riser.” He steps carefully inside, boots crunching the glass.
“Got to be,” I say, “if I want to get to the markets early to scope out marks.”