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What precisely warned her, Ahnna couldn’t have said. Some sixth sense gained from a lifetime of people trying to kill her, animals trying to kill her, and storms trying to kill her, perhaps. But there was no mistaking the crawl of sensation across her skin warning that malevolent eyes were watching her.

Experience kept her from revealing her awareness by overtly searching their surroundings, but she slowly slipped her hand into her skirt pocket, the hole Hazel had sewn into it allowing her to close her fingers over the hilt of the six-inch blade strapped to her thigh.

Beneath her, Dippy gave a small buck, and Ahnna took a deep breath to relax herself lest the gelding give her away.

Then James was alongside her.

“There’s someone following us,” she said softly. “In the trees, left side of the road.”

“I haven’t seen anyone.” He stretched, expression bored, though Ahnna knew it was an act.

“Trust me.”

“I do.” He patted Maven on the neck. “But one curious individual isn’t going to attack this many soldiers. The greater risk is a well-placed arrow.”

Which was why he was riding alongside her, Ahnna realized. So they’d have to get through him to hit her.

“Georgie!” he called, and the other man turned his head. Ahnna didn’t miss the sour expression on his face, but it fell away as James added, “I think a pint is in order when we arrive. Fortitude for an unpleasant task.”

A code, she had no doubt, especially as Georgie moved his horse closer to Virginia’s small mount, even as she cast her brother a glare over her shoulder.

“How much farther?” Ahnna asked, tightening her grip on Dippy’s reins, then forcing herself to relax again. “And what sort of place is it?”

“Half an hour.” James glanced into the trees, face still unmoved. “The town is fortified and also has a garrison. A lot of wealth in Abertford.”

“Should we race?”

“The road isn’t good for it. Winding and muddy.”

Her lips parted to ask if they should go back, but the crawling sensation between her shoulder blades warned her that it would be a mistake. The only thing to do was to press onward and keep their eyes open.

They kept their pace down the road, the silence between them heavy, and every time they rounded a bend and crossed paths with a traveler, Ahnna tensed. She felt exposed and poorly equipped to fight in the dress with only her knives, when what she wanted was a sword and clothing that would allow her to disappear into the woods if she had to.

“Thank you,” she finally said, lest the tension be the thing that put her in a grave. “For training my horse.”

“Unnecessary, in hindsight,” James said, and Ahnna’s heart sank with certainty that he would reference her inevitable departure, but then he added, “I think you would have sorted him on your own if given the time.”

“Saved me bruising my ass again.”

The corner of his mouth turned up, though his eyes were on the trees. “Then I’ll consider it time well spent.”

A flicker of motion caught her eye. A horse, she thought, moving through the forest but far enough away that it was swiftly obscured by brush. “Who do you think it is?”

“Any number of possibilities,” he muttered. “Let’s hope it’s only a spy.”

Silence reigned once more, and Ahnna felt no small amount of relief when the walls of the town appeared ahead, the guards manning the gate drawing to attention as they recognized the royal banner at the head of the party.

“Stay with Virginia and Georgie,” James said as they passed through the gates, then fell back to speak to one of the guards.

Ahnna did as he asked, staying close to the princess as Georgie rode deeper into the town, the wide street having trees planted equidistant down the center, branches shading them as they rode beneath. The buildings to either side were three stories tall and made from stone, wrought-iron railings framing the front steps, all of it exuding wealth. He stopped in front of a large building. The stone above the door was carved with the name Partridge & Co., which was familiar to Ahnna from her survey of accounts at the bank, for this was the jeweler that had paid Alexandra, presumably for the sale of something.

Perhaps she might kill two birds with one stone in this venture.

Stable boys appeared from around the building, taking the horses even as a man in a gray morning suit appeared on the steps. “Your Highness,” he said, bowing low. “This is an unexpected surprise. We would have been happy to have brought you a selection of our best—”

“I know, Lionel, but I feel you give better advice with less time to prepare,” Virginia interrupted.

The man, Lionel, gave a soft sigh as though already defeated, then bowed to Georgie. “My lord Cavendish, it is a pleasure.” Then his gaze settled on Ahnna, widening in surprise. “It is an honor, Your Highness. It has been many years since we’ve served the needs of the Ithicanian royal family. It was always a delight, for requests came by messenger, and it was always very cloak-and-dagger.”

“No longer any need for that.” Ahnna dismounted. “I’m of a mind to purchase a gift for Ithicana’s queen. Maridrinian rubies, if you have them.” She could feel the sharp look that Georgie cast her way, but she did not allow herself to react.

“Of course, of course.” He gestured for them to follow him inside, and Ahnna’s eyes skimmed over the heavy bars on the windows, alert guards with sharp blades standing to both sides of the large foyer.

“We have several pieces with stones from Maridrina in the gallery,” Lionel said, gesturing down the hallway.

“Let’s visit the vaults instead,” Virginia said. “This is for a queen, Lionel. Not just any queen, but also the woman who is half sister to the queen of Maridrina, as well as sister to the prince consort of Valcotta. Harendell must put its best foot forward, yes?”

The man paled. “Yes, of course. This way, my ladies.”

Ahnna glanced behind her, but James had not yet joined them, so she followed the jeweler down a wide set of stairs into a subterranean level. The walls were thick stone, Valcottan glass lamps burning every pace or so, and the carpet beneath her feet was so thick that her boots made almost no sound. They approached a heavy steel door flanked by two guards, who stepped aside, allowing Lionel to fiddle with some sort of mechanism, his motions obscured.

But not the loud clunk of a heavy lock disengaging.

They stepped inside, and Ahnna’s heart stuttered at the long cabinets marked with labels indicating gemstone type and region, as well as the gold bars stacked floor-to-ceiling at the far end of the room. The irony that this was what Harendellians believed could be found in Ithicana was not lost on her.

A glass case ran down the center of the room with completed pieces. Tiaras and necklaces and rings, all incredible craftsmanship and bearing gems of such size that each must cost a king’s ransom.

Lionel gestured to the table sitting before the bullion, heavy oak and surrounded by upholstered chairs. Ahnna and Virginia sat, Georgie standing behind Virginia’s chair, expression impassive.

“As chance would have it, we have many pieces with Maridrinian rubies,” Lionel said. “A year or two past, Her Most Royal Majesty, Queen Alexandra, brought to us a selection of rubies that she desired to sell, for red is not her favored color.”

Ahnna blinked, surprised that the man was making no effort to hide the transaction, which she had to assume meant that Alexandra had not asked for discretion. Though it was not the reason for her being here, a flood of disappointment filled her—it seemed that her one piece of leverage might not be leverage at all. Or at least, not this part of it. C.F. remained a mystery.

“Nor mine,” Virginia said, accepting a glass of sparkling wine that had been brought by a servant. “I’ve always believed red to be a masculine color.”

“Lara favors many pursuits that others might deem masculine,” Ahnna answered, feeling an idiot for saying so. But Virginia smiled and nodded, so she added, “And of course, she’s a Veliant. Rubies are their stone.”

“Blood-red ones, I’m sure.” Virginia sipped at her wine. “Show us what you have, then, Lionel.”

The jeweler unlocked a case, then brought a pair of earrings made of rubies and diamonds that would reach down to the wearer’s shoulders. Before Ahnna could pick them up, Virginia gestured to be handed them, her fingers running over the gems, eyes fixed beyond Ahnna’s shoulder. “No,” she declared. “These are jewels a man buys his mistress. Put them away and bring something else.”

Next came a delicate tiara of gold and ruby, formed to look like flowers.

“No,” Virginia said sourly after running her fingertips over it. “Lionel, truly. Think of Lara’s reputation and choose something fitting.”

The man hesitated, then went back not to the case but to one of the cabinets. Unlocking it, he removed a velvet-wrapped object, then brought it back to the table. “Intended to be shown to the Veliant harem,” he said. “But then…”

Ahnna’s breath caught as he unwrapped the velvet, revealing a choker of close-set rubies nearly an inch thick. Virginia ran her fingers over it and then said, “Georgie, what exact hue are they?”

“Crimson,” he answered. “As fresh blood.”

“Perfect.”

“If I may, my lady?” Lionel asked. At Ahnna’s nod, he fastened the choker around her throat. Retrieving a mirror, he held it up, and her stomach clenched, for it looked for all the world as though her throat had just been slit.

“I can tell from the silence that it’s perfect,” Virginia said. “She’ll take it, of course.”

“How much is it?” Ahnna fumbled with the clasp, wanting the choker off, though it took Lionel’s nimble fingers to unfasten the catch. Setting it on the velvet, he went to a side table and wrote down a number, folded the paper, then handed it to her.

Ahnna glanced at the amount and almost gagged. “Perhaps something—”

“This is the one, Ahnna,” Virginia interrupted. “Of course, if you find yourself short, I could lend you the coin.”

This was a fucking test.

Anger filled Ahnna’s chest, but she smiled. “No need. My accounts will cover it.”

The choker would drain the account Aren had set up for her entirely, but that was of no matter. He could sell the piece and recoup the cost, and the real value was in the message it sent. A message, a warning, that she trusted no one but Lara to understand. Smiling at Lionel, Ahnna said, “I trust you can arrange for it to be sent to Northwatch?” When he nodded, she added, “If you could do me one small favor, and be sure to include a bottle of Maridrinian wine with it. It absolutely must be Maridrinian.”

“That’s no small favor,” Virginia said. “No one of quality will have anything of the sort. Their vintages are awful.”

“I know,” Ahnna said, signing a piece of paper that Lionel’s clerk handed her. “But Lara is very familiar with that particular taste.”