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Marin said, “Brighton, if I may?” and stepped closer. With steady fingers, she unsheathed Brighton’s dagger that he kept on his hip and examined the blade. “It is perfectly clean.”

“And the cloth ripped from the front of his jacket?” Galbraith said acidly. “I suppose you have an excuse for that?”

Kaerius put out his hand, and the Severtian held out the piece of fabric. Kaerius indicated the edges and pantomimed cutting it with a knife.

“You’re saying it was planted evidence?” Galbraith’s voice cracked. “For what purpose? If I was the target, why plant evidence on him? He’s not even important.”

Marin said sharply, “He is important to me! He is an honorable soldier, a trusted confidant, a childhood friend, and a dearly loved cousin. I will not, I cannot, believe that he acted so out of character. It makes no sense.”

The Severtian’s gaze flicked to Brighton, who still sat with his eyes closed.

Kaerius put a hand on Brighton’s shoulder and then carefully, gently, pushed his hair aside to look for any external sign of injury. He could find no obvious sign of the blow, but Brighton flinched a little when his fingertips brushed an area on the back of his head.

“Why would you attack me?” Galbraith said at last, his voice suddenly wavering.

It isn’t as if you’ve made yourself pleasant. Kaerius scowled.But look! You couldn’t rip his jacket if you tried.The fabric of his own jacket was similar, and he stepped forward, indicating his shoulder.

“What do you want?” Galbraith looked him up and down, as if remembering suddenly that the silent prince had saved his life. “You don’t think the guard did it, do you?”

Kaerius shook his head. He pantomimed ripping the piece of cloth off of Brighton’s jacket, and then offered his own lapel for Galbraith to attempt to duplicate this feat.

The Severtian pulled experimentally on the cloth, finally accepting that it was nearly impossible to simply rip a piece out of it.

Seeing the reluctant understanding in Galbraith’s eyes, Kaerius turned to the princess.

The physician should see Brighton. He is not himself. I fear he is in pain.

Marin bit her lip, clearly not understanding much of this, but she looked back at her cousin. She said, “Is Sir Vincent back yet?” to the young guard, who stepped to the door to inquire about the physician. Then she knelt at Brighton’s side, an unusual display in front of a foreign lord, but everything about the evening seemed unusual. “Can you remember anything else?” she said gently.

Brighton mumbled, “I’m sorry. I… it’s hard to think.” He took an unsteady breath. “Would you bring Lila here? I…” Then he pressed his lips together and took several deep, slow breaths, as if he were fighting nausea. “I don’t want her home alone,” he said at last.

“Of course,” said Marin.

Kaerius watched this exchange and watched Galbraith observing it, noting the older man’s lips twisted as several uncomfortable, unpleasant emotions tangled together.

At last, Galbraith said, “Well, if your guard truly didn’t attack me, then I offer the sympathy of the Severtian crown for the injury of an honorable man, and the gratitude of the crown for the help of the idiot prince in helping me escape from the predicament in which I found myself.”

You didn’t find yourself there, signed Kaerius.I found you.But he bowed with a sharp smile, because he thought thatreceiving this reluctant courtesy with regal dignity would reflect better on both him and Marin than insulting Galbraith in a way he would understand.

Within a few minutes,Marin had dispatched a squad of soldiers to Brighton’s house to fetch Lila, and Sir Vincent had arrived and begun his examination by asking Brighton questions about what he remembered.

Marin said, “If you can walk just a little, we can get you into a bed in the royal quarters.”

“I can walk,” Brighton said. Kaerius and Hartley helped him stand, and he got almost upright before he retched and nearly fell. Kaerius wrapped his arms around the larger man and steadied him.

“I can walk,” Brighton gasped again. “It’s not that far.” So with support from Kaerius and the younger guard, he followed Sir Vincent and the princess just a short distance down the hall and into the royal suite.

“In here,” said the princess, indicating a room just off the first antechamber. “I’ll wait outside.”

“I’ll stay, if it’s all right with you, sir,” said Hartley.

Brighton mumbled something that sounded vaguely affirmative, and Kaerius determined he would stay too.

“Can you get undressed, sir? We’ll help you into the bed. You don’t need to be standing for this,” the physician said. “Hold onto my shoulders and I’ll help you with the buttons.”

“Thanks,” Brighton breathed, and he put both hands on the older man’s shoulders and closed his eyes while the physician helped him undress. The guard flipped the blankets back while Sir Vincent and Kaerius helped Brighton onto the bed.

When the young guard was about to pull the blankets up, the physician said, “Leave the blankets off for now. I need to see everything.”