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The next morning, Ahnna stepped out of the spiral to find James sitting on the same bale of hay as the day prior. “Have you reconsidered your choice of mount, my lady?”

She glared at him, noticing that he looked even more tired than he had yesterday despite having left dinner early again. “There’s nothing wrong with my horse.”

“He’s a fine mount.” James climbed to his feet, straightening his dark-blue coat. “For a skilled rider. Which you are not.”

“Asshole,” she muttered as she bypassed him and headed into the stable. James followed, watching as she repeated what she’d learned yesterday until Dippy was ready. He said nothing as she led her horse out into the stable yard, but when she moved to mount, James said, “Don’t kick him once you’re in the saddle. He’s happy to work, so you need not punish him as though he’s avoiding the labor.”

“I’m not punishing him.”

“Do you like to be kicked?” James asked.

“Of course not,” she retorted. “But that’s how I’ve seen most people make their horses go, so I thought that was how it was done.”

“Get kicked enough and you grow used to it,” James said icily.

They were talking about horses, yet the statement, and his tone, made her flinch. Ahnna covered her reaction by fussing with her stirrup, then said, “So what do I do?”

“Gentle squeeze, though in truth, you need barely think about him walking and he’ll go. This is a horse who loves to run.”

Sighing, Ahnna climbed on Dippy’s back, sitting stiffly in the saddle with the reins clutched in her hands. Sure enough, the faintest squeeze had the horse walking, and she followed James’s instructions to steer him around the yard.

Eager for more, she squeezed her legs again, and they broke into a trot. For the first circle around the yard, she bounced like a sack of potatoes, but then she found her rhythm, not unlike keeping her feet on a rocking ship.

Faster.

“Ease off,” James called. “That’s quite fast enough.”

She squeezed her legs, ignoring James’s admonition, but instead of a slight increase in speed, the horse flung himself into a gallop, careening around the yard. Terrified that he was going to crash, Ahnna heaved on the reins as hard as she could.

Only to find herself sitting in the dirt, her horse still circling wildly around the yard, reins flapping. As she watched in horror, one of them wrapped around his foreleg, and Dippy stumbled, nearly going down.

James caught hold of the other rein, then untangled him. But the damage was already done, her horse limping.

“How badly is he hurt?” she demanded, scrambling to her feet. “Will he be all right?”

James ignored her, feeling Dippy’s foreleg and then shaking his head. “Idiot.”

Ahnna flinched, certain that the word was intended for her.

James handed the reins off to a groom, then rounded on her. “I told you no faster!”

Which had been exactly why she’d ignored him. And now her horse was injured as a result. Tears stung her eyes as she watched Dippy limp back to the barn.

“Pulling like that made him feel trapped, which is intolerable for a horse like Dippy. You’re lucky he didn’t go over backward and land on you. Next time, circle him!”

“You could have told me that part,” she retorted, her anger rising. Most of which was for herself. “I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known.”

“The only way you seem to learn is the hard way, Ahnna. So what is the point of me wasting my breath.” James started toward the barn. “No riding until he recovers.”

—

Not long after Dippy was injured, it began to rain.

Not the torrential rain of Ithicana, but a strange wet mist that seemed to sit upon the land like a damp blanket, the view from her window in the Sky Palace nothing but gray clouds and fog. And with her horse recovering, Ahnna was left to pace the near-empty halls of the palace with little company beyond her own footsteps.

Virginia occasionally invited Ahnna to join her and her ladies, but the conversation was stilted, she and Lestara both sitting alone like islands while the others circled around. None of the ladies of the court showed any familiarity with the initials C.F., and Ahnna was reluctant to press lest she draw attention to her spying. Instead, she listened to their gossip, learning a thousand bits of knowledge, though none of it spoke of plans to change the nature of Harendell’s trade. None of it spoke of other markets. None of it spoke of growing Harendell’s fleet to bypass the bridge. Indeed, very little of it spoke of Ithicana at all.

It made Ahnna start to wonder if she was obsessing over a problem that didn’t exist. Whether James had been speaking speculatively when he’d mentioned it on the ship. Whether William had been so deep in his cups that his mention of Harendell leaning on other friends had been nothing more than the wine talking. Whether the amounts Alexandra was funneling to C.F. were nothing illicit at all, merely some entertainment that she’d agreed to fund. But her instincts screamed otherwise. Screamed that the threat was real, no matter that no one seemed aware of it.

She was miserable and lonely, but with William gone all day with his friends and James not wanting anything to do with her, there was nothing to do but pace and pace. Like an animal caught in a cage.

Which was why when William suggested one night that they head out for a night in the city in the company of Virginia and Georgie, Ahnna didn’t hesitate to agree.

“Whoever built this tower really ought to have thought of a faster way down,” Virginia groaned, leaning against the side of the carriage as Buck and Brayer slowly descended from the Sky Palace. “It’s so tedious.”

“There is a faster way down,” William said with a grin. “But you only get to use it once.”

Virginia rolled her eyes, then stole the bottle from his hand, drinking straight from the neck. “I truly don’t understand why the kings of old decided to build a palace atop it.”

“Defense,” Georgie said. “Half of the defenses haven’t been used in generations, but properly manned, the Sky Palace is impregnable.”

Ahnna gave a soft snort. “Everything is pregnable. You need only look at the defense from the inside.”

“Agreed, my lady,” Georgie said. “Though in truth, only the vaguest accounts describe the Sky Palace ever having to defend itself, so I think we’ve forgotten how.”

Virginia and William laughed, but Ahnna only looked out the window at the foggy sky beyond. “That’s more a privilege than you know.”

Everyone fell silent.

“Perhaps one day you’ll remedy our failings, my lady,” Georgie finally said. “It’s always good to be prepared for the worst.”

“James likely has the answers, so ask him,” William said. “Where is my brother, Georgie? He’s been even less fun than usual lately, which is to say no fun at all.”

“Patrols,” Georgie answered a hair too quickly.

“Amaridians?”

Georgie nodded, then added, “That, and it seems civilians have been a bit quick to the torch with those suspected of astromancy lately. Multiple fatalities, many with dubious proof of guilt.”

“It is our people’s right to defend the faith,” Virginia said. “And it discourages the Cardiffians from sneaking across the border.”

“I’ll not argue that point.” Georgie took the bottle from her. “But apparently, some have been burned with no evidence at all, and last I checked, being Cardiffian alone is not a crime.”

“Should be.” Virginia wrinkled her nose.

“If being Cardiffian was punishable by death, wouldn’t James be deserving of murder in the eyes of the law?” Ahnna abruptly asked, not willing to hold her tongue. “Or at least, half of him?”

The tiny carriage fell totally silent.

“My brother is Harendellian.” Virginia’s voice was deadly soft. “We do not speak of the witch who bore him. He was raised in the true faith, and I will not hear you speak a word against him.”

“I didn’t speak a word against him,” Ahnna countered. “You did.”

“Easy now,” Georgie said. “We’re all friends here.”

“I’m not so sure.” Virginia’s color was high, partially from anger and partially from drink. “Elizabeth told me that you threatened her, Ahnna. That you told her you’d take issue with anyone who mistreated that witch.”

“I did,” Ahnna said. “And I am pleased that everyone took my words to heart.”

“She’s a traitor. And she practices astromancy with impunity,” Virginia spat. “She deserves to suffer. Deserves to burn, but Father won’t let us put her to the torch because she’s King Ronan’s daughter.”

Next to Ahnna, William shifted, and Virginia’s eyes shot to him. “Tell her, Will. Make her understand.”

To Ahnna’s surprise, William only shrugged. “The behavior was beneath you, sister, and I, for one, am glad to see it put to a stop. It saddened me to see you be so cruel.”

“You can’t be serious?”

“Father took Lestara from Keris Veliant as a favor,” William said. “But punishing her is not our responsibility, so I fail to see why you insist on dirtying your hands.”

It was a shockingly reasonable view, and not one Ahnna had expected.

“I’ll hear no more of this,” Virginia hissed. Then she shouted, “Stop the carriage!”

“Ginny,” William protested. “Don’t be like this. We’re out for a good time, and you’re making it about politics.”

“Stop the carriage!”

Georgie banged on the ceiling, and the carriage slowed to a halt. Not waiting for the coachman, Virginia shoved the door open and climbed out, tripping and nearly falling as she started walking up the spiral.

“Go with her, Georgie,” William said. “Kiss her before you get to the top, and she’ll forget this ever happened.”

“I…” Georgie looked between Ahnna and William, cursed softly, then clambered out and chased after Virginia.

William closed the door, then called out, “Carry on, then!”

The mules resumed their slow descent of the spiral, Ahnna finding herself alone with William for the first time.

“Don’t mind Ginny,” he said. “She’s a dramatic drunk. And in truth, this might have all been a performance to get Georgie alone.”

Ahnna didn’t believe that had been Virginia’s motivation. It was because the princess doubted Ahnna’s intentions, and in truth, she was surprised the princess had left Ahnna alone with William, given her concerns.

“Honestly,” William said, “I’m grateful that you held her to task about her treatment of the Cardiffian woman. Whether he said so or not, I’m certain that her behavior is half the reason Jamie has been finding reasons to be absent. I know he’s a paragon of stoicism and emotes as much as brick, but my brother does have a feeling or two hidden beneath the surface. And while we try to pretend otherwise, his mother was Cardiffian. I found Ginny’s behavior in poor taste, but to say so would have been a bad look. Politics, and all. So thank you.”

So James does care. Ahnna gave William a tight smile. “You’re welcome.”

“I did leave an invitation for him to join us with the servants, but I don’t anticipate we’ll see him,” William said. “Jamie’s not one for revels. Are you, Ahnna?”

Once upon a time she had been. “I can be convinced.” To add to her words, she took the bottle from his hand and drank.

William laughed, then said, “Have I told you about the new horse I purchased?”

He kept up a steady stream of chatter as they reached the bottom of the spiral, moving into a carriage that already held two of his friends. They were minor lords she hadn’t met before, the sort of which he seemed to keep in endless quantities around him. With a few words here and there, Ahnna moved William through his interests, searching for a clue about C.F. while they progressed through Verwyrd to an alehouse he favored.

It was already raucous inside, dozens of minor noblemen and women waiting, clearly having received word that this was where to be tonight, for they let out loud cheers as William entered with her on his arm. “It’s always good to slum with the common class from time to time,” he said conspiratorially into her ear. “Buy a few rounds and earn their favor.”

But Ahnna barely heard him. On the far side of the alehouse, sitting at the bar, was a familiar figure, tall and broad. The patrons instinctively giving him space, though none of them knew his identity. His eyes locked with Ahnna’s, and he gave a small jerk of his chin toward the rear of the alehouse.