“Myrina,” he said, voice broken by an emotion he was too exhausted to name.
Ginger swayed and moved forward a step to keep from falling to her knees. “Myrina,” she whispered, her eyes going damp at the sight of the poor, broken princess. “Hugh, leave if you need to, but I will stay.”
Hugh crossed his arms. “I’ll not leave a daughter of the queen. What do you take me for, woman?”
“Then bar the door.” To Cass, Ginger ordered, “Take her to the bed. I’ll bring water and supplies.”
Cass collapsed into a chair beside the narrow mattress where he’d lain Miri, his arms so shaky and limp that he wasn’t certain he would be able to draw a sword.
Hugh was suddenly beside him, flask in hand. “Drink it,” he said.
Cass took one quick draw, coughed, and wiped an arm over his brow.
Hugh grimaced at the blood that covered Cass’s arms and face. “I’ve got the shutters drawn, and no one expects us to be about today, since we’ve just returned from the road. I cannot promise they’ll not send scouts, searching the houses for sign of the girl.” He gave Cass an appraising look. “Did you carry her all the way from the castle?”
Cass nodded but said nothing else. Hugh was right. They needed out of Ironwood before the queen ordered Edwin’s murderer found. But it was not the kingsmen who worried him. It was the sorcerers—Miri was covered in blood.
“Do you have a plan?” Hugh asked.
Cass stared up at him. “I have… I had friends.” He didn’t know if they were still alive.
Hugh nodded. “Aye. I’ll help you find them. If not, we’ll get you free.”
Cass’s aching hands curled into fists as feeling began to return to them. He’d just asked Hugh and Ginger to give up everything—their home and life and everyone they knew.
“Out!” Ginger ordered Hugh. “This wretched corset is coming off, and you’ve no business in the presence of a half-dressed princess.”
Hugh frowned at her but turned and did as she ordered.
Cass started to get up, but Ginger shoved her supplies into his arms. “Not you. You’re helping.”
Cass stared as Ginger wiped the blood from Miri’s wounds. They’d cut the dress from her body. Half the gown had already been torn to shreds and was thick with blood. But it had not all been hers. She lay beneath two thin blankets in nothing but her underclothes, the thin shirt, which—inside of her hem—held the trinket Miri’s mother had given her. It was the last possession of the dead queen, the only thing left aside from two daughters, who were captive to their fates.
“It’s not deep,” Ginger murmured of the cut beneath Miri’s neck, “but she’s lost a good deal of blood.” She held a hand out to Cass. “I’m ready for the needle. I’ll stitch this one up, check her over once more, then heat another batch of water so you can clean up yourself.” As Cass handed Ginger the supplies, she glanced back at him. “Do you have fresh clothes?”
He shook his head. All of their possessions, the horses and supplies, were at the manor near the castle.
“Light,” Ginger said.
The sunlight from the window was not enough, so Cass leaned forward with the lantern.
Ginger added, “We’ll get Sarah to find you something. She’s a good girl. Smart.”
Cass opened his mouth to protest, but he’d already put the girl in danger by her association with Ginger and Hugh.
“She’ll come with us,” Ginger said.
The thread tugged at Miri’s skin, and Cass had to look away. He’d seen a thousand battle wounds and injuries, but none had unsettled him as much as watching Miri tumble from the side of the tower. Not even when the sorcerers had taken Stormskeep, but Cass had only been a child then. He hadn’t realized what that day would cost him and everyone in the realm.
“The girl’s mother too,” Ginger said. “We’ll take you north and, once we’re in the mountains, head east. Hugh has family at Blackstone. We’ve an ample supply of jewels.”
“You will be repaid,” Cass promised.
Ginger cut him a sharp look. “Don’t insult our generosity. This is our duty as much as it is yours.”
Cass was bloodsworn to the queen. It was no one’s duty more than his.
Ginger rolled her eyes heavenward before she returned her focus to her work. “Men are fools as often as they aren’t.”
Cass gave her no answer, because in that exasperated look, he saw and heard the fondness with which she complained of Hugh, and something else, something Cass did not want to tear open with Miri so fragile. Ginger had seen Cass and Miri close, acting as husband and wife. Ginger had known Miri was the daughter of the Lion Queen.
“Woman,” Hugh said from the doorway, “I’ve heated the water myself. We foolish men have tasks of our own. The lad can’t be your nursemaid all day.”
Ginger snorted but kept at her work, her long fingers dark against Miri’s too-pale skin.
Hugh gave Cass an expectant glower, and Cass reluctantly set the lantern near Ginger’s work.
Chapter 24
Cass gripped his brother-in-arms with all the strength in his body. Terric had lived. He’d saved Miri and saved them all.
“Easy, brother,” Terric said. “We aren’t safe yet.”
Cass drew back to look at him, grateful to the point of pain. The queensguard and those faithful to the dead queen had misled the kingsmen and fought on her behalf. They hadn’t known the assassin was Myrina, princess and daughter of the Lion Queen. They had only known they had a chance to rise up, and they had taken it with eager courage.
“We need to leave by nightfall. Will she be ready?”
Hugh spoke from behind Cass. “Wife says she’ll be fine. Beaten and sore to be sure but not badly injured.”
Terric’s gaze slid over Cass’s shoulder. “She needs to be certain. This will be no easy trip.”
“I know what’s at stake,” Hugh answered. He had, after all, risked his own neck. “And she knows her business around wounds. If she says it, I stake my life on it being the truth.”
Terric nodded. “Then we leave tonight.” He handed Cass a leather pouch. “Your horses will be ready, and we’ve managed to retrieve the things from your rooms. There is no evidence either of you was there.”
The only risk would be hearsay, and there would be more than enough of that floating about after the murder of a king. Cass tugged at the collar of his new jacket. Sarah’s estimation of his size was only a bit small. She’d brought Miri loose, soft, and layered gowns made of nothing that would irritate her wounds. Cass would ride with her, and Hugh and Ginger would be at their sides with a small party of loyal guards, while Terric and others misdirected the kingsmen.
Bells rang through the street outside their meeting place, and Cass startled at the sound.
Terric gave him a wry smile. “It’s not an alarm.” At Cass’s expression, Terric explained, “It’s a call to assemble. The queen’s first order of business was to seek vengeance on the woman she’s accused of being the source of the plot. The king’s mistress is being hanged for treason.”