Carson Rae

The King's Guard

Dedication

FOR SARAH AND RYAN,

WHO THOUGHT THEY WERE JOKING

WHEN THEY MADE ME PROMISE

MANY YEARS AGO

TO DEDICATE SOMETHING TO THEM

1

THE morning sun crawls over the palace wall when I enter the training yard for recruit selection. I’m the first one here, not because there is honor in being first, but because I have the shortest distance to come. I already live in the palace.

I carry three items; Royal Guard recruits are allowed exactly three possessions from their previous lives. We give up everything else—title, property, and loyalty to anyone other than our king—for the privilege of joining the most elite fighting force in all of Joya d’Arena. Or I guess I should say the chance of joining; being a recruit is no guarantee of making the cut.

I don’t wait long before the other recruits begin to arrive, their own three items in hand. They are all older than I am, taller, stronger. Most have served a year or two in countship guards, a few in the army. All of them keep their distance. They expect me to fail, partly because I’m only fifteen years old, but mostly because I didn’t make it to recruit training on my own merit. I’m here as a special favor to the king.

For two years I ran errands in the palace. I stood at King Nicolao’s side when he met with condes and ambassadors, dictated reports, and discussed strategy with his aides. When I wasn’t with the king, I served Prince Alejandro, and eventually I became his squire. Now Alejandro is king, and I have asked him for a boon.

“All I want,” I told him, “is the opportunity to prove myself.”

Even he believes that I am too young for the Guard, too inexperienced, and he suggested I wait a few years. But I’m tired of waiting.

The iron portcullis slams down, locking us in.

Lord-Commander Enrico strides toward us, dressed in shining armor, the red cloak that marks him as Royal Guard whipping at his heels. He is one of the tallest and most polished men I’ve ever known. His clothes are always impeccable, and the curls of his hair are oiled to shine. He’s a commoner by birth, though rumor throughout the palace is that he has aspirations of true nobility and fancies himself a player in the game of politics.

“Form a line!” yells Commander Enrico.

We run to comply. The training yard is a massive oval with dusty, hard-packed ground surrounded on all sides by a stone wall. At one end are straw practice dummies and archery targets. At the other, a dark archway leads to the barracks. Several Royal Guardsmen lean against the portcullis, arms crossed, faces amused. Sitting on the wall on either side is a gathering crowd: Royal Guard, palace guard, city watch, and even a handful of young noblewomen. Everyone has come to gawk at the new recruits.

Usually, the king comes to watch recruiting day too. I asked him not to, just this once. There’s no way I could stand here at attention being gawked at without catching Alejandro’s amused gaze. No way I could pretend he wasn’t sitting out in the open, dangerously exposed. And I really, really need to pretend he’s not a factor today. That he is not, in fact, my good friend.

Enrico walks the length of our line, arms behind his back, eyebrow raised in either contempt or challenge. The first recruits he addresses are Tomás and Marlo of the city watch, recommended by General Luz-Manuel himself. They are about twenty years old, with nice full mustaches and the ease of stance that comes with being the best at everything they’ve ever done. Enrico welcomes them warmly.

If they’re going to be the commander’s favorites, it would be smart for me to get to know them.

Enrico pauses next before a lean young man with dark skin and quick eyes. He wears ragged homespun, and his right shoe has a hole in the toe. He carries a bow, a quiver, and a bundle of arrows as his chosen items, not realizing that the Guard will give him better weapons.

“Fernando de Ismelda,” Enrico says. “You won the kingdom’s archery competition. I gather it was quite a surprise to everyone.”

“Not to me,” the boy says.

I decide that I like Fernando de Ismelda.

But Enrico frowns. He is silent a long time, trying to make Fernando uncomfortable. Finally, he says, “It’s true that the Royal Guard is a place where men of station as low as yours can rise to the highest ranks in the kingdom, based on their own merits. But you’ll find that much more is required than just being a good shot.”

Lord-Commander Enrico moves on to the young man standing beside me, a giant with hands like paddles. “And you are?” he says.

“Lucio, my lord,” the young man answers.

Enrico nods. “Ah, yes, former squire to Conde Treviño. I’ve heard good things about you, son.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

Either Enrico is getting bad information, or he’s being deliberately false to test the rest of us. We’ve all heard of Lucio of Basajuan, a notorious bully with a penchant for drunken watch shifts. One of his three items is an amphora of wine, which he slings one-handed the way most men would carry a jug. Surely, someone advised him against that. Just as surely, Lucio ignored them.

I’m not the only one who is here as a favor to a powerful man. Lucio is the youngest son of Conde Treviño’s wealthiest supporter, and the conde found it problematic to discipline him without offending the boy’s father. So Lucio was sent to the Royal Guard either as a last-ditch attempt at reform or as a way of washing him out of the conde’s service without blame.

Enrico sizes me up last. Sweat trickles down my temples, and my three possessions grow heavy in my arms. I’m not sure what he’s waiting for. Maybe he’s testing me under the burden of silence. I’ve seen how waiting, how not knowing, can break a man. But not me. Enrico can stare as much as he wants.

“You are Hector de Ventierra, yes?” Enrico says coldly. “Third son of Conde Ricardón de Ventierra?”

I stare straight ahead, focusing on the king’s crest, which flaps in the breeze above the portcullis. But the sun catches on the commander’s bronze epaulets, flashing fire in my eyes, and I can’t help but wince.

“Just Hector now, my lord,” I say.

He knows perfectly well who I am. He is Alejandro’s personal guard and I’m his squire. We’ve rubbed shoulders countless times.

“Just recruit now. The Guard is a place for men who work and get things done, not for lordlings eager to play at being soldier. What did you bring with you, boy?”

“A blanket, my lord.”

“Why did you bring a blanket?”

“The recruit quarters are said to be cold, my lord.”

“That thing looks more like a dress for a princess ball.”

Several of the recruits snicker. This is a trick. He didn’t ask a question, so I am not supposed to answer.

Alejandro warned me that the recruit barracks is really a dungeon that gets too chilly for our one-blanket allotment. So Queen Rosaura, who is bedridden with a difficult pregnancy, made me a quilt. It’s bright and shimmering, a patchwork of scraps from old gowns, and it would indeed look perfect on the bed of a princess. It’s guaranteed to earn me a thrashing or two, but Rosaura is one of the best people in the world, and bringing it seemed like the right thing to do.

“What’s that on top of your dress, princess?” Enrico says.

“A memento from my brother’s ship, my lord.”

My brother’s wife, Aracely, gave it to me. It’s a decorative plaque made of sea-smoothed ship planking. Burn-etched into the wood are the words, “Harsh winds, rough seas, still hearts.” Tiny pinkish shells are arranged into a border around the edges. Hidden within each shell is a jeweled bead. It’s a small fortune, a hedge against an uncertain future. “No man or woman should be wholly dependent on another,” she said. “If the Guard doesn’t work out, or if you ever decide you need to escape, this will give you something to start over with.”

“So,” Enrico says. “Our princess is homesick for his big brother.”

Again, a statement, not a question. I do not reply, though several retorts suggest themselves. If the hardest thing I have to do is listen to you talk, then I can do that all day, my lord.

He points to the third item. “A book! You brought a book?”

“Yes, my lord.” It’s not a manuscript, but an actual bound book about the architectural history of Joya d’Arena. A gift from my mother. The last several pages are blank. I can write whatever I want in them.

“You expect to be so bored here, to have so much free time, that you will be able to read books at your leisure, like priests in a monastery. Do I look like I run a monastery?”

“Not last feast day, when you brought in a wagonload of harlots.”

In my defense, he did ask me a question.

I expect a blow. A scolding at least. The crowd is silent, expectant. Drying sweat itches on my cheek, but I refuse to scratch, reminding myself that I can handle it. I can handle anything.

“Make no mistake,” Enrico says finally. “I never would have accepted your application were it not for the king’s order. I expect you will be expelled within a month.”

His forthrightness makes me bold. “I expect you will be surprised, my lord.”

“It’ll happen within a day if you don’t learn to hold your tongue and know your place.” He turns and speaks loudly to the whole line. “The king always shows up to view the Guard recruits on the first day. But he didn’t today. And do you know why? It’s because he didn’t want to see his pretty little princess fail.”

My face burns. But in a way I feel relieved. Enrico has said the thing everyone is thinking, and it’s like a hot, tight blanket has been lifted from the training yard and everyone can breathe. Or maybe just me.

Lord-Commander Enrico steps back, draws his sword, and raises it to the sky. Loudly enough for the whole city to hear, he yells, “Do you have what it takes to be Royal Guard?”

“Yes, my lord!” we answer in unison.

The Guards lounging by the portcullis snigger to one another.

“Can you work harder than you’ve ever worked—through pain, through pride, through exhaustion—to become something more?”

“Yes, my lord!”

“Will you give up everything you own, everything you are, and swear to protect the king and his interests even unto death?”

“YES, MY LORD!”

His eyes narrow to slits, and he says in a normal voice, “We shall see.” He sheaths the sword, sending it home with a swick! of finality.

He indicates the portcullis with a lift of his chin, and one of the guards lounging there peels off and steps toward us. “This is Captain Mandrano, my second-in-command,” Enrico says of the approaching guard. “He’ll play nurse to you whelps for the rest of the day. You will follow his orders without question, as if they come from the king himself. Or”—he stares directly at me—“you will be sent home.”

The worst is over. Now I’ll be able to show them what I’m worth.

2

THE iron portcullis squeals as it rises, and once Enrico has passed into the cool shadows of the barracks, it slams down behind him with a clang.

Odd. I’ve watched recruiting day for the Royal Guard for years, even before it became my plan to join. The lord-commander himself always oversees the first day’s evaluations. Always.

Captain Mandrano paces before us with hard purpose. He is a beast, with boulders for shoulders and tree trunks for arms. A white scar bisects the right half of his mouth, lifting his lip into a permanent sneer, but a steady intelligence in his eyes gives me hope. This is a man I can impress, a man who will see.

The first thing the captain will do is put us through a series of exercises to assess our speed and strength, our coordination and reaction time, our judgment. It happens every year. Sometimes, one or two recruits are cut on the very first day. It’s the reason people line the wall, turning the training yard into an arena.

The archer—Fernando—shifts uncomfortably, but I breathe deep through my nose to steady my pulse and send life into my limbs. Harsh winds, rough seas, still hearts.

Captain Mandrano’s voice booms over our heads. “Your first task,” he says, “will be to wash the training yard.”

I almost drop my princess quilt.

“What?” Lucio says. Then he goes stiff beside me, and no one wishes he could suck the word back in more than I do.

“Are you questioning orders, whelp?” Mandrano barks.

“No, my lord!”

“Am I wearing gold and jewels? Do I smell like a courtesan’s underskirt?”

Lucio hesitates. “No, my lord.”

“Then why would you mistake me for a lord? I’m a workingman who earns my bread, just like every other man in the Royal Guard. Are you a lord?”

He’s speaking to Lucio, but I know—everyone here knows—the question is directed at me. I hold my breath and pray that Lucio doesn’t make things worse.

“N-No, my . . . captain,” Lucio stammers. I allow myself to exhale.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Mandrano says. He turns his head and glowers at the whole line of recruits. “All of you workingmen will now wash the walls, as well as the yard.”

This time, no one so much as twitches.

“You’ll be provided with buckets, soap, and rags. When the monastery bells ring the dinner hour, I’ll come to inspect your work. If it has been done to my satisfaction, you’ll take your meal in the barracks. Now, get to work!”

Buckets sloshing with lye-murky water are lowered down the wall. A pile of rags tumbles down after them. Everything comes from the direction of the palace laundry, which means they made all the arrangements ahead of time.

I set my quilt, my plaque, and my book on the ground, and head toward the buckets. A moment later, I sense the other boys at my back. As I’m reaching down for the rope handle of the nearest bucket, I hear a voice at my shoulder.

“Wash the training yard?” Fernando whispers. “This whole place will be a muddy mess. It makes no sense.”

“Have you ever served in the military, even a local guard?” I ask.

“No. My father’s a tanner.” He bends down to grab his own bucket. “When I won the king’s purse with my bow, Papá told me to try for the Guard—he said I’d be set for life and never have to work as hard as he does.”

“Well, that order was not supposed to make sense. We’re to follow it anyway.” I heave the bucket upward. Water sloshes onto the toes of my boots. Between the fraying rope of the handle and the lye in the water, it will be a wonder if all the skin doesn’t peel from my hands. “The sooner we demonstrate that we’ve learned the lesson, the sooner—”

A heavy blow to my right shoulder spins me around, and I almost drop the bucket. “You’re the reason for this,” says Lucio, his face dark.

I peer up at him, able to observe him closely for the first time. His eyes are angry. No, rageful. And his rage has a weight about it, as if he’s been shoring it up, cultivating it, for a long, long time. And now he’s found a focus for it. Lucky me.

“Maybe I am,” I admit. Lucio’s face flickers with hesitation. I guess that wasn’t the response he was expecting. “Or maybe,” I continue unwisely, because I can’t help it, “all this is meant to wean you from Conde Treviño’s teat.”

I see the first blow coming and dodge—directly into his second swing. Light bursts across my vision as my neck snaps to the side. I blink. Blink again. Somehow, I ended up flat on my back, twitching in the now-soaked dirt.

Lucio raises his knee. I roll away from his kick. Grab the now-empty bucket. He kicks again, but I raise the bucket just in time. Lucio’s foot rips it out of my hands, but he screams in pain. I hope he broke a toe or two.

I scramble to my feet. Blood pours from my head and down my cheek, but so long as it misses my eyes, I’ll be fine. I drop into a fighting crouch and size up my options. The other recruits have stepped back to give us space. People along the wall are whooping and hollering like it’s a Deliverance Day spectacle.

Lucio’s head is lowered, like a bull ready to charge.

I have no weapons. Maybe I could leap onto the wall and grab a dagger from an onlooker. But I don’t really think my life is in danger, and I don’t want to hurt him badly. A blow to the head with the edge of a bucket is my best option.

But Lucio doesn’t charge. Instead, he seems to be thinking.

Damn. I had hoped he wasn’t much of a thinker. Then again, a thinking man can be reasoned with.

“Maybe we should get to work,” I say carefully. “Start with the walls. We’d get rid of all these spectators if we tossed soapy water onto the walls.”

“You insulted me,” Lucio says.

“Get used to it. We’ll have to bravely face down a lot of dangerous insults before we’re allowed to take our oaths.”

His fists clench, and I curse myself for stupidity. Control yourself, Hector.

I glance around for our captain. Mandrano is by the portcullis, his arms crossed, evaluating us. Have we failed already, Captain? Are you itching to tell your lord-commander about this?

If I win here against Lucio, I might fail in reaching my goal, so I drop my guard. “You can thrash me after dinner if you want. But let’s get this done first. Either we wash the training yard, or they wash us out.”

A muscle in Lucio’s jaw twitches. “You’re afraid of me.”

“Yes,” I say, wiping a bit of blood from my temple. “But I’m more afraid of getting cut.”

Fernando steps between us, a bucket in hand. “All right, then,” he says. “Let’s get to work.” And he tosses the water against the wall, purposely splashing the dangling legs of several of the palace garrison, who quickly scuttle back and drop out of sight.

We scrub every speck of those walls while the sun beats down on our heads. Then more buckets appear, and we start our useless work on the ground itself. The skin of my hands burns, and the cut on my head stings with sweat.

Much later, the low, orange sun casts gloom onto the training yard, making it hard to tell which areas are damp with water and which are dark with shadows. The monastery bells toll the dinner hour, and I look up from scrubbing uselessly at dirt to find Captain Mandrano standing over me, fists on his hips.

I blink sweat from my eyes and await his pronouncement. Even through my pants, the skin of my knees is rubbed raw, and my lower back aches. My stomach rumbles loudly.

Mandrano smiles, and his scar makes it a mocking grin. “The lot of you had all day to clean the training yard,” he says, and his voice and gaze seem to focus on me, “and not one of you thought to wash the dummies or the targets. Is that what you think of the Royal Guard? That it does half a job, then quits?”

The soldiers, Tomás and Marlo, shout, “No, my captain!” and carry their buckets toward the south end of the yard.

Mandrano moves away, continuing his inspection. I rise from my knees, sensing Lucio and Fernando at my shoulders. I hope I don’t get saddled with them, as neither is likely to make the cut.

“I could use a glass of wine,” Lucio says under his breath.

“I’d be happy with water and a crust of bread,” Fernando replies.

Mandrano makes a show of inspecting the cleanliness of the far wall, then he says, “I’ll be back before dawn, and I expect it to be done right this time.” He disappears under the portcullis, probably to see his wife, eat a big dinner, and catch some sleep. I think I might hate him.

I point to the bales of hay stacked behind the targets. “We should wash those too,” I say, “before the captain invents the job. While we’re at it, we might as well wash the portcullis and the archway.”

Fernando slumps over with a groan. “Maybe I haven’t given enough consideration to the fine life of a tanner.”

“Straighten up,” I tell him. “Just because you don’t see Mandrano or Enrico doesn’t mean they don’t see you. Assume everything you do is being watched and evaluated.”

Fernando grunts and straightens.

I grab my rag and look for something in the yard that hasn’t already been senselessly scrubbed.

3

WE’RE allowed to stumble into the barracks just before dawn. Captain Mandrano orders us to stow our three possessions—which we preserved by balancing them on empty, overturned buckets while we washed the yard—and only then will we be allowed into the mess for a meal. After that, we’ll be permitted two hours’ sleep. Then our real training will begin.

The recruits’ room is a squat, low-ceilinged rectangle with earthen walls buttressed by thick wooden beams. Alejandro was right—it’s much like a dungeon, with damp, chilly air permeated by the faint scent of rat urine. I console myself with the thought that, after hard days of training in the yard, a damp chill might feel nice.

Three oil lamps hang from the ceiling’s center beam. Twelve rickety cots stretch out from the longer walls, six to a side. Beside each cot is a small chest with two drawers. Above each cot is a hanging peg.

I pick the cot nearest the doorway. No one else wants it, for it’s bound to be the noisiest. But it also might have the freshest air, and I’d rather be aware of what’s going on around me than sleep through it. I hang my brother’s plaque, stash my book in one of the drawers, and flip my quilt out over the length of the cot. The latter earns chuckles from several of the recruits, but Fernando gives it an admiring look.

“A girl back home?” he asks.

“Something like that,” I say in a tone to discourage further questions. Confessing that the queen herself made it for me is not likely to earn any good will with this group.

Once we’ve claimed our space and stowed our belongings, we stand at attention by the ends of our cots while Captain Mandrano inspects us. Tomás and Marlo are praised for their hard work and fine example.

He moves down the line. He tells another recruit that his boots are too worn, that he’ll have to go barefoot until he is outfitted with a proper pair. When I see the recruit’s callused feet, I think that he may be better off without the boots.

Mandrano reaches Lucio. Without a word, he grabs the young man’s amphora of wine and dumps it down the floor drain outside the door.

“The amphora is one thing, the wine is another,” Mandrano tells Lucio, who is almost as big as he is. “And you’re only allowed three things, not four.”

“You could have taken my medallion,” Lucio says. It’s a good luck piece, the image of a Godstone surrounded by a verse from the Scriptura Sancta that asks blessings for the bearer.

Mandrano studies it. “No, you’re going to need that.”

Lucio persists, “I would have drunk the wine and gotten rid of the amphora.”

Stop whining, you stupid oaf.

Mandrano’s contempt for him is, fortunately, beyond words. He comes to Fernando. “You can’t lean your bow against the wall—store it under your bed.”

“But that will ruin it,” Fernando says.

Mandrano’s voice fills the barracks. “Did I ask you for your opinion on weapons? Do you think a recruit knows more about a Guard’s weapons than a twenty-year veteran?”

Fernando bites his tongue for once, but it’s likely more from exhaustion than anything else. Or maybe he’s worried Mandrano will notice the state of his shoes.

Mandrano comes to me last. “That is a lovely quilt, recruit,” he says.

“Thank you, sir.”

“It’s the envy of every little girl in Brisadulce. I saw them sitting on the wall today, staring at that blanket and asking their mothers if they could join the Guard so they could have one just like it. Is that what you want, recruit? You want a Guard full of little girls?”

“If they can fight well enough to defend the king, sir.”

“Are you talking back to me?”

“No, sir.”

“Tuck every bit of that quilt under the mattress, recruit. If I see even the tiniest edge, I will confiscate it and destroy it. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

I do as he asks as quickly as possible. He inspects everything one more time while we sway unsteadily on our feet, our stomachs growling. Finally, finally, he gives us leave to seek out a meal.

We tumble from the barracks and into the mess with renewed energy, but we stop short as soon as we arrive. The place is empty.

“What did you expect?” Mandrano says. “You shouldn’t have taken so long in the training yard.”

Beside me, Fernando whimpers, and I hope with all the hope inside me that Mandrano did not hear.

“The cooks won’t arrive to begin breakfast for another half hour,” Mandrano says. “You’re free until then.” All nine of us glower at his back as he leaves.

“Now what?” Fernando says. “I guess we could go back to our room and sleep for a bit.”

“I’m not going to risk missing a meal,” says one of the others.

“I could thrash Hector now,” Lucio suggests hopefully.

I swing my legs over the nearest bench and plop my forearms onto the table. “I’m sleeping right here,” I announce. “So I can wake up as soon as the kitchen opens.” I let my head drop onto my arms. Lucio can thrash me if he wants, but I’ll probably just sleep through it.

I wake to a hand shaking my shoulder, and I jump up, reaching for a sword that isn’t there.

“Easy, my lord,” says a high voice.

“Just a recruit now,” I mumble.

A boy with curly hair backs away from me. I blink at him to clear sleep from my eyes. It’s one of the new pages. Adán or Ando or something like that.

Men are filtering into the mess hall. Easy laughter fills the air, along with the sounds of spoons against bowls and benches scraping the floor. I step away, intending to dart toward the meal line, but the page grabs my arm. “Message from the king,” he says. “You’re being summoned.”

A hush settles over the mess hall. Everyone stares at me. Everyone who isn’t glowering, that is. The page holds out a piece of folded parchment.

Alejandro, what have you done?

Captain Mandrano is at my side before I can react, snatching the king’s note from my fingertips. “What’s this about?” he says.

“How should I know?” I snap. “I haven’t read it yet.”

Mandrano’s glare is as hot as a blacksmith’s furnace. My brother Felix used to say that my knives would never be as sharp as my tongue, which was a shame. But seeing Mandrano looking at me with murder in his eyes makes me understand that my sharp tongue will be my downfall unless I learn to control it.

“You can read it, of course,” I say.

He turns it over, a tiny square in his large hands, but the seal stops him. “That’s His Majesty’s mark,” he says. “It’s addressed to you. Only you can open it.”

He means it sincerely, I can tell. The king’s seal is sacred to him.

When he hands it back to me, I tear it open at once. Come immediately is all it says in Alejandro’s fluid, elegant scrawl.

“Damn it,” I say.

A half dozen possibilities run through my mind. Chief among them is an early morning tryst. I used to deliver messages to coordinate his assignations with the court ladies—the errand I hated most. But that can’t be it; he ceased all such behavior after marrying Rosaura.

The collective stares of the Royal Guardsmen press in around me, and I realize it doesn’t matter why I’m being summoned. Everyone will see this as confirmation that I’m the king’s flunky, exempt from the usual standards and behaviors expected of a Royal Guard.

With the seal broken and the message read, Mandrano casts his reservations aside and tears it from my grasp again. “Well, then, squire,” he says, turning the title into an insult. “You’d better go at once.” He stuffs the summons back into my hand and shoves me toward the door. It feels like a permanent dismissal.

The scent of hot, honeyed porridge follows me out of the mess. I’m in the hallway heading toward the palace proper when I hear two Guardsmen talking at my back, loud enough for me to hear.

“Less than a day,” the first one retorts with a sneer.

“He hasn’t washed out yet.”

“He’s walking out the door before he’s sworn in, and that means that he’s washed out. Pay up.”

I’m only a Guard recruit because of Alejandro.

And now, because of him, I may have already failed.

4

I can’t imagine that the barracks will ever feel as much like home as the palace halls, with their worn cobbled floors and sandstone walls warm with torchlight. I pass the kitchens, waving to the staff. They’re doling out leftover bread and cheese from breakfast to children of the palace servants. When the kitchen master sees me, he brandishes a heel of bread at me. My mouth waters, but I keep going.

I stop at a well-lit archway framed with block quartz. Centered in the archway is the desk of Vicenç, Alejandro’s mayordomo—though it is empty. A Royal Guard stands rigid beside it, his face stony. In the hallway just before the desk are several plush couches arranged around a thick rug.

This is the waiting area where all visitors to the royal quarters are received. As a page, I spent hours here, waiting to escort guests as needed. But there are no pages here now. Even the mayordomo is absent. But then I notice the Invierne ambassador sitting on one of the couches, his legs elegantly crossed, and I realize their absence is a deliberate snub.

The ambassador stands upon seeing me. He’s taller even than Enrico, with pale flowing robes, hair like molten gold, and upturned eyes the color of an emerald cove. Like all Inviernos, he has an ageless quality about him that makes him seem unknowable. He is newly appointed, just since the old king’s death, and I don’t remember his name. I resist the urge to back away as he gazes at me with haughty disdain.

I hear voices coming toward us from beyond the desk.

A moment later, Vicenç emerges from the shadows, accompanied by General Luz-Manuel, Conde Treviño, and Lord-Commander Enrico. Three of the five Quorum lords.

Lord-Commander Enrico is out of uniform. His civilian clothes are carefully cut to resemble those of the general and conde, though adorned with gold threads and jeweled buttons to emphasize wealth and station.

“Thank you for your reports, gentlemen,” Vicenç says. He is a sharp-featured man who probably should not have made the decision to draw attention to his nose with a large, gleaming nose ring. “I assure you the king and queen will announce the birth of their heir very soon.” The last statement is the kind of practiced theater that the Invierne ambassador is meant to overhear while he waits. If the royal succession is secure, Joya d’Arena will not be weakened by internal conflict. The message is that we are as strong as ever, and now is a very bad time for Invierne to attack.

“I hope they choose a good name for the child. A strong name,” says Luz-Manuel. The general is a small, balding man, carried to his position by ambition and wits rather than physical prowess. He proved to have a knack for strategy during the skirmishes with Invierne, and Alejandro’s father valued him highly—until one of those skirmishes got King Nicalao killed. Some say the general made a poor decision to flank a smaller, oncoming force, leaving the bulk of his men—including the king—exposed to the larger threat. Luz-Manuel insists the king himself gave the order.

I’ve always wondered about that.

“Perhaps they’ll name him Nicalao,” the general continues, “to honor the martial spirit of the late king.” I barely refrain from rolling my eyes. What if they have a daughter? Then I realize his comment was merely intended to remind the ambassador of Joya d’Arena’s military strength.

Enrico jumps in on cue. “The kingdom will remain stable and strong if— Hector! What in seven hells are you doing here?”

Vicenç appears indifferent to Enrico’s unplanned outburst. After serving three kings, it takes an extraordinary event to rouse him beyond bemused detachment. But the conde is openly furious.

Conde Treviño of Basajuan is a self-aggrandizing man who likes to overspend—thus the problem of Lucio, whom he can neither handle nor dispose of without upsetting the boy’s wealthy father. He seldom leaves Basajuan to come to the capital, and I’m never glad to see him.

Ignoring the conde’s glare, I say to Enrico, “I was summoned, my lord.” I hold up my note.

Enrico snatches it from my hands. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“I don’t know, my lord.”

The general reads over his shoulder. He glances at the Invierno ambassador, who suffers the scrutiny unflinchingly. “Let the boy go, Rico,” the general says after a moment. “We have other things to discuss.”

“And I could use a smoke,” Conde Treviño says. “Let’s talk about that little problem you’re taking care of for me over cigars.”

“Of course,” the lord-commander says. He takes one last glance over his shoulder at me as the general and conde lead him away.

The gem dangling from Vicenç’s nose ring winks in the torchlight as he sits down to work. He pulls reports from a locked drawer and gets busy ticking off numbers and accounts. I approach him. He barely glances up, grumbling, “What now?”

“I’ve been summoned to the king,” I say.

“Well, fetch yourself to him, boy.”

“That’s not proper procedure, and you know it,” I say, unable to keep the anger from my voice. I am not, at the moment, technically a member of the palace household, and security protocol demands that I be escorted.

He doesn’t look up a second time. “If I don’t have a page or squire to spare at the moment for Ambassador Wafting . . . er, Wind and Thunderstorm”—he makes a vague waving gesture—“then I don’t have one for you. So you can stand there all day, or you can obey his summons.”

“Yes, my lord,” I say, and turn to go.

The Invierno ambassador blocks my way.

“Perhaps I could go with the young gentleman,” he says in a fluid, hissing voice. I’m careful not to make eye contact. “It’s important that I speak to the king today. It will only take a moment.”

“I’m terribly sorry, my lord-ambassador,” Vicenç says, “but this is just an errand boy, not even a member of the palace staff. Look at his uniform! I would never embarrass you by sending you without a worthy escort.” To me, he says, “Hurry on, boy.”

I dash past the Guard, who curls his lip at the sight of my recruit uniform, and I leave the ambassador fuming at my back.

The private quarters of the palace are a maze, deliberately so—no assassin or enemy could make their way in quickly—but I know each turn well, and I head left, past the nobles’ quarters, up the stairs, and around the corner to the queen’s chambers.

5

DR. Enzo, the royal physician, is leaving as I arrive. He wipes sweat from his forehead, looking preoccupied, but forces a smile when he notices me. A smile from Enzo is never a good sign.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“I should be asking you that,” he says with forced conviviality, his razor-thin mustache twitching. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the barracks? I didn’t expect to see you again until the inevitable training accident. Did you know that training accidents are disfiguring twenty-three percent of the time?”

“The king summoned me.”

“He’s in there.” He rests a hand on my forearm. “Speak quietly,” he says in a low voice. “And do not upset the queen.”

I frown. This is a worse sign.

Inside, Queen Rosaura is propped up in her bed, which has been pushed to the glass doors overlooking the balcony. Before her pregnancy, she spent all day outdoors, in the garden or on horseback, and the enforced bed rest has not sat well with her.

One of her maids, Miria, wipes her forehead. When Miria sees me, she makes quick, tiny adjustments to the queen’s gown so that it lies flawless and smooth. Miria is about thirty years old, a trusted servant who has lived her whole life in the palace. I don’t know much about her except that she is Vicenç’s grandniece and she is married to a soldier, either someone in the Royal Guard or the palace watch.

I notice Alejandro last because he sits shadowed in the corner, gazing at his wife. His arms are crossed pensively, and one hand covers his mouth.

“Hector,” the queen says, smiling warmly as she always does, as if nothing is wrong. Alejandro jumps from his seat, startled by the sound of her voice.

“Your Majesty,” I say, bowing. “You don’t look a day older than when last I saw you.” My face flames, and I wish I could suck the words back. I never know what to say around women.

But she laughs anyway. “You saw me two days ago!” It’s a weak laugh, and I tell myself it’s because it was a weak joke. She glances meaningfully at Alejandro. “Shouldn’t he be with the recruits?”

“I summoned him,” Alejandro says. He strides over and grasps my arm. “Thank you, Hector.”

“I just witnessed an interesting bit of theater,” I say before I forget. “Vicenç and the Quorum Lords were performing for the new Invierne ambassador, making a big deal about your heir.”

Alejandro’s face tightens. “Of course,” he says, glancing at his wife. “An internal war of succession would provide an opportunity that Invierne’s sorcerers could not resist.”

Which is why the young king married and set about producing an heir as soon as his father died.

“It’s just that . . . well, their performance gave away Her Majesty’s exact state of health. Now everyone knows you’ll be here together more often than not for the next several days. In the interest of safety, I don’t think . . .” Too late, I realize I’m criticizing superior officers—Quorum lords, no less—not to mention possibly upsetting the queen. I give Rosaura an apologetic look.

But she still smiles. “I told you,” Rosaura says to Alejandro. “He’s too clever to waste in the Guard.”

“Which is why I summoned him,” Alejandro replies. “Even if, in this instance, he’s probably overthinking things. Allow me to borrow him for a moment, ladies.”

Taking my arm, he pulls me to one side of the chamber, where he angles our bodies away from the queen and Miria.

“I need you to go to Puerto Verde for me,” Alejandro says in a low voice.

Anger boils up in me, combining with exhaustion and hunger, and I can’t stanch the flow of words. “You summoned me away from recruiting day to run errands for you? Like when you were courting half the eligible women of the kingdom?”

“I need you, Hector.”

“You don’t!” My voice is getting too loud. I glance at the queen, who is exchanging an alarmed look with Miria. In a softer voice, I add, “You have a thousand men you could send to Puerto Verde instead of me.”

Alejandro rubs at his chin. He hasn’t been shaved yet today.

“I’ve sent numerous messages through regular channels, and received no response. I had Enrico send members of my Guard, but they also returned without replies. Then, last week I finally sent my own squire. I received word this morning that he was murdered on the highway.”

My stomach clenches. “Raúl is dead?”

“I’ve seen his body.”

He was only thirteen, an eager boy and an excellent horseman. I helped to train him. “A squire bearing his king’s colors should be safe on the road.”

“Precisely,” Alejandro says. “He was murdered in his sleep. It was made to look like the work of a bandit, but the wounds were too clean. Too perfect. Nothing was taken. I have to assume foul play. You’re the only one I can turn to. You are my army of one.”

He has called me that since I came to Brisadulce to be a royal page, for I was the first person he was given charge of who was not merely a servant. “My first command,” he used to joke.

“I’m yours to command, now and always.” Isn’t that what being a Royal Guard is all about anyway? “What do you need me to do?”

He slumps in relief, but he gets straight to the point. “You may remember a certain ring, a ruby as large and red as a cherry, set in a bed of tiny pearls.”

“I remember it,” I say carefully.

I glance at the queen, who gazes out the window with Miria and carefully pretends not to hear us, and I wonder if we ought to be discussing this in private, for the ruby ring was a gift from Alejandro to the beautiful Isadora de Flurendi, one of his paramours—the lady many assumed would be queen, right up until the moment Alejandro announced his betrothal to Rosaura, her older cousin.

The Flurendi family controls several ports, and Alejandro needed an alliance with one branch or the other to solidify his position. Many times as squire, I helped bring Isadora and Alejandro together, the last time only a few nights before his wedding. Honestly, I had not expected their relationship to end, not even after the marriage to Rosaura. But when the royal couple returned from their honeymoon, they walked around the palace in a state of baffled happiness, genuinely in love with each other. I did not observe what happened between them during the early weeks of their marriage, for I spent that time with my brother Felix, aboard his merchant ship. But I know that the only one more surprised and pleased than me was Alejandro.

The king looks over at his wife, and his gaze softens. “We would very much like to have the one who bears that ring with us at court again. Our many letters have gone unanswered. Rosaura misses her and worries about her deeply.”

This doesn’t explain the lengths to which he is going to contact the girl. “May I ask why she is wanted?”

Alejandro’s face flushes red, and he looks ashamed, an expression I never thought possible for him until he married Rosaura. “I cannot tell you, not in advance, in case anything should happen. Go and tell her personally that the queen and I both request the presence of our beloved cousin at court. Collect your answer from her personally.”

“And if I encounter obstacles?”

“Then use your judgment,” Alejandro says. “You’ve always had excellent judgment. I want you to leave without fanfare. And do not wear my colors. Just in case . . .” Just in case the squire’s murder was no coincidence.

An idea hits me. Maybe there’s still a way to preserve my chance at making the Guard. “You must let me take someone along to stand watch while I sleep. Two would be better than one.”

“Not possible,” Alejandro says. Again, that look of shame.

“If I’m murdered like Raúl, your message will never find its recipient.”

Alejandro considers. “You cannot take them with you into her father’s fortress, not to deliver our message or to receive her reply. You may tell them nothing.”

“Agreed,” I say. “I’d like to take two of the other recruits. Their names are Tomás and Marlo—they’re experienced soldiers. You will need to authorize their absences. All our absences.”

“I’ll send two of my Guards with you instead,” he says.

“That would draw more attention to your mission,” I say. “And Guards would never follow my lead. Better if we are all recruits.”

Also, three absent recruits—two of them Enrico’s favorites—will make it harder for the commander to single me out for punishment. He’ll be hard-pressed not to take me back.

Alejandro considers. His gaze switches back and forth between Rosaura and me. Finally, he says, “I don’t think I could bear to lose you too, Hector.” He sounds more tired than I feel, which is saying something.

He’ll lose me someday, if I’m to be a Royal Guard. It’s what we sign up for. But I hold my tongue on that count.

“I’ll draft the order, and you can leave immediately,” he says. “Come with me.”

“Let him stay and keep us company in your absence, love,” the queen says from across the room. She has, of course, been listening the whole time, which doesn’t seem to bother Alejandro one bit. Perhaps being truly in love means not having secrets from each other.

Alejandro nods, worry etched on his features. To me, he says, “I’ll return in a moment.”

I go to the queen.

6

“PREGNANCY suits you, Your Majesty,” I say to her, and then wince at yet another awkward compliment.

It’s a stretch. She was beautiful when she first became pregnant, glowing like the dawn, as happy as the song of a lark. But as the months have passed, it has worn her down. She still smiles with unrelenting cheer, but there is a heaviness to her, as though she has borne a painful wound for a long time.

“Thank you,” she says. “But you are a terrible liar, and I think you always will be.”

I start to protest, but she rests her hand on my wrist, and I feel how clammy her skin is. I say lightly, “My incapacity for dishonesty troubles you?”

I mean it as a joke, but she nods. “If you want to serve your king well, then you must learn not to speak at all. It may be the only thing that will prevent you from revealing your secrets.”

“I can keep—”

She interrupts my protest with a deep frown.

One does not ignore one’s queen’s admonition. I pause, and then, finally—wisely, I hope—nod wordlessly.

“Quickly, now, before you go, I must tell you a secret,” the queen says. “I must know first if you have the will to stay silent about it, because it could mean your life—or Alejandro’s—if you do not.”

“I’ll not say a word,” I promise earnestly.

She removes her hand from my arm and places it on her belly. “My pregnancy does not go well. The child inside me is weak. Doctor Enzo says my own life is in danger.”

With those words, something inside me shrivels. Everything suddenly makes sense: Dr. Enzo’s false cheer, Alejandro’s worry, the queen’s pallor. I glance up at Miria, hoping for a denial, but I see my own anguish mirrored in her face.

“Can’t Doctor Enzo do something?”

“He is doing everything he can, and it may yet turn out well. Many difficult pregnancies do. But I wish to have my beloved cousin Isadora at my side in this time of distress.”

Of the two monarchs, Rosaura is the better strategist—we all know it. She is older than Alejandro, wiser. She understands politics and power and secret deals better than Alejandro ever will. And I am not fool enough to believe they’re going to all this trouble to bring in a new lady-in-waiting.

“Brisadulce faces many dangers,” she continues. “Invierne is asking for port privileges, maybe to build a navy. They will attack again in force; if not this year, then soon. But Alejandro also faces danger from within. Many who were loyal to his father do not respect him yet.”

“They’ll learn—”

“Remember what I told you about being a bad liar?”

In this moment, if I could resolve never to speak again, I would. Because I know she is right.

“We don’t know who killed Raúl. I’d be surprised if anyone knew why my husband is sending messages to Lord Solvaño at the Fortress of Wind. Perhaps disrupting the king, exposing his weaknesses, is motivation enough.”

Isadora. The last detail clicks. Alejandro and Rosaura want Isadora at court, because if Rosaura dies, Alejandro can marry her immediately and keep strong ties to the Flurendi family.

Rosaura nods as if she can read my thoughts. “I know Isadora and Alejandro were . . . fond of each other. It would be a good match.”

I don’t know what to say. The pity on my face must be apparent, because finally her serene composure dies, and her face turns hard, her mouth set with frown lines. “The king must have a wife who can provide an heir. If Alejandro dies without one, I count at least four powerful condes who would claim distant ties to the throne. An ambitious man could even convince himself it was the right thing to do, that fighting for the throne would make the kingdom stronger. There would be civil war. And Invierne stands ready to sweep in and clean up the pieces.”

“You think someone has an eye on the throne,” I whisper. “Who?”

She smiles and shrugs. “Does it matter? Alejandro will be just as dead.”

She suspects someone; I can see it in her face.

“Alejandro has asked you to find her, yes?” she says.

You may remember a certain ring, with a ruby as large and red as a cherry. “Yes.”

“When you speak to her, let her know that she is dear to me and that I want her happiness and position assured even before my own.”

“I will,” I promise. What must it be like, I wonder, to orchestrate a potential marriage for her own husband?

“You may find it harder to deliver your message than Alejandro indicates. My uncle, Isadora’s father, is very devout and cloistered, and he rules his keep with iron control. Isadora has not been seen at public functions since she returned home after the royal wedding. There are concerns that her father, having intercepted our letters to her, is keeping her in isolation.”

“But why?”

“Perhaps he has convinced himself it is the right thing to do. No one sets out to do evil, you know. We just do our best and let history judge.”

History. As if her decisions are already in the past and she is already gone. The lump in my throat vies with the knot in my chest. This situation requires delicacy. It should be attended to by a diplomat, someone wiser in the ways of court and experienced in intrigue.

Rosaura’s expression turns sympathetic. “I’m sending Miria with you. She’ll be able to go places in the fortress that you can’t go.”

“Into the women’s quarters,” I suggest.

“There and elsewhere,” says Miria. Her face is firm with resolve, and I find myself warming to her.

Rosaura says, “She’ll meet you outside the city gate after you leave. Agreed?”

“It’s not safe,” I say. “Squire Raúl—”

“I trust you to protect her,” the queen says.

“On my word,” I promise again. “But she can’t tell anyone, not even her husband, where she’s going.”

Miria glowers. “My husband would never—”

Rosaura puts up a hand. “He’s not accusing anyone of anything, Miria. He’s doing his best to keep all of you safe—not from friends, but from the enemies we don’t know. Can you obey?”

She hesitates a moment. “I can.”

The door adjoining the royal suites opens, and Alejandro strides through, bearing a folded piece of parchment sealed with red wax.

“This should get you what you nee—” His gaze shifts between Rosaura and me. “Everything all right?”

“Of course,” the queen says, her usual serenity back in place. “Hector was concerned for our health, but I have assured him that everything is well and going as expected.”

She sounds utterly convincing, as bright and genuine as one of her smiles. She’s right: I’ll never be able to lie so well.

I take the order from Alejandro’s outstretched hand. The wax is still warm. “The sooner I leave,” I say, “the sooner I can return.”

“I’ll pray for you, my friend,” Alejandro says, and I can only nod in response.

At least no one suggests that I might not return.

7

IN the training yard, Mandrano is putting the other recruits through basic exercises, seeing how they handle a sword, their fists, an opponent. Their wild swinging and unsteady legs speak to their exhaustion. I suppose I should feel lucky to miss it all, but the clack of wooden weapons, the grunt that follows a hard blow, the smells of sweat and dust call out to me. It’s everything I had hoped to be doing.

When Mandrano spots me, he turns deliberately away and makes a show of correcting Fernando’s form as the boy skewers a straw dummy with a wooden sword.

I move into his line of sight, and when that doesn’t work, I circle around and get right in his face. “A command from His Majesty,” I say, holding out the sealed parchment. “He requires my aid, along with that of Tomás and Marlo.”

“Why not call upon his own Guard?” Mandrano asks, snatching it from my hand.

“I gather that his Guard is needed for more important duties.”

Mandrano tears it open and reads. “This is horse muck.”

“What’s horse muck?” Commander Enrico strides toward us from the barracks. He pins me with a gaze, and a breeze brings me the lingering sweet-smoke scent of Selvarican cigars.

The other recruits have stopped training or even pretending to train. All attention is now squarely focused on me and the two commanding officers.

Mandrano obediently hands Enrico the parchment. I watch the commander’s eyes. He reads it carefully twice, then feigns continued reading while he considers.

“The needs and decisions of kings are beyond the question of the Guard,” Mandrano says at last.

“Yes, yes,” Enrico says, though I’m not sure he’s convinced.

“A Royal Guard obeys his king instantly and without question,” Mandrano says louder, speaking now to the recruits more than to his commander.

Enrico glowers, but he nods.

“And we trust that he has an excellent reason for giving us this command,” Mandrano adds.

“Indeed we do,” Enrico says, and a wicked smile suddenly curves his lips. “Fernando! Lucio!”

The archer and the bully step forward.

“The two of you go pack. His Majesty requires you to run an errand for him with Hector.”

“That’s not right,” I blurt. “It’s supposed to be Tomás and Marlo!”

Tomás and Marlo exchange an alarmed glance.

I reach for the note and stop just short of snatching it from Enrico’s hand.

He holds it up in a way that’s almost taunting. “His Majesty says I’m to send two other recruits. In my judgment, Fernando and Lucio are best qualified to aid you.”

I’m fuming, and it must show, because a subtle smile plays across Enrico’s lips. He’s taking advantage of the opportunity to get rid of three of us at once. I don’t care about Lucio—he’s only getting what’s coming to him—but Fernando doesn’t deserve this. His only fault is not knowing anyone to whom Enrico owes a favor. I don’t deserve this either.

“Do you have a problem with my commands?” Enrico asks.

“No, my lord!” I answer.

“Good,” he says. “Mandrano, escort these whelps to their quarters so they can gather their things.”

“My lord . . .” I say, and then hesitate.

Enrico watches me like a hangman doling out rope to his victim. “Yes, princess?”

“It should only take a few days to get there and back. We’ll return to our training immediately after.”

Enrico smiles. “There is no mention here of how long this . . . errand will take. We can’t assume you’ll return before the evaluation is complete. It’s possible you’ll miss so much training that you won’t be able to catch up with everyone. We’ll have to decide what to do with you when you return. Understood?”

My heart sinks. “By my king’s command, my lord,” I say.

“Fernando! Lucio!” Enrico snaps. “Clear the barracks of all your things now.”

As they rush to comply, I realize assassins along the highway are now the least of my worries. Based on the looks Fernando and Lucio are throwing over their shoulders at me, they’ll team up to murder me themselves.

“You too, princess,” Mandrano says, though the barb seems halfhearted. He’s looking up at Enrico, a puzzled expression on his face. “Go get that pretty dress off your cot and pack up.”

8

THE walk to the stables is fraught with silent, seething anger. “What in seven hells is going on?” Lucio rages as soon as we are out of earshot.

“I’ve told you everything I can,” I say. “The king is sending us as couriers to Puerto Verde. We’ll come back as soon as we’re done.”

“I don’t care if you’re kissing camels to get the favors you get,” he says. “But if you muck up my one chance to get into the Guard—”

“You think this is a favor?” I fume. “You think I asked for this?”

“If it gets you out of training with—”

“Calm down,” Fernando says. “We’re doing something for the king. That’s why we want to be in the Guard, right, so we can do things for the king?”

He addresses Lucio, but his eyes are on me.

“You heard Enrico,” Lucio says. “He’s going to throw us out like so much trash when we get back.”

“But it’s King Alejandro’s Guard, right?” Fernando says, his eyes still fixed on me. He’s trying to parse his own chances.

“So I’ve heard,” I say.

“It’s the king’s Royal Guard,” Lucio says. “Not Alejandro’s. It was his father’s before, and it’ll belong to whomever comes after.”

“We won’t have to worry about that for a long time,” I say.

“It could be tomorrow or the day after,” Lucio says. “Everyone knows Alejandro would rather chase skirts than chase an enemy. The one time he fought Invierne, he nearly died of fright. Remember? The day King Nicalao took an arrow? They say Alejandro panicked. Cried like a—”

I smash my fist into Lucio’s face. He loses his balance and tumbles into a stall filled with straw. I jump on top of him and throw jabs at his face as fast and hard as I can.

His arms are longer than mine. He absorbs my blows as if they’re nothing while groping for my neck. His thumbs press into my windpipe. I grip the side of his skull and jam my thumbs into his eyes.

Stars swim in my vision, but I have the satisfaction of feeling him twist and buck beneath me, of hearing him squeal in pain.

Something grabs my collar and yanks me off of him. Lucio starts to launch himself after me, but a steel-toed boot pins his chest to the ground.

“Hector! What in the king’s name is going on here?” It’s Felipe, the stable master, and we boys have proven no match for the man who wrangles war chargers all day.

My head swims, and the edges of my vision blur. My throat convulses, trying to suck in air. Felipe knows me well. He’ll assume Lucio is in the wrong, and he’ll likely call the palace watch to have him arrested.

Finally, I’m able to force out the words: “Nothing! It’s fine . . . it’s over.”

Lucio glares at me, angry but confused.

“We had a disagreement,” I add, rubbing my throat. Breathing comes easier now, but I’m going to have nasty bruises. “We worked it out.”

“Is that true?” the stable master says.

Lucio looks at me, then glances at Fernando, who stands silently off to the side, his face a careful blank. “We worked it out,” he mutters.

Without giving details, I explain that we’re on an errand for the king. I ask for Blaze, who was my horse when I was squire, but he was stolen when Raúl was murdered. Instead I end up with Sosimo, a chestnut gelding with a strong temperament and fine bones, who can set the pace for the two other mounts.

Soon we are on our way, our horses swishing their tails against the tiny sand flies that always cloud the air for a few weeks after the rainy season. The day is hot, and both the ocean to our right and the desert to our left are blindingly bright. Neither Fernando nor Lucio say a word to me. Which suits my mood fine, since I’ve got nothing to say back.

We are well into the desert before Miria joins us. She is dressed in rough-spun wool, like a desert nomad. She sits astride a dun mare, just off the road.

“Where are you headed?” she calls.

“Puerto Verde,” I reply.

“May I travel with you? The roads are not safe for a woman alone.”

“Suit yourself,” I answer.

Miria introduces herself by name, but does not mention that she works at the palace. Lucio and Fernando size her up appreciatively; she’s attractive enough, I suppose, with pretty eyes and the healthy, well-fed look of a merchant or higher-class servant. But she is old enough to be our aunt, and after a few minutes, Lucio ignores her. Fernando tries a few jokes, but she doesn’t respond, and soon we are all traveling in silence.

The first day’s journey takes us to a way station consisting of a long feed trough and a tying post for horses and camels, several palm-thatch lean-tos, and a deep well. Miria takes one of the lean-tos, and the rest of us set up just outside, where we have a good view of the highway. After tending our mounts, we share a small, silent meal. As the sun dips into the sea, casting the desert sand in fiery red, I tell Fernando to take the first watch.

“Shout if you see anything unusual,” I tell him. “Anything at all.”

“If I see an extra serving of dinner, I’m keeping it for myself,” he says.

My plan is to stay awake and watch him keep watch, but the lack of sleep from the night before catches up with me.

I’m jerked from sleep by a shout. The twang of a bow. A thump nearby.

By the time I’m on my feet, sword in hand, there’s a body lying at my feet.

9

FERNANDO’S arrow is buried deep in a man’s chest. A perfect shot.

The dead man is unkempt and rough looking, the kind of man you wouldn’t glance at twice if he were a field hand or part of a deck crew. Good chance he was one or the other for most of his life. White scars, cold in the moonlight, welt along the knuckles that still grip the knife he carries; he probably brawled for money on the side. The blade he clutches is short and sharp, for slitting swiftly and quietly.

“He studied us,” Fernando says. “Then he moved so fast. I didn’t know what to do, and I just . . .”

“Tell me,” I say.

“He stepped into the glow of the firelight, quietly, and I was . . . tired. . . . I thought maybe I was dreaming. He studied us all, even me—he must have thought I was asleep—then drew the knife—”

“You did the right thing,” I say quickly. “This man was sent to kill us.”

“What?” Lucio says.

“He was matching our descriptions. Someone told him we were coming this way.”

I let the information sink in, then I add, “We may still be in danger. Fernando, keep that bow ready. You and Lucio go check the road. See if our assassin has company. If he does, try to take him alive so we can question him. Now go!”

It must be the rush of blood in their veins, because they jump to obey. I dash to the nearby lean-to and shake Miria awake. She is on her feet instantly, and I explain as we head back to the campsite.

“Quick, help me search him,” I whisper. “He may carry something we would not want the others to see.”

She does not flinch from the blood as she goes through his jacket, checking the pockets and linings and seams, while I check his trousers, then pull off his boots. Miria and I exchange a glance and both shake our heads. He carries nothing that would identify him.

This may be our only chance to talk, so I blurt, “Is Rosaura really dying?”

Miria glances around to make sure we are truly alone. “Dr. Enzo thinks it likely.”

She is only confirming what I already knew, but the sadness inside me is suddenly a physical pain. “And Isadora . . .”

“The women are first cousins,” she says. “And close friends. I’m not sure why the king ultimately chose Rosaura, but he loved Isadora first.”

Footsteps startle us. Fernando and Lucio return with a horse.

“This is all we found,” Lucio says.

I leap up, hoping the horse will be Blaze, proof that this is the same man who killed Raúl, but we have no such luck; the beast is as unidentifiable as its late owner. Fernando can’t take his eyes off the assassin’s body. I hope it is the moonlight giving the boy a sickly sallowness, that he will not vomit up his meager dinner. Lucio’s jaw is set, grim and serious, when he sees the pockets turned out and the seams ripped open.

I make up my mind.

“There is more I must tell you,” I say. “But first, tie the horse to the post, as if he were staying here overnight. Then pack up your gear.”

They nod and go to it.

“Here, help me,” I say, rolling the body over. Miria braces the body up, and I snap the arrow and remove the pieces. I throw them down the well, where they won’t be found.

Fernando and Lucio return a moment later. “What’s going on here?” Lucio demands.

“I carry a secret message from the king to someone in the Fortress of Wind,” I say.

“That’s Lord Solvaño de Flurendi’s castle,” Lucio says.

“Yes. The king has sent messages through official channels, including his Guards, but has received no response. So he sent someone he personally trusted—his squire—who was murdered.”

“That’s why he came to you,” Lucio says. “You’re his last resort. Must be a damned important message.”

Lucio is smarter than I’ve been giving him credit for. Fernando remains silent.

“There is one other thing you must know.” I work as I talk, saddling my own horse, cinching up Rosaura’s quilt onto the back like a bedroll. “Miria is one of the queen’s servants.”

“My lady,” Lucio says with a slight bow. He’s had some practice.

Fernando grows paler.

“I’m just a servant,” Miria says. “Not a lady.” She glares at me. “His Majesty told you not to tell them anything.”

“He also said to use my judgment. I don’t want them endangering themselves or our mission through ignorance.”

She pauses, then says, “Fair enough.”

I help saddle her horse.

“Are we just going to leave him here?” Fernando says, still staring at the body.

“A victim of robbery,” I say. “Robberies are not unheard of at these way stations. Let’s get rid of any sign we passed this way. With luck, whoever hired him won’t find out what happened for some time.”

We’re back on the road an hour before dawn, but I can’t imagine any of us wanting to sleep. Wind has swept sand onto the road, which muffles the steps of our horses. In the dark, an assassin could sneak up on us easily.

The silence is finally broken by Fernando, just as the eastern sky is turning from black to blue. “I’ve never killed anyone before.”

“You did the right thing,” Miria says swiftly.

“It was a quick decision and an accurate shot,” I say. “You did well.”

Another silence. Then Lucio speaks. “I’ve killed someone.”

I’m not surprised. I give him what I hope is an encouraging look.

“When I was six years old.”

Now I’m surprised.

“I was at my aunt’s wedding. My cousin, who was only four, was chosen over me to throw petals along the bridal walk. He got a special suit of clothes made, and at the wedding, he danced with the bride, even had a sip of wine. It all seems so stupid now, but I remember shoving him. His head hit the corner of a table. It cracked his skull open. He bled all over my aunt’s wedding terno.”

My stomach sinks.

“I brought shame on the whole family. My mother shunned me. My father fostered me in other houses.”

“I’m sorry,” Miria says. “That must have been very hard for you.”

“If I don’t make the Guard, I don’t know where I’ll end up.”

“You’ll make it,” I tell him, though I’m not sure I believe it.

The desert air is turning hot with daylight before Lucio speaks again.

“Have you ever killed anyone, Hector?”

“Not exactly,” I say. It’s not something I like to talk about, but now I owe Lucio a story. “I failed to save a man’s life last summer. We were aloft in the rigging of my brother’s ship. A rope snapped and a block came loose—it hit Juan in the head and he fell into the sea.”

There had been so much blood, a crimson arc of it, trailing him as he slipped off the tilting spar and dropped unconscious into the waves.

“On the next roll of the ship I leapt from the mast into the water, but the sails had already carried us away. I swam as fast as I could. He was sinking. . . . I got to him, eventually, and held his head above the water until they could send a boat back to pick us up. But I didn’t get there fast enough. He never regained consciousness, and he died the next day. My brother said the water killed him, not the blow to the head.”

Fernando still has said nothing. Lucio reaches over and clasps his shoulder.

“Cheer up,” he says. “You killed one man who deserved it and saved four lives. That makes you better than Hector and me combined. If any of us makes it into the Guard now, it should be you.”

Fernando’s smile is weak, but grateful. For the first time, I feel a spark of gladness that Enrico chose these two to send with me.

10

WE stand watch every night, but no one else comes after us, and we reach Puerto Verde three days later. It’s a port city, surrounded on three sides by sandstone cliffs. The bay is a deep emerald green, and filled with merchant ships, fishing trawlers, even a few pleasure barges. The Fortress of Wind sits atop a spur of rock that juts out into the bay. We see its distant outline as we enter the city.

“Have you heard the stories?” Lucio asks.

“About Princess Brindé?” Miria says. “She was locked in the tower by her father, until a brave sea captain climbed the wall to rescue her.”

Seawater froths at the base of the tower, spouting into the air with each pounding wave. Climbing it would be impossible.

“I doubt it’s true,” I say, reaching into my saddlebag. “There is no Princess Brindé in the historical record.” I pull out the book on the architecture of Joya d’Arena that was a gift from my mother—just far enough to give them a peek at the cover. “According to this, the original tower was a lighthouse, used to warn ships at night. Inviernos stormed the lighthouse and extinguished it, and Admiral Hugano lost his entire fleet on the rocks. That’s when the fortress was built to protect the lighthouse.”

“But it’s not a lighthouse anymore,” Fernando says.

“No,” I say. “The queen’s great-grandfather dredged the port and built a jetty, which made him a very rich man. This castle stayed in the family, though.”

Lucio adds, “Lord Solvaño charges a small berth fee to ships in port. All captains are required to use local crew to load and unload cargo, and he takes a small tax. It’s how he maintains his wealth.”

I give Lucio a sharp look. I hadn’t known that.

It takes an hour to navigate the warren of docks and warehouses that makes up Puerto Verde and reach the other side. Up close, the Fortress of Wind is wholly at odds with the wealthy reputation of its keeper. It seems to be crumbling under its own weight and is all the more imposing for its overgrown walls and wild gardens and tattered banners. The front gate is rusted orange and smothered with purple bougainvillea. Two sentries regard us coldly, but I show them the king’s seal, and they wave us through.

Then we are forced to wait in a cold hall, where dust motes gray the air and a nearby hearth sits ashy and dead. Finally, Lord Solvaño comes to receive us.

I’ve seen him many times before at court. He’s a man who seems to simultaneously grow larger and smaller, swelling in girth but shrinking in sympathy and character until only anger remains.

He crosses his arms and glares. “What are you doing here?”

Solvaño does not have a reputation for delicate diplomacy.

“We have a message for your daughter from the king,” I say, handing him a missive with Alejandro’s orders—but not the message itself. “Could we see the lady Isadora, please? We’ll deliver His Majesty’s message, take her reply, and be on our way.”

“She’s not here,” he says. He holds the missive as if it was a jellyfish, a repulsive thing that might sting him.

“Where did she go?” I ask. “Our orders are to deliver the king’s message to its recipient, wherever she may be. “

Lord Solvaño frowns. “I cannot tell you.”

“Why not? The king will order a search.” I don’t know if he will or not, and the slight deception does not sit well. I shift uncomfortably, imagining Rosaura’s disapproving look.

“No, no,” he insists. His eyes twitch like a pair of dice coming to rest. “She asked me not to tell.”

“So you have a way of communicating with her, then?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then tell her that the king’s messengers await, and she will come to us.”

“I’ll send her the message,” he says. “I’ll convey her reply directly to the palace at Brisadulce. If she replies, that is. She has always been disrespectful and irresponsible.”

The last statement is the first he’s said that he actually believes, but it does not at all fit with my impression of the warm, intelligent woman with whom I arranged correspondences and meetings for so many months.

“We’ll wait here until she responds,” I insist.

“You don’t want to do that,” he says with a polite smile. “My daughter is not worth the king’s trouble.”

“It’s not for me to decide who is, or is not, worth His Majesty’s trouble. We’re happy to wait.” And I can’t help adding, “We’ve heard such nice things about the lovely hospitality of the Fortress of Wind.”

“It will be several days before I can get a message to her. I’d hate to waste your time.”

“Our time is the king’s to waste, and he asked us to personally collect her reply. We’ll stay until we hear from her. Of course, if it would be faster for us to go to Isadora ourselves, we’re happy to do so.”

His face goes cold and hard. “I’ll have my staff find rooms for you.”

“Thank you,” I say. I wait until he’s turning away, and then, because I wish to discomfit him further, I reach inside my jacket and pull forth the book. “Oh, Lord Solvaño, one other thing.”

“I’m at your service,” he snaps impatiently.

I hold up the book. “I’ve a personal interest in architecture, and I recently read Master Jinto’s seminal paper on the Fortress of Wind. I’d consider it a great favor if I could tour the original tower.”

It also might give me access to parts of the fortress I wouldn’t otherwise have.

He hesitates a breath too long. “Of course,” he says. “My staff will show you whatever you wish. You!” He indicates a young serving woman with a lift of his chin. “See to our guests.”

She flinches away from him, almost imperceptibly. “Yes, my lord.” Her skin is sallow, and a large bruise purples her forearm.

The rest of Solvaño’s staff follows as he sweeps from the hall. The servant girl stares after him. Is she meant to spy on us?

Gently, Miria asks her, “Could I have mint tea, please? Double-steeped?”

The servant gives her a clumsy but grateful curtsy, then scurries away. Miria has given us a chance to talk privately.

The four of us bend our heads together.

“He’s lying,” Miria whispers.

“Agreed,” I say. “Wherever Isadora is, she is not far. Her father does not strike me as a man who would let her out of his sight. I’m surprised he allowed her to come to court.”

“He sent her to win King Alejandro’s hand,” Miria says. “He instructed her to do whatever necessary to become queen.”

“I didn’t know that.” Poor Isadora. My mother always said that forced marriages are a tragedy—no one should have to marry someone they don’t love. Though, looking back, I’m certain Isadora held some kind of affection for Alejandro.

“So what do we do?” Lucio asks.

I hesitate, feeling unsure. This is where we could use a statesman. A tried-and-true commander.

“I can talk to the servants,” Miria says. “See if they know anything. Servants are more likely to talk to other servants.”

“Yes, good idea,” I say, relieved to have any kind of suggestion at all. “Lucio,” I say. “Wander the docks and the market, ask for stories about the tower.” Lucio is from distant, rural Basajuan and will seem like the perfect yokel to these people. They may tell him things they wouldn’t tell the rest of us.

“I’m to play the ignorant outlander, yes?” he says.

A grin sneaks onto my face before I can stop it.

“I suppose I have no choice but to indulge in a flagon of wine. To complete the part.”

“I’m glad you’re willing to make such sacrifices for your king,” I say, and he nods solemnly.

“Fernando?”

He jumps as if he’s been shot with an arrow.

Perhaps Fernando is still not over killing a man. If so, I need to distract him. “We must be prepared,” I say. “You’ve proven yourself an able guard, so I need you to stick with me or Miria, watch our backs at all times. Can you do that?”

I’m not sure it’s the right thing to do, but during the summer I crewed on my brother’s ship, Felix’s response every time I showed even a hint of nervousness or hesitation was to keep me busy.

“Yeah, I can do that,” Fernando says. The deep breath he takes seems like his first in many long days.

“You don’t care if something happens to me?” Lucio says.

I open my mouth to say something scathing, but wisdom, for once, wins out. “I think that, of all of us, you are most able to take care of yourself.”

“Oh.” Anger plays across his features, warring with acceptance. Acceptance wins. He puts a hand to the dagger at his belt, and his features harden with determination.

Miria’s expression is harder to read, but I feel as if she’s watching, judging. She’ll report back every tiny detail of this trip. It might even be the real reason she is here. But I can’t think about that too much, not until after we find Isadora.

The serving girl returns and apologizes, explaining that it’s not the right season for mint, but the cook will be out in a moment to personally offer Miria her choice of spices. “Your rooms will be ready soon after,” she assures us.

“Thank you,” I say.

“How long do you think you’ll be in Puerto Verde?” she asks with a twitchy smile. I can’t tell if her artlessness is meant to suss out information or if it’s a genuine attempt at conversation.

“As long as it takes,” I say with a forced smile of my own.

“Oh. But what if the lady never responds? You can’t stay here forever! I mean, you could I suppose, but . . .”

“As long as it takes,” Lucio repeats, his voice firm, and the girl’s mouth slams closed.

11

ON the afternoon of our second day, the four of us squeeze into my room. It’s a tiny chamber with threadbare furnishings and a single window overlooking the sea. Though the day is too warm, a fire roars in the small hearth. I hope the crackle and spit of wood will confound eavesdroppers—as well as make it unbearably warm for anyone hiding near the chimney, where the wall is thick enough to conceal a listening cubby.

“How go your inquiries?” I ask Miria, keeping my voice low.

“Not well,” she admits. “I think I’ve spoken with every cook, scullery maid, manservant, and washing woman in the house, and they are all too afraid to say anything directly.” She pauses. “There is something odd, though. . . .”

“Yes?”

“All of Isadora’s personal servants were released from service.”

I frown. When my grandmother died, her personal attendants were reassigned rather than released. Mamá said that as long we could afford to keep them, there was no reason to lose skilled, loyal help. “Do you think Isadora is . . . dead?”

She shakes her head. “The servants speak of her as though she lives, though they refuse to give details. And another thing: Have you seen the boy in the kitchen who is missing a couple fingers?”

I nod. “Not an unusual injury for the kitchens.”

“It was no accident,” Miria says. “Lord Solvaño caught him stealing a piece of cake during a Deliverance Day feast. He grabbed the cake knife and cut off the boy’s fingers right there.”

Fernando gasps.

“That’s . . . excessive,” I say.

“Solvaño said he would have cut off his whole hand to mark him as a thief, but the cake knife was not large or sharp enough to get through the boy’s wrist.”

I suppress a shudder.

“Well, that explains what I’ve been hearing down on the docks,” Lucio says.

“Oh?”

“Half the people I talk to worship him like a god. He punishes criminals brutally and swiftly. They believe it successfully discourages crime.”

“The other half?” I press.

“They refuse to talk about him at all. I think . . . I think they might be terrified of him.”

“Did anyone say anything about Isadora?” Fernando asks.

“No. Although word is out that Solvaño has ordered extra supplies to host four royal envoys. He’s been bragging about it, apparently.”

“Envoys?” I laugh.

“You don’t consider us envoys?” Miria says to me sharply.

Fernando and Lucio look to me for a reaction, so I’m quick to clarify. “I’m just surprised he’s bragging about hosting us. He could not have greeted us less warmly.”

“According to the wine merchant, he boasted about how much it was costing him to provide for his important guests. To be honest, I didn’t even realize the merchant was talking about us at first,” Lucio says.

“You weren’t buying wine, were you?” I ask, suddenly on alert.

“I don’t have any money, so I tried to barter for it,” Lucio admits.

I grab him by the collar, ready to go after him like I did in the stable. “I thought you were joking earlier. If you drink on duty, so help me God, you will never carry a sword in Alejandro’s service. If we’d been too drunk to set watch on the road the other night—if Fernando had been too tipsy to hit his target—we’d all be dead.”

He puts up his hands and leans back, but there is no place for him to go except into the fireplace. “I didn’t mean anything by it,” he says. “I didn’t—”

“I mean everything by it,” I say. I refuse to end up dead, or even cut from the Guard, because some eighteen-year-old man-boy is in his cups. “A Guardsman gets regular leave, a couple days a month. If you want to spend every minute of that leave drunk, I’ll buy your wine for you. But never, ever touch a drop when you’re on duty. And until we get back to Brisadulce, you’re on duty every single minute. Do I make myself clear?”

He is silent a long moment. A muscle in his cheek twitches. Then he says, “I didn’t drink any. I wanted to. But I . . .” He looks down. Scuffs his boot against the rug. “I poured it over the side of the dock.”

“Oh.” I’m not sure what to say. He’s probably lying about pouring out the wine. But what if he’s not? Maybe, just maybe, he wants to make it in the Guard as much as I do.

Again, I notice Miria watching me. “Do you have something to say?” I ask.

She shakes her head.

Lucio straightens his collar and tugs down the hem of his shirt. “It was wine from your family the merchant was selling. A shipload just arrived from Ventierra with an early harvest red.”

“My brother’s ship,” I say. “He is—was—going to come visit me when they made port in Brisadulce.”

I’m thinking about whether I should try to meet him here in Puerto Verde when Miria says, a bit archly, “What progress have you made?”

I sigh. “Well, I’ve ruined a priceless book with bad drawings.” I lean against the bedpost, thumbing through the book. “The mayordomo took me on an impossibly quick tour of the fortress. I had to demand more time so I could make sketches.”

“He’s catalogued every room in the tower,” Fernando says in a pained voice. He patiently kept watch while I sketched.

I shake my head. “If they have something to hide, it’s not in the tower. The mayordomo made a point of showing me all twelve chambers, which they now use for storage. They’re cold and damp from the ocean, crusted with sea salt. Some of the walls are badly cracked. The whole place is gloomy and awful; only five chambers even have windows.”

“Six windows,” Lucio says.

“I’m sure it’s five,” I say.

He’s looking over my shoulder at the sketches. “Those drawings aren’t that bad.”

“The author made these.” I flip the pages and start showing him the sketches in the margins and in back. “These are mine.”

Lucio winces. “Are you sure that’s a room?” he says. “It looks like a wagon.”

“From this angle,” Fernando says, cocking his head. “It’s kind of pretty. Like a flower.”

“Very funny, both of you. What I lack in talent, I make up for in thoroughness. I measured each room by step, took notes of all the details. We didn’t see anything suspicious.”

Miria leans forward. “If there’s an extra room, it’s well hidden.”

Lucio nods. “There are definitely six windows in the tower.”

“How did you count six?” I ask Lucio.

“From the docks, looking up. I was trying to imagine the story.” He shifts on his feet, looking shamefaced. “About the rescue of the princess.”

For the first time in days, I feel a sense of hope. “If we rescue this princess,” I say, “it’ll be because of you.”

Lucio startles at the praise, but his expression goes quickly blank.

“A hidden room,” Miria muses, tapping her forefinger to her lip.

“She has to be there. She has to be. If we figure out which one, maybe we can get a message to her through the window.”

“Let’s all go for a walk,” Fernando suggests cheerfully.

Given Solvaño’s tremendous wealth, it’s a wonder the Fortress of Wind is in such disrepair. We stroll across crumbling ramparts, wade through overgrown gardens, clamber over the barnacle-encrusted foundation. Everywhere we go, someone watches us—usually a guard, sometimes a servant—always at a discreet distance.

We’re able to match a few windows with my sketches, but by afternoon, we reluctantly agree that we won’t get a good enough view without some distance from the tower. So we claim a desire to do some shopping, and head down to the market wharf.

We pretend to browse and sightsee, gradually navigating the maze of docks that twists through the harbor like tree roots. Lucio leads us down an empty jetty that takes us as close to the tower as possible—which is not very close at all. We look up, shading our eyes as the afternoon sun washes the tower in fiery orange, and we finally find what we’re looking for.

No wonder it was impossible to spot from a nearer vantage, for it is small and inset—barely wide enough for an arm to fit through. It lies three-quarters of the way up the tower and faces directly west. It’s just low enough to catch some ocean spray, which makes the wall too slick to climb.

But the window is open.

“Think she’d hear us if we shouted?” Lucio says.

“That high up? With that surf?” The waves pound at the foundation, then retreat to swirl dark and deep. “If we yelled loud enough, it would bring everyone in the fortress down on us.” The wind whips around us, pulling at our hair and clothes.

“Fernando,” I say.

“Yes?” He is looking around for danger, as he has been since I tasked him with watching my back. This jetty seems abandoned; the planking is worn and missing in places, and what’s left is covered in gull droppings. But I’m glad he’s on the alert.

“You won the king’s archery contest,” I remind him.

“True, my lo—” He stops short of calling me “lord.” He’s done that a couple of times now.

I point to the window on the tower. “Anyone can put an arrow through a man at short range. I need you to put an arrow through that window.”

He sizes up the distance, the target, and the wind, and doubt flows across his face. “We’re not on solid ground. And this is a terrible angle. Maybe if I got directly in front of it? But that would mean getting into a boat, which would be even less stable. . . . No, this is an almost impossible shot. Even for the best archer in the kingdom.”

“I’m looking at the best archer in the kingdom,” I say. “And I believe that you can make it.”

“You want to put a note on the shaft and send it through the window,” he says.

“Exactly.” He watches incredulously as I take out my charcoal stick and write in my book: Isadora, if you need aid, give us a sign.—The king’s envoys.

I tear the page out and hand it to Fernando, who folds it around the shaft and ties it with a piece of spare bowstring. “The added weight and drag of the note does make this an impossible shot,” he mutters.

“You can do it,” Lucio says.

Fernando draws, sights, releases. The wind catches it and carries it out to the ocean.

The next one bounces off the stone wall and falls into the swirling waves below.

So it goes, shot after shot. I have just torn another page out of the book when the wind whips it from my hands and carries it into the water. I am ruining my mother’s priceless gift, and possibly for nothing.

“This is my last arrow,” Fernando says.

He waits until he feels a dead spot in the wind. I hold my breath. He lets fly. This time the arrow looks as if it will miss, but it curves toward the narrow slit at the last second, hits the edge, and bounces inside.

We break out into cheering. “I can’t believe you made it,” Lucio says, and his huge grin makes him seem positively friendly and pleasant.

“You said I could!” Fernando replies.

“I was lying to make you feel better.”

Miria is looking back toward the busy docks and the shoreline. “I hope no one heard us,” she says. “Or saw us shooting at the tower.”

I frown. “I think it’s safe to assume that word of our actions will reach Lord Solvaño within the day. As soon as we hear from Isadora, we’ll have to move fast.”

And then we wait, a long time, with no reaction, no response.

The sun grows too hot. Lucio sweats like a beast, which I realize might be more from dumping his wine than the heat. Fernando polishes his bow with a rag, muttering about damage from saltwater spray.

“It was a good plan,” Miria says eventually. “But if she’s hidden somewhere else, if she’s not in that room . . .”

“She has to be there,” Fernando says, with all the fervor of someone who can’t bear to waste a perfect shot.

“Maybe she needs something write with,” Lucio says.

“We’ll wait,” I say.

Suddenly, an arrow flies out the window. The sunlight glints off something bulky as it drops, spinning end over end and hitting the wall twice before taking a final bounce into the sea.

I whip off my shirt and plunge into the cold waves. Fernando yells at my back—something about rocks and surf. I dive into an oncoming wave and come up the other side. Treading water, I try to figure out where the arrow went in and where the waves might have taken it next. My heart sinks as I realize there is only one place to go—the sharp rocks at the base of the tower, where the waves would pound my bones to sand.

Just then something bobs to the surface, mere yards ahead of me. I stroke forward as a wave crashes over my head. I come up, sputtering, but so does the arrow. I grab for it. It’s heavier than I expect, because it’s attached to a waterskin that has been filled with air and stoppered. Smart girl!

I swim back toward the jetty—at a diagonal to keep the waves from pushing me under—all while holding tight to my prize.

“What is it?” Lucio yells. He and Fernando grab my arms and help me roll up onto the wood planking.

I get to my feet and bend over, breathing hard for a moment. Water runs off me as I hold up the arrow and its attached waterskin. Tied to the shaft is a familiar ring, one I have seen many times. It has a ruby as large and red as a cherry, in a setting of tiny pearls.

Lifting my head up toward the window, I say, “Hang on, Isadora. We’re coming.”

12

“WE make our move tonight,” I tell everyone as we head back to the tower. “They’ll have noticed our outing today.”

“Not to mention your obsessive cataloguing of the tower,” Fernando grumbles.

I nod. “We can’t give Lord Solvaño the opportunity to smuggle her away.”

“This might require force,” Lucio says, in his most menacing voice. I’m glad he’s on our side.

“Or bribes,” Miria says. “It’s easier to bribe a fearful servant than a happy one. I think I know where to start.”

“We’ll be ready for both, if needed.”

“Will we just walk out the front door with her?” Fernando asks. “If Solvaño has her locked up, he has a reason. He’ll use his guards to stop us.”

“We’re going to need a lot of bribes,” Lucio says.

“When we get her out of the tower, we’ll sneak her along the ramparts to the wall on the harbor side. That’s only a fifteen-foot drop.”

“You can’t drop her that far!” Miria says.

“We’ll lower her with a rope. We’ll have the horses there, with an extra mount for her, and then we’ll ride out of the city and back to Brisadulce. We’ll be there before Lord Solvaño knows we’re gone.”

Everyone thinks about this for a minute.

“I don’t have any better ideas,” Fernando says.

“It could work,” Lucio says.

“It could work if we had enough money on hand to bribe servants and guards, buy rope and other supplies, and purchase a horse,” Miria says. “That will cost us a small fortune that we don’t have.”

I think of the plaque Aracely gave me, the one that would give me a chance to start over again if I don’t make the Guard.

“I have a small fortune,” I say.

Three sets of eyebrows raise, but no one doubts me.

Buying things with jewels instead of coin is problematic; everyone thinks you’re a criminal, and everyone overcharges. Nevertheless, by sunset we have everything set. Fernando and Lucio wait below the wall with five horses and supplies. I wait in my room, a coiled rope inside my shirt, a loose cloak over my shoulders. I trace the letters of my now-ruined plaque. Harsh winds, rough seas, still hearts.

Miria arrives with a nervous serving girl, the awkward spy who waited on us the first day. We have paid her enough money that she can leave the city and find work elsewhere. Miria has promised her an interview at the royal palace if our plan succeeds.

“Thank you for helping us,” I say.

“She was always nice to me. It’s not right, what he did” is her answer.

“What did he do?” I ask.

“You’ll see soon enough, if you’re successful.” She turns away. “If you’re not, it’s my life if I tell.”

Though I press her, she will not say more.

With the servant girl in the lead, we hurry through the halls and into the tower. Our bribes have made the place eerily silent. There is only the crackling of our torches, the wind whistling against cracked mortar, and the surf pounding relentlessly below. Still, I listen hard for footsteps or the creak of armor. We could not possibly bribe the entire household, and those we did bribe can’t risk being absent from their posts for long.

We wind up the tower stairs and into a storage room. I remember sketching this one. During the day, light filters in as sickly green, for the glass of the window is fogged over with brine and gull droppings.

The servant girl pushes aside an empty crate, revealing a door. No, it’s more like a hatch, which we will have to stoop to pass.

“Wait until I leave before you use it,” she says. “I mean to be far away.”

“Of course,” I say. “And thank you.”

She turns to go, but Miria grabs her arm. “Wait. Who among Solvaño’s staff knows about this place and who is kept here?”

“I don’t know. Not many.” The girl tries to jerk her arm away.

“Give me your best guess,” Miria orders.

“The guard captain, me, the kitchen master. Only those of us who keep watch or prepare and bring food. And none of us are allowed to go inside. My orders were to open the door, slide the food tray inside, and close it right away. Now please let me go.”

“How long until she is missed?” I ask.

“You have until morning.” With that, she wrenches away her arm and slips from the room.

“I hope she makes it to Brisadulce,” Miria says, staring after her.

“I hope we do too.” I lift the bar and swing open the hatch, revealing a dark, damp space. Fetid air washes my face. A rat scurries out of the corner and zips past our feet.

“Isadora?” I whisper.

Chains rattle. “Hector?” comes a weak, muffled reply. “Is that you?”

My eyes adjust to the dark, and I see her for the first time.

“Oh, my dear child,” Miria says, rushing forward.

Isadora is huge with pregnancy. A tattered cloth wraps her face. She sits in a vile-smelling puddle, and she is manacled by the ankles to the wall. Her ankles have swollen around the manacles, like soft dough being squeezed. One bleeds badly. From when she stretched to reach the window, I realize with a sinking heart.

“My God,” I say, striding toward her. The cruelty of it all is too much to think on. I lift the pommel of my dagger above the chain, eager to pound at something.

“The key is over there,” she says, pointing to a ledge beside the door. “He taunts me by leaving it just out of reach.”

I grab it and unlock her manacles. They come away from her ankles with a wet sucking sound, but Isadora does not cry out. Miria helps her to her feet.

“We can’t lower her over the wall,” Miria says.

“I’m strong enough,” I protest. “I can—”

Miria gives me a wilting glare. “It’s not the weight of pregnancy. It’s her health. My lady, can you walk?”

“Show me this wall and I’ll leap, just to be done with it,” Isadora replies acidly.

“Alejandro and Rosaura miss you,” I say, suddenly desperate. It never occurred to me that my mission could be defeated by Isadora herself. “They’ll be happy to welcome your child also.”

Isadora laughs, but it’s not the sweet laugh I remember. It’s cold and sad and more than a little angry. It’s cut off abruptly by a grimace.

“Is the child coming?” Miria asks.

“The contractions are minutes apart now. I managed to keep them from Papá when he visited. I have to get rid of this thing before it falls into the hands of that monster.”

It takes every drop of will to stay focused on my task. “She can’t ride through the night. We need another plan.”

“We need a midwife,” Miria says. “Maybe even a doctor.”

“I’ll lower you over the wall,” I say. “Go with Lucio and Fernando to Brisadulce, tell the king what has happened. Tell him we have proof that Solvaño committed treason by intercepting a royal communication. Alejandro should send the Guard to arrest Solvaño. And Isadora and I might need rescuing if we are caught. It has to be you. You’re the only one he knows and will believe.”

“What will you do?”

I look at Isadora. “We’ll hide in the city, maybe a tavern down by the docks.” I’m making this up as fast as I can. “We’ll stay out of sight until your return.”

“That’s a terrible plan,” Miria says. “Too many things can go wrong.”

“Do you have anything better?”

“No,” she admits. “Here, take my cloak,” she says to the shivering Isadora. “This will attract less attention down on the docks. If we could do something about the smell . . . You’ll have to take everything off and just wear the cloak.”

Isadora hesitates.

“Give us some privacy,” Miria says.

I step out into the storeroom, then peer into the tower well for guards, knowing that each moment we delay increases our risk. But it remains empty for now.

The women emerge from Isadora’s cell. Miria looks both ashen and furious. Isadora has kept her face wrapped—a wise choice, for we don’t want anyone recognizing her.

We leave the storeroom and spiral down the stairs. From the tower, we sneak through the back hall to a door leading to the ramparts. This is the most tenuous part of our journey; if any guards ignored their bribes, they will be patrolling here.

We creep along, hunched over so that our figures are partly obscured by crenellations. I support Isadora as best I can. She stops occasionally, her hand becoming a vise on my arm as a contraction takes her.

At last we reach the southern wall. “Hurry!” Miria whispers.

I pull the rope from beneath my cloak and make two loops—a large one to wrap around my waist and slide the rope through, and a small one for Miria to stand in. Miria slips her foot into the loop, and I brace myself to lower her.

“When the time comes, just let things run their natural course,” Miria tells me. “And be kind. She’s been through a lot.”

“I will treat her as if she is my next queen,” I say.

“Wait!” Isadora says. “I need a weapon.”

Miria takes a dagger from her belt and offers it, handle first. “May God watch over you both,” she says. Isadora grabs the knife, and I let Miria’s rope slide through my fingers.

My shoulders burn with the effort. We’re taking too long. But suddenly the burden eases. Fernando and Lucio have steadied her from below. Then come two quick tugs on the rope—my signal to let go.

I toss the rope over the side of the wall. Hushed voices drift up, and then the sound of hooves, which gradually fade away.

“The only way out is through the front door,” I say. There might be a little time left before the guards resume their patrols, but we’ll have to be fast. “Ready?”

Her fingers close tight about my wrist, and she pants into another contraction. “Just get me out of here,” she says breathlessly.

The bribes work. The way is clear, and we make it into the servants’ wing, down the back stairs, and into the main hall. Our exit looms large when a door slams behind us. I whirl. Lord Solvaño bears down on us.

I throw my cloak around Isadora and pull her head to my chest. I keep my body angled to block his view. My heart pounds and my palms sweat as I quickly consider my options, which range from knocking him down and running out with Isadora in my arms to simply running. . . .

“I was just coming to find you, Squire Hect— What’s the meaning of this?” he says. “Who do you have there?”

Isadora giggles, a sound that comes across as half mad, and reaches around my side to squeeze my rear.

“You’ve brought a lady of the docks into my home?” he says. Surely, he is not that stupid. Surely, he has heard reports by now of our scouting of the tower. Then I notice that he sways unsteadily, and his eyes shift as if struggling to find focus.

“I assure you no money has been exchanged,” I say, because I’m not sure what else to say. Isadora has another contraction, and her suggestive hand turns into a hard squeeze that makes my eyes water. I brace us to keep us both from collapsing. She presses her face against my chest and fights for control, but still looses a choked-off grunt that makes my heart ache for her.

Her father’s face turns red. “If you weren’t the king’s envoy, I’d beat you both out into the street this instant.” He gesticulates wildly as he says it, which throws him off balance, and he staggers.

Isadora’s contraction eases, as does her grip. She straightens, looks me in the eye, breathes deep. Though her eyes are rimmed with red and sunken, they are still beautiful. “We were just leaving,” I say gently to her. I back us both away, keeping myself between him and his daughter. Thank God he is drunk.

“You both should be stripped and lashed and . . . God, what is that smell? Even a lady of the docks should have some pride.”

Isadora plants herself, stopping us.

“What are you—?”

She rips away from my grasp. Before I can stop her, before I can even breathe, she whips Miria’s dagger out from beneath her cloak and bears down on her father.

“Isadora!” Solvaño gasps. “You whore. I should have—”

I reach for her, but she is lightning fury. “How dare you!” she cries. “I did everything you asked. Your ambition made me this way. You did this.” She gestures emphatically with the dagger; its blade winks in the torchlight. “And you dare call me a whore?”

“Isadora, let’s go,” I plead. “Your father has committed treason. He’ll pay for what he has done. But we need to get away.”

“You were supposed to become queen,” Solvaño says. Spittle edges his mouth now as he steps forward, seemingly unaware of Isadora’s dagger. “How you failed so utterly, I’ll never—”

“He picked her because of you! He couldn’t bear the idea of you as a father-in-law.” The hand holding the dagger wavers, then drops to her side. “I couldn’t blame him, even when he broke my heart.”

His grin is smug. “You’re a whore and a liar. And now no one will want you. I’ve made sure of that.”

A cry of anguish bubbles up from somewhere deep inside her as she raises the knife and plunges it into her father’s belly.

“Isadora!” Oh, God, what has she done?

She yanks out the knife. Blood bubbles up from the wound as she raises it again, but I grab her elbow. “Let’s go, my lady. Before the alarm goes up.”

She drops the dagger. It clatters to the stone floor, and droplets of blood sprinkle around it.

Solvaño makes a gurgling noise as he raises his head. He’s trying to say something. His face shows no surprise, no fear of dying. There is only hate.

“How could he,” Isadora whispers. “His own daughter.”

“He was a monster,” I agree, staring at the body twitching on the floor.

“I guess I’ve had my revenge,” she whispers, but she doesn’t sound convinced.

“Yes. Now let’s go. No, wait.”

I crouch beside Solvaño’s body, thinking. Then I grab the dagger, and bile rises in my throat as I place the tip against the still-seeping wound and send the dagger home.

“What—what are you doing?” Isadora says.

I wrap Solvaño’s right hand around the knife grip, then with a grunt and heave, I roll him over onto his stomach. “I’m trying to make it look like an accident,” I explain. I stand and look down at my handiwork, feeling sick. “The king’s advisers can manufacture whatever story they want of this, but it will help if your father’s people find the body this way.”

Isadora laughs again, her laugh dissolving into tears. She stumbles as another spasm takes her, and I rush to her side. We are both sticky with blood as I prop her up to pant through the contraction. I breathe along with her, trying to still my own heart. I’m in deep waters, way over my head. I have no idea what to do next, except to keep moving, so that’s what we do—out the front door, through the gardens and the rusty gate, and down the road toward the docks.

We have just reached the closed-up market stalls when Isadora’s knees buckle. “This is it,” she gasps between breaths. “I can’t go on.”

I panic, turning in a circle, but I don’t even know what I’m looking for. Why did I send Miria away for help?

Isadora grips my hand, her tiny fingers squeezing so hard, I think she will break my bones. They are slick with her father’s blood. “Just get me to someplace where I can lie down,” she gasps again.

I use the handle of my dagger to break the latch on one of the stall doors, and I help her inside.

The ground is hard-packed, with pebbles here and there. At least it’s out of the wind and ocean spray. I pull the queen’s quilt from my pack. I fold it in half once, then spread it out and support Isadora as she lowers herself gingerly on top of it.

Her labored breaths suck at the linen wrapping her face. “Here, let me help you,” I say, reaching for her face.

But she screams at me. “No!”

The contractions are coming fast and hard now, and I have no idea what to tell her, but she seems to know what to do, so I sit and hold her hand and say over and over that things will be all right.

She continues to have trouble breathing through the cloth. Finally, she yells, “Don’t look at me, do not look at me,” and she pulls it away from her face.

Of course, I look, but I don’t believe what I see.

Her nose has been sliced off her face, leaving two gaping nostril holes, like those of a skull. Her cheeks have been slashed with a knife and are covered with red, raw scars, where they are still healing.

Solvaño intended to make a monster of Isadora, and maybe, in inciting her killing rage, he did.

I’ve never wanted to murder anyone. Most men go through their whole lives without having to kill, and there is no glamor in it for me. But in this moment, if Lord Solvaño were here, I would kill him all over again.

Isadora is trapped between sobbing and pushing. The baby is eager to be born.

“It is going to be all right,” I tell her. “Everything is going to be all right.”

“Stop lying to me!” she screams.

So I sit and hold her hand and wipe the sweat from her forehead and from her still-healing scars, and I tell her about her cousin the queen, who made this quilt that she’s lying on, and how the commander of the Guard called me a princess for having it. I try to project calm, although I feel anything but calm.

“Oh, God, here it comes,” she cries.

“What do I do?”

“Get it out of me!”

I freeze. I’ve never . . . We need another woman here. Maybe I should go find someone. . . .

“GET IT OUT.”

I’m trembling as I lift the cloak and reveal her naked body. “Oh, God.” She is like a two-headed monster, with that wet, grayish-blue head poking out from between her legs. I reach for it with shaking hands, then cradle it in my palm and help support it as she pushes again. The whole thing slips out in a wave of blood-tinged wetness.

I’ve never seen anything born before, not even a colt or a kitten. Just this squirming boy, his mouth open in a silent scream. He hardly looks like a person, all pale and glinting wet in our meager light. I lift him up, offer him to her, but she shakes her head.

“No, I don’t want it, it’s not mine, I don’t.” She is limp on her back now, spent, her gaze shifted away.

“What should I do?” I say. Just then, the baby shudders, and a great wail fills the empty market stall.

“Leave it to die.”

“No!” I say. “What do I do with the cord?” Determination settles into my core, giving me strength and new energy. If his mother doesn’t want him, that leaves me with only one course.

Because I know whose child this is. And Alejandro will want his son. I must deliver this royal bastard to his father. It’s the right thing to do.

“Still have your knife?” she asks.

“Yes.”

“Then tie a knot and cut the cord above the knot.”

“You’ll have to hold him while I do it,” I say.

She looks angry, but she holds out her arms, and I hand her the child. The cord is warm and slick in my fingers and slips when I try to cut it, but I soon have the job done.

“Can you wipe him off?” she says. He is rooting around, trying to get his face at her breasts.

“Of course,” I say. I half cut, half rip two strips from the quilt where it is still mostly clean. We use one piece to wipe him off and the other to wrap him up. By the time that’s done, the baby is feeding, and Isadora is crying, tears running down the furrows between the scars on her cheek.

“You were marvelous,” I tell her, and I mean it. “Getting out of the tower, delivering the baby.” Killing her father.

She shakes her head.

“I didn’t know what to do,” I press. “Not when we ran into your father, not when the baby was coming, but you made the right decisions every step of the way. You’re a warrior.”

She continues to shake her head. “What does it matter? I’ve nowhere to go.”

“Yes, you do.” I know exactly where to take her.

13

MY brother’s ship, the Aracely—named after his wife—is the most beautiful ship in Joya d’Arena. It’s a tiny caravela with three masts and a small crew, but a deep hold for cargo. Its lovely lines are trimmed in mahogany, which the crew keeps burnished through tide and storm. The doors and rail are painted the deep red of sacrament roses.

Though it is still deepest night, the crewman on watch recognizes me when I come aboard. He raises an eyebrow at the sight of a woman and baby, but says nothing. I help Isadora to the captain’s quarters and beat on the door.

Felix yanks it open. He is shirtless, wild hair awry, but instantly alert. “Hector? What are you doing here?”

At that moment the baby cries, and Aracely appears at his shoulder.

Relief floods me. “We need help,” I say.

Lantern light glints against glass beads in Felix’s beard as he starts to speak, but Aracely shoves him out of the cabin. “Get out,” she says to her husband. “Get us something to eat and drink but knock before you enter. And you,” she says to Isadora and me, “inside now.”

She pulls us through the door and closes it behind us. Sumptuous rugs cover the wooden plank floors. A desk sits in one corner, bolted down, and a large bed is built into the other. It is unmade, and the silk coverlet hangs over the edge and drags on the floor. Lanterns hang from the ceiling. They sway with the ship’s gentle rocking, and shadows leap along the wood panel walls.

Aracely is a tall, large-boned woman with a strong chin and rich brown eyes like the mahogany of the ship that is named for her. She dwarfs Isadora as she leads her to the bed and helps her lie back. My sister-in-law is impervious to blood and stink as she pulls up the fine silk coverlet and tucks it around Isadora’s shoulders. “What’s your name, dear?”

“Isadora.”

“That baby’s less than an hour old, or I’ve never midwifed a child.” She pulls down the swaddling with a forefinger to get a better look at him. “Some women can be up and walking right after, but you were already in bad shape, yes? Has the afterbirth passed?”

“Yes,” Isadora says, somewhat stunned.

“Well, that’s one thing done right,” she says, and gives me a withering glance.

“I—”

“Hector de Ventierra.” She’s working up to a full sail of anger, which is not something I want aimed at my horizon. “You foolish, stupid boy, what in seven hells have you done to this poor—”

She stops because she has unwrapped Isadora’s face. The girl’s tears have dried up. Maybe she doesn’t have any more, but she stares back at Aracely, one woman to another, with nothing to hide.

“Who did this?” Aracely says. Her voice is soft, but it snaps like a sail catching the wind, and I realize that I have never seen her so angry.

“My father,” Isadora says.

“Lord Solvaño de Flurendi,” I add. “Keeper of the Fortress of Wind and portmaster of Puerto Verde.”

“I know who he is,” Aracely says.

“He is on his way to the seven hells himself,” I say. “I expect the cry to go up any moment.”

Isadora turns her face away, guilty tears pooling in her eyes. For some reason, I’m a little relieved to see them.

Aracely swears in a language I don’t understand, and then she goes to the door and yanks it open. Felix stands there with a tray of bread and cheeses and a jug of wine.

Aracely takes them from his hands and says, “We’re leaving port at once. Cast off and get us out to sea, quietly as you can.”

“Our cargo is only half sold, so . . .” He pauses, eyes narrowed, then says, “Setting sail for where, my dear?”

“Brisadulce,” I answer.

He nods but stares at me hard. “We’re going to have a talk, you and I.”

“Not until I’m done with him,” Aracely says, and she kicks the door shut and latches it. She turns back to me. “So, this is not your child, after all.”

I hope she doesn’t notice my rising blush. “No.”

She looks at both of us. “Can you say whose it is?”

“No,” I say, before Isadora can answer.

Aracely looks at both of us, at the baby, and then back to my clothes, which are soaked in blood.

The ship rocks as it pushes away from the dock. I’m thrown off balance and stumble, but Aracely shifts her weight and keeps her feet. Outside, oars dip and splash as the pilot boat tows us toward the harbor mouth.

“Do you have a plan?” she asks.

“Yes, I’m going to take both of them to King Alejandro.”

“No!” Isadora says, her voice panicked. “I can’t return to court, not like this. I have no desire to see . . . him.”

I open my mouth to argue, but Aracely says, “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, and if this one, or anyone else, tries to make you, they’ll have to go through me first.”

Isadora grabs Aracely’s hand. “You mean that?”

“I surely do. You’ll have to do something. But it won’t be what any man decides.” She glances at me. “Not even if he is well-meaning.”

I don’t know if Aracely is referring to me or Alejandro—for she has surely guessed whose child this is—but it doesn’t matter because I’m so relieved to let her take charge.

“But what can I do?” Isadora asks.

“Are you educated? Can you read and write and do figures? Are you willing to learn?”

“Yes. . . .”

“Then you have a thousand options. In the temperate mountains around Basajuan, you could farm a small plot of land and grow grapes or dates for winemaking. You could run a tavern in the free villages east of the desert. In the southern isles beyond Selvarica, women keep their faces covered all the time. You could set up as a merchant there and manage trade for us and for other ships.”

“That—” Isadora says.

“Shh, you don’t have to decide now.”

“Where will I get the money?”

“You don’t have to decide that now, either. But we’ll find a way.” The baby stirs from its sleep and roots around her chest again. “Perhaps from the baby’s father.”

“I won’t ask for favors.”

“It’s not a favor he owes you.” She pauses. “What do you want to do with the baby?”

Isadora hesitates, gazing down at the baby, a softness in her eyes that wasn’t there before. Then her lips press into a firm line. “That’s Hector’s problem,” she says finally, tilting her head at me. “I didn’t want the child, and he chose to save him.”

The cabin suddenly feels very small and crowded. At least she’s calling him a child now.

“Well, that brings me back to where I intended to start with you,” Aracely says, turning to me. “You are too young to act the father and raise this boy.”

“Not me,” I say. “But if you get me to Brisadulce, I know someone who wants him.”

14

THE wind is poor, and it takes us four days to reach the capital. We set anchor, and Isadora gives the baby a final kiss on the forehead, then turns away, refusing to look again.

Aracely gives the baby two drops of duerma leaf tea, which she says will make him sleep. He is so tiny, especially swaddled tight in one of Aracely’s blankets and wrapped in a sling under my cloak. I’ll be able to smuggle him into the palace with no one the wiser.

“He’ll need a nursemaid when he wakes,” she says.

“What about Isadora? She could—”

“Leave her out of it. You promised you would take care of the child. Keep that promise. Felix and I will take care of her.” She sighs, her eyes softening. “What will you do now—try to get back into the Guard?”

“Yes,” I say, although it feels different now. And if I get another shot at it, I definitely want Fernando and Lucio with me.

“If it doesn’t work out, we’ll find something for you. Isadora might need a business partner. If you use the stake I gave you—”

She reads something in my expression and stops, surprised.

“I needed it,” I protest.

She nods. “Well, whatever you get now, you’ll have to earn on your own. Good luck, Hector.” She gives me a good-bye kiss on the cheek.

Felix stands by the gangplank. “We need to talk about this,” he says. “I’m going to take a huge loss on my remaining cargo, now that it’s so late.”

“One day,” I promise. “And thank you.” I hope he’s not too angry or disappointed with me.

But he gives me a single slight nod, and I know everything is all right between us.

I walk to the palace unaccosted. The guards at the portcullis—General Luz-Manuel’s men—wave me through without question, but I feel their eyes on my back as I pass. I hope they are not noticing that it is far too warm for the cloak I wear.

If the Royal Guard at the inner gate are surprised to see me, they don’t let on. Vicenç’s eyes widen when I reach his desk, but he gestures for the pages to remain where they are and motions me through the reception area alone.

My footsteps do not falter until I reach Queen Rosaura’s chamber. The baby stirs beneath my robes. Sweat forms on my forehead. I hope I’ve made the right decision.

A shape moves ahead of me. Alejandro paces in the hall.

“Your Majesty,” I say.

He looks up, startled. Dark circles shadow his eyes, and lines of worry age his face. He rushes forward as if to embrace me. “Hector, I’m so glad you— What’s that?” He pulls up short as I reach under my cloak for the baby.

“We should speak privately, sire,” I say, revealing the now- wriggling bundle.

The door to the queen’s chambers opens, and Dr. Enzo sticks his head out. “The queen requests your attendance, Your Majesty.” He sees me. Then the baby. “Oh. You’d better come too.”

We step inside. Rosaura is propped up near her balcony. Her face is pale and drawn. Her hair is plastered to her head with sweat, and her cheeks are wet with tears. I have seen too many tears in recent days.

Miria stands at her bedside. She still wears her traveling dress, stained with dirt and torn; she has also just arrived.

“Where’s Isadora?” she says when she sees me.

I shake my head. “She refuses to come.”

Rosaura reaches out her hands. “Is this her baby? Let me see.”

Miria must have told her everything. I hand over the boy. He starts to twitch and fuss as soon as he leaves the warmth of my chest. He’s wrapped in remnants of the queen’s quilt, which is freshly laundered but faded from Aracely’s attempts to remove the birthing stains. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but—”

Rosaura isn’t listening. Her entire attention is captured by the baby. She takes him and cradles him gently to her chest. So different from Isadora. As if he is a precious gift. She strokes the swirling dark hair on his head and whispers to him, and then she tucks him under her sweat-soaked shirt and takes him to her breast.

And suddenly I notice the other details—her flaccid belly, the bloody sheets wadded up in a corner, Dr. Enzo’s sleeves rolled up.

Dr. Enzo catches my eye and shakes his head.

I look again and see that her cheeks are not just flushed with tears, but with fever. Something has gone terribly wrong, something even beyond the tragedy of losing her baby.

Alejandro drapes an arm across my shoulders. His gesture is casual, but his breath is jagged, and I get the feeling he’s taking what comfort he can.

“How much has Miria told you?” I ask.

“Not much,” Alejandro says.

“Everything,” Rosaura answers. She presses her lips to the baby’s head as he nurses. “I’m just so glad you’re all back safely.”

But we almost didn’t make it back. Reluctantly, I say, “I know it’s a bad time, but there are some things I have to tell you. You have to know . . .”

“Spit it out, Hector,” Alejandro says.

“An assassin came after us. Only Lord-Commander Enrico and Captain Mandrano knew where we were going.”

The room grows very still.

Alejandro steps away from me. He rubs at his chin, thinking hard. “I believe Captain Mandrano is above reproach in this instance.”

“I agree.” I take a deep breath. I’m about to lay accusations against a superior officer. “I know Enrico is personally ambitious and likes to consider himself a political player. Mandrano is the perfect second-in-command for him precisely because he hates politics and does not have ambition.”

Everyone is staring at me sharply, but I press on.

“I don’t know for sure that Enrico sent a killer after us. I can’t prove it. I do know that during our short time in the training yard, I observed Mandrano’s unquestioned loyalty to you, while Enrico did everything he could to subvert your commands.”

“Such as?” Alejandro prods.

“In your letter, did you specify that Enrico was to send Tomás and Marlo with me?”

“Of course. Just like you asked.”

“He sent two others instead—boys he thought were expendable, that the Guard would be well rid of.”

Alejandro frowns. “We’ll have to decide what to do about him.”

He says it as if the decision is a nebulous, future thing. So very like my friend.

“Or you could decide now,” Rosaura says gently.

“Give him what he wants,” I press.

“Reward him?”

“Give him a title and a small estate somewhere remote. Mandrano is loyal and would mirror your votes in the Quorum for the next few years while you groomed another commander.”

“And who should that be, do you think?” Alejandro asks.

“I have no idea! You’re the king. You figure something out. Though this, at least, isn’t a decision you must make right away.”

Alejandro turns away and faces the wall, crossing his arms. Softly, he says, “We received word of Lord Solvaño’s death just this morning. They delivered the weapon that killed him to me. It was a bronze dagger with a bone handle. The kind issued to attendants of the queen.”

“I didn’t—” Miria starts to protest, but I interrupt.

“That’s the other thing I needed to tell you. I killed him.”

Alejandro whirls to face me, and I step back involuntarily. But he’s smiling. “Liar,” he chides. “You’re protecting her.”

I wilt a little in relief.

“I admit, I was stunned,” he says. “But it’s actually not such a bad situation.”

“I . . . I tried to make it look like an accident.”

“Hector!” Rosaura exclaims.

But Alejandro is nodding. “Vicenç can start circulating the story. Rosaura’s father will take over as portmaster. And now”—he brightens visibly—“Enrico can take custody of the Fortress of Wind.”

“The place is in terrible disrepair,” I say meaningfully. “And the staff there has been horribly abused. Everyone there will be glad for new leadership.”

I recognize the mischievous glint in his eye. It used to indicate that he was about to send me to the kitchens to steal pollo pibil. “The fortress is a place of profound historical and architectural value,” he says. “It should be painstakingly restored to its former glory.”

“Such an important task could only be imparted to someone you trust implicitly.”

“Like the retired commander of my Guard.”

“We must find Isadora and do something to help her,” Rosaura interjects.

“Oh, we will,” Alejandro says, and I know by his inflection that the “we” is both personal and royal.

Rosaura grimaces as she tries to lift the baby.

“Here, let me burp him for you,” Miria says, reaching for the child. She lays him across her shoulder and pats his back.

How do women all know what to do with babies? It’s like they have their own special kind of sorcery.

“Who knows the whole story?” Alejandro asks. “About Isadora, the baby, her escape, your return.”

“Only the people in this room. And Isadora. My brother and his wife know of her pregnancy and have probably made some guesses, but you can trust them. Some of Solvaño’s servants knew Isadora was being held captive, but they weren’t allowed to see her. Even Lucio and Fernando, the boys who went with me, know very little.”

Dr. Enzo takes the child from Miria’s arms. “Let me examine him,” he says. Rosaura looks on longingly, as if she can’t wait to have the baby back in her own arms.

“And how is Isadora?” Alejandro asks. “Is she still as beautiful . . .” He gives his wife an apologetic glance.

“She is everything you remember and more,” I say firmly.

Alejandro smiles, an expression tinged with both joy and regret.

“Your Majesty, a word,” Dr. Enzo says. He cradles the baby in his arms, even as he swipes a finger into the gumless mouth.

Alejandro steps over to the corner to talk to him in hushed tones.

“Hector,” the queen calls, and I move to her side. She whispers, “Miria told me everything about Isadora. Thank you for your kindness to my husband. And thank you”—tears fill her eyes as she stares after the baby in Enzo’s arms—“for him. You have given me an incredible gift, Hector.”

There are so many things I want to say. Your husband—my friend—does not deserve you, being high on the list. I settle for, “You’re welcome.”

She smiles. “You’re learning,” she says. “The less you say, the more your words will matter.”

“What now?” I ask.

“For you, I don’t know,” she says. “A young man who wantonly destroys a quilt handmade for him by the queen of the realm is unlikely to have a promising future.”

Before I can reply, Alejandro turns and says, “The queen and I need some privacy. I probably don’t have to tell you to speak to no one—but I am telling you, speak to no one.”

I cast a final glance toward Rosaura, whose breathing has become weak and shallow. A rock of dread has settled in my gut, and I’m feeling miserable as we leave. I hold the door open for Miria.

“Thank you,” I say to her. “For everything you did.”

“Oh, I don’t know if you want to thank me yet,” she says.

“What does that mean?”

But she walks away without an explanation.

15

THE palace is frantically busy for the next few days while I sit in my old quarters, no longer the king’s squire and not really a recruit for the Royal Guard. Vicenç ushers a stream of visitors in and out of the king’s chambers, but I am not one of them.

Finally, we are called to the courtyard, every member of the palace household. We stand shoulder to shoulder, all mixed together: Royal Guard and palace watch, laundresses and stable boys, the queen’s ladies and even a few in-residence nobles.

Lucio and Fernando find me in the crowd. It’s the first time I’ve seen them since returning from Puerto Verde.

“Did you hear about the lord-commander?” Lucio whispers.

“No,” I say. I haven’t heard anything.

“He resigned from the Guard. You heard that Solvaño got roaring drunk and fell on his dagger, right? Well, the king has assigned Enrico guardianship of the Fortress of Wind.”

Fernando is eager to confirm this. “Rumor is the resignation was forced. He’s to leave at once to tend to the restoration of the tower.”

“How nice for him,” I say. “He must be happy to finally be a lord of his own land.”

“It’s awful,” Lucio says. “Mandrano’s been named interim lord-commander. He made us scrub the training yard.”

I grin. “But on the positive side, he dumped your wine.”

This earns me a staggering cuff on the shoulder, but Lucio is grinning too.

I search for Mandrano and find him standing near the front. Beside him is Miria. They are holding hands.

Of course.

I immediately regret every word I’ve ever said about him.

He catches me looking at him and glowers. So much for my hope of returning to the Guard. Rosaura’s warnings to keep my mouth shut were meant in more ways than I could have ever guessed.

Alejandro and Rosaura appear at the balcony above us. The buzz of conversation in the courtyard falls silent. They wear royal white, and their golden crowns shimmer in the sunshine. Rosaura’s face is as pale as death, and I know, because I know her, that it is taking all her strength and focus to be here. Even so, she manages to exude radiant purpose.

Dr. Enzo approaches from behind, carrying a small bundle in his arms.

Alejandro takes the baby from him and holds him up for the crowd.

Alejandro’s voice booms, “Her Majesty Queen Rosaura and I announce the birth of our son and heir to the throne. Please welcome your future king, Prince Rosario né Flurendi de Vega!”

The crowd goes wild. The baby jerks in Alejandro’s arms and starts to squall, which sends everyone into an even louder frenzy of cheering.

Rosario.

Poor boy. He had such a rough beginning. But with Alejandro for a father and Rosaura for his mother, life ought to get a lot better for him. At least I hope so.

Lucio and Fernando cheer with everyone else. “I guess we missed all the important stuff while we were away in Puerto Verde,” Lucio says to me. “What happened with Lady Isadora? Miria said you got her away safely.”

“Yes. Everything turned out well for her,” I say.

“Good. Though it was probably all for nothing, since her father ended up killing himself anyway.”

“Yes,” I say. “All for nothing.”

16

SO here we stand, nine recruits in the training yard of the palace. Lucio and Fernando stand beside me.

The morning sun beats down on our scalps as Interim Lord-Commander Mandrano enters the yard.

“Lord-Commander Enrico has been given a new assignment,” he says. “So I’ve been instructed to start the recruiting season over from scratch. I will oversee your training until the king appoints a new lord-commander.”

I’m sure Miria has something to do with how everything has played out, but if I were a gambling man, I’d lay odds that Miria and I will never speak of it.

“The only thing a recruit gets for free is the opportunity to prove himself,” Mandrano continues. “Anything you get after that, you earn. Are you ready to earn the title of Royal Guard?”

“Yes, my lord!” we shout in unison.

Mandrano twitches at the word “lord,” but he doesn’t protest. He walks down the line, asking the recruits about the items they’ve brought with them. When he comes to me, he discovers that my hands are empty.

“Did you bring three personal items, recruit?” he asks.

“Yes, my lord!” I say.

“What are they?”

“Love for my kingdom, love for my king, and love for my queen, my lord!”

He pauses for a long time before he nods. “I can work with that,” he says finally.

It’s all a Royal Guard, a true Royal Guard, will ever need.

Excerpt from The Bitter Kingdom

READ ON FOR A SNEAK PEEK OF

THE EPIC CONCLUSION TO RAE CARSON’S ACCLAIMED FANTASY TRILOGY

1

We run.

My heels crunch sandy shale as my legs pound a steady rhythm. With every fourth step, I suck a lungful of dry air. My chest burns, my thighs ache, and the little toe of my left foot stings with the agony of a ripped blister.

Ahead, Belén glances over his shoulder to check on the rest of us. His boots and his tunic and even his leather eye patch are tinged brownish orange with the dust of this desert plateau. We’ve fallen too far behind, and it’s my fault. He checks his stride, but I wave him on.

My companions—an assassin, a lady-in-waiting, and a failed sorcerer—are all more accustomed than I am to hard travel, and I dare not slow us down. We must take advantage of this flat, easy terrain while we can, for we have less than two months to cross the Sierra Sangre, sneak into enemy territory, free Hector, and escape. Otherwise he dies, and the country we’ve sacrificed so much to save descends into civil war.

I unclench my fists, relax my shoulders so my arms swing loose, and spring a little harder off of my toes. The burn in my thighs intensifies, but it’s only pain, and not nearly the worst I’ve felt. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been.

Iron clatters behind me, brittle and sharp. I stop cold and spin, anger bubbling in my chest. But Storm’s uncannily beautiful face is so furrowed with frustration that I soften toward him immediately.

His chains have come loose again. They drag in the dust now, streaming from his manacled ankles, each about the length of my forearm. They are magic forged, impossible to remove. The best we can do is wrap them in his leggings so they don’t interfere with his stride or, worse, announce our passage.

Mara, my lady-in-waiting, hitches her quiver of arrows higher up onto her shoulder and wipes sweat from her eyes with a filthy sleeve. She sets her bow on the ground and crouches beside Storm’s boots. “Maybe if we weave the ties of your boots through the chains . . .”

Storm stretches out an ankle for her. I scowl to see my friend bowed at his feet like a supplicant while he accepts her ministrations with an air of supreme boredom.

“Mara,” I say.

She turns a dirt-smeared face to me.

“Storm will be responsible for his own chains from now on.”

“Oh, I don’t mind!” she says.

“I do.” Sometimes it’s up to me to keep my companions from giving too much of themselves. I wave her off with her a mock glare. She rolls her eyes at me, but she grabs her bow and steps away. Storm looks back and forth between us, and I half expect him to protest, but then he shrugs and hunkers down to tend the chains himself.

“We can’t go on like this.” The low voice in my ear makes me jump. Belén skims the ground like a ghost, even when stealth is unnecessary.

“The next village will have horses that haven’t been conscripted,” I tell him. “It has to.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

I turn on him. It’s bad enough knowing I’ll have to mount one of the horrible creatures. But it’s worse to consider what I must to do in order to accomplish it. I say, “If the conscription has reached this far east, we’ll steal some.”

“We’re at the very edge of the kingdom!” Mara protests.

Storm straightens and shakes a leg experimentally. The chain stays put. “Conde Eduardo has been planning his rebellion for a long time,” he says. “Maybe years. We won’t find available transportation until we’re in the mountains.”

My blood boils, from heat and from anger. Eduardo is one of Joya’s most powerful and trusted lords. A member of the Quorum of Five, no less. But he has robbed hundreds, maybe thousands, of their livelihoods to feed his ambition. He has taken their horses and camels, their carriages and food stores, even their young men, for military use. And he has done it so that he can divide my country and crown himself a king.

I grab my water skin from its hook at my waist and take a much deeper draft than I should. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and toss the water skin to Mara, who catches it deftly.

“A queen shouldn’t have to steal her own horses,” Mara says.

“Do you have a better suggestion?” I ask. “Announce our mission, maybe?”

“Stealing will attract attention too.”

I nod. “But better than parading in full regalia into the next village and commandeering what I need. With luck, the conde won’t hear of the theft for a long time. And if he does, it might not occur to him that it was his queen.”

Storm chuckles. “Queen, chosen one, horse thief. Let it never be said that you are not accomplished.”

My attempt to glare at him fails when my lips start to twitch.

“In that case . . .” Belén says, a slow grin spreading across his face. “We need a plan.”

The sun is low on the horizon, painting the plateau and its toothed outcroppings in fiery shades of coral. The breeze picks up, flinging hair that has loosened from my braids into my eyes and mouth. Though we skirt the great sand desert to the south, the evening wind will kick up enough dust to make travel almost impossible. Not much time left today. “A plan will wait until we’ve camped for the night,” I say.

From habit, I turn to look for Hector, seeking his quiet approval. I don’t catch myself until it’s too late, until I’ve lost him all over again.

“Elisa?” Mara says.

I clench my hands into fists. “Let’s run,” I say. And we do.

About the Author

Rae Carson is the author of The Girl of Fire and Thorns, The Crown of Embers, and The Bitter Kingdom. Locus, the premier magazine for science fiction and fantasy, proclaimed, “Carson joins the ranks of writers like Kristin Cashore, Megan Whalen Turner, and Tamora Pierce as one of YA’s best writers of high fantasy.” The Girl of Fire and Thorns was a finalist for the Morris YA Debut Award and one of ALA’s Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults. Rae Carson dabbled in many things, from teaching to corporate sales to customer service, before becoming a full-time writer. She lives with her family in Columbus, Ohio. You can follow her on Twitter.

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Copyright

Text copyright © 2013 by Rae Carson

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Epub Edition © JUNE 2013 ISBN 9780062273048

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Content

Carson Rae The King's Guard

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Excerpt from The Bitter Kingdom

THE EPIC CONCLUSION TO RAE CARSON’S ACCLAIMED FANTASY TRILOGY

About the Author