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“And another for you,” the guard said. “Lean on me if you need to, Your Highness.”

The man was worried about his health? Why…?

All at once, the dull ache on the edge of his consciousness flared into true pain, and he recalled something striking his shoulder. And based on the pain, his side. “Arrows?”

“Glass,” the guard explained, shaking his head. “Didn’t you feel the light globe?”

Ber started back toward the false tree but had to halt before he reached it. Shards of glass covered the cobblestones, and amidst the debris, Orpem rocked back and forth beneath the branch Ber had shaken. The weak, hollow wood had been shattered by the arrow—or rather, by the magic attached to the arrow.

“My cock,” Orpem screamed. “I don’t care about my eye. Save my cock.”

Ber choked on a laugh, then hissed from the pain it sent through his back. Still, it was unbelievably perfect. One of the little branches had pierced the bastard’s groin. A lucky landing for many. Unless… Ber eyed Araxa, but aside from a slight lifting of her chin, she made no acknowledgment that she’d been involved in the trajectory of the branch’s descent.

He could hardly blame her for it. She would have heard of the young musician’s horrible injuries, too.

Abruptly, the world tilted slightly as Ber’s head spun with dizziness. Fear gripped him as tightly as his bracing hold on the guard’s arm. “The healer.”

They’d better hurry. If he collapsed out here in such a dangerous situation, he might never wake up.

If Tes didn’t geta chance to scratch her shoulder soon, she might go mad.

The infernal itch had started not long after dessert had been served. At first a barely noticeable prickle, the sensation now stung across her shoulder blade and down her side with increasing intensity. She probably could have rubbed her back against her seat, since she was in the private dining room withRia, Toren, and Mehl, but the thought of breaking protocol so rudely made her skin crawl in a different way.

Centuries of training weren’t easily overcome, not even by a princess who’d learned to mingle with tradespeople and servants. She sat at a table with the royals of Llyalia, and her body had been taught through countless whips and slaps by her governess to ignore any discomfort in settings like this. Her father had enjoyed those shows immensely.

The itch grew strong enough to actively ache. Surely, there had to be a socially acceptable way to relieve it. Tes rolled her shoulder ever-so-slightly, hoping the shift of fabric would help, but she only gained Mehl’s scrutiny. She froze beneath his questioning gaze. Unbidden, the back of her neck ached with the memory of the thin switch her governess would have used.

“Is something wrong?” the king asked.

Tes gave him a carefully practiced smile. “Of course not. All is well.”

Fabulous—now Ria and Toren peered at her, too. “Then why do you sound so tense?” Ria asked.

To cover her reaction, Tes lifted her wineglass, but before she could take a sip, dizziness swirled the world askew. She tried to blink away the sensation. When that didn’t work, she sat the glass back down, the abrupt crack loud in the sudden silence.

Ria pushed away from the table to kneel beside Tes’s chair. The queen’s hand gripped her wrist. “All is well, huh?”

“Fine.” Though her entire body tensed against a blow, Tes slumped in her seat and closed her eyes. As subtly as she could, she rubbed her back against the chair, but the itching didn’t stop. “My shoulder feels like I’ve rubbed it on paiven leaves, and I’m suddenly dizzy.”

“Mery,” Toren snapped.

Tes heard the rustle of the healer’s approach, but she kept her eyes pinched closed against the dizziness. Did Toren suspectpoison? Ever since the High King’s previous healer had been caught with such a substance, he’d had Mery attend any meal held outside their shielded private rooms. She’d surely checked the food already, though. Perhaps Toren called the healer over for politeness’ sake.

Warmth settled over Tes as the healer’s magic swept through her. But the sensation didn’t quite block the itching—or the dizziness.

“I don’t detect any hint of poison,” Mery said slowly. “Nor any other reason for such symptoms. Except exhaustion, perhaps. She is newly recovered from a fever, so more rest may be in order.”

For a moment, Tes’s head spun badly enough that she could almost believe the story they’d made up to explain her first absence. Bless Mery, but she had to be wondering if this was a new ploy no one had yet mentioned. It wasn’t of course, but perhaps it could come in handy.

“Would you help me to my room?” Tes asked, eyeing the others for their reactions. “More rest sounds lovely at the moment.”

“If Their Majesties are in agreement,” the healer replied.

All three royals frowned at her, but Toren finally nodded. “I’m sure Ria will go with you. She can keep me and Mehl apprised of the situation.”

Unfortunately, as Tes made her slow way back to her room with the ground wavering beneath her, she couldn’t figure out the situation herself.Hadshe brushed against a patch of paiven while in the gardens? Such a thing didn’t usually make her dizzy, but she might have developed an aversion to it.

But if that wasn’t the case, then she had no clue.