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“I understand.”

“The materials will be kept locked in your room. You will not allow anyone else to prepare the medicine. Is this understood?”

There. I hear it in his voice. The fear.

I nod quickly. “Yes. I understand.”

“I will have four weeks of medicine provided. You will attend with Prince Corrick, of course, along with Lochlan Cresswell.”

My eyebrows shoot straight up. “You’re sendingLochlan?”

“Yes. If we are sending a contingent from Kandala to determine a better source for the Moonflower, I felt it could be beneficial to send representatives ofallmy people.”

Wow. I don’t know what to say. I’m staring at him like he told me the sky is green.

“Do you disagree with my choice?” he says.

“No. I … I’m surprised.”

“I’m hopeful that it will go far to gain trust with the rebels. Three guards will be joining you. Rocco and Kilbourne, of my personal guard, as well as Silas of the palace guard.” He hesitates. “If you have any concerns about the medicine, about the captain, about anything at all, you are to bring them to Corrick himself, or to Rocco. No one else. Not even the other guards. Am I understood?”

I study him, trying to figure this out. There’s more to all of this than he’s saying.

He’s not offering more information, so I swallow and nod. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Harristan studies me back, andhisscrutiny is intimidating. Sometimes, when I’m in his presence, I simultaneously want to yell at him todo something, while I also just want to give him a hug.

Because he’s the king, I can’t do either.

Harristan’s voice drops, just a bit, until there’s no danger of him being overheard outside this door.

“In reviewing records and shipping logs, we’ve been able to corroborate some of Captain Blakemore’s story,” he says. “But this is not a journey without risk, Tessa. Captain Blakemore appears to be very forthright in his desire to help both Ostriary and Kandala, but this could still be a means to separate me from my brother, to an end that no one has foreseen.”

Sending Prince Corrick is such a risk, but I know why the king wouldn’t send someone else.

Harristan doesn’ttrustanyone else.

The king is always stoic, even in the moments when he should be vulnerable. I remember Corrick sitting in the carriage telling me why Harristan never has a companion by his side, and it’s a bit heartbreaking. If anyone needs a little gentle care, the king should probably be at the top of the list. I think about the royal brothers’ lot in life often, and I wonder if they would have ruled entirely differently if, after their parents were killed, the consuls had found the patience to show them a moment of grace, instead of bickering over the throne and who could volley for most power.

“I have one more request for you,” the king says. “And this is a request I would like to keep between us.” He pauses. “Just us. Not even my brother.”

I hesitate. “Am I allowed to ask what it is before I agree to that?”

“I would like for you to prepare a month’s worth of elixir,” he says. “For me alone.”

I frown. “You distrust your physicians?” I say quietly.

“I’m worried the disloyalty in the palace runs deeper than any of us realize. There are very few people I trust, Tessa. Three of you are climbing aboard a ship tonight.”

Now I understand why Harristan wants to keep this a secret. If Corrick knew his brother was this worried, he wouldn’t go.

I frown. “I can’t make medicine that would last for a month. It wouldn’t be effective.” Storm clouds fill his eyes, so I rush on, “You once said you spent a lot of time with the palace physicians. If I put together the pieces, maybe you could mix everything together yourself each day?”

He’s studying me, but for a bare instant, a flicker of fear and uncertainty crosses his features.

“It wouldn’t be difficult,” I say. “I can create vials with most of the mixture, but you’d have to grind the Moonflower yourself, then add the powder. I can separate petals so you wouldn’t have to weigh them. Do you have somewhere to hide everything?”

“Yes. I’ll send Quint to fetch whatever you can prepare.”