Page 11

He had had no childhood.

He would fight to the death to ensure those children he’d managed to set free did.

Which meant heading north and stopping the Jatan in their tracks.

It didn’t matter if he was tired. He could sleep when whatever threat to the Cervantes was dead.

Chapter 3

Ava nodded to the Rising Wave soldiers on guard in the halls of the palace. She walked the passageways at a fast clip, heading from her and Luc’s rooms to the old queen’s study. General Ru wanted them to meet before she graced the Grimwaldian envoy with her presence.

She enjoyed the flutter of her dress against her skin. She had chosen fabric of pale green silk, and it was unadorned. It looked thin, almost weightless.

Fortunately, the current fashion of layered sleeves, each layer slightly longer than the layer above, made it easy to hide workings on the innermost layer, flush against her skin.

She had also worked the inside of the strip of fabric that delineated the waist of the dress.

And finally, she had fashioned undergarments for herself. A tight bodice and short shorts. She had found the finest, stretchiest linen, cut on the bias, and she had embroidered every inch of available fabric.

The undergarments gave her a similar sense of security to her cloak, which she couldn’t wear indoors without raising eyebrows and suspicions.

They had a second, unexpected benefit, though.

They seemed to fascinate Luc.

She was approaching the former queen’s study, and Raun-Tu, one of General Ru’s top lieutenants, opened the door for her.

She met Luc’s gaze as he looked up at her entrance, and she thought some of what she’d just been thinking remained in her gaze, because his eyes widened and heat flared within them.

He gave her a long, slow smile, but she found her own lips were incapable of moving.

“Problem?” Raun-Tu asked her, and she realised she was blocking the entrance.

“No.” She cleared her throat, but before she stepped all the way in, she turned and whispered a request in Raun-Tu’s ear. He nodded and closed the door behind her.

“Something’s happened.” She could see maps on the table, and despite the surge of desire she had just shared with Luc, she could see he was tense. More tense than usual.

“One of my spies from the Jatan border just came back to report.” Luc closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck.

“And?” She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“And we have a problem.” The general’s words were measured, but Ava wanted to laugh at them.

Just one problem?

She thought they had at least four or five, and that was before whatever news Luc’s spy had brought with them.

Before she could respond, General Ru lifted a hand, opened a drawer in the desk beside her, and pulled out a thin, braided rope of dark brown thread.

Ava had made it brown to match the wooden boards of the study.

The general held the two ends together, one in each hand, and threw the loop that she’d created outward, bending down to a crouch and laying the rough circle that was formed on the floor, careful to cross one end over the other so there was no gap.

She stepped into the ring, and Luc and then Ava joined her.

No one could hear a word that was said now.

“What is it?”