The crowd went wild. Emily smiled to herself. No one would notice that part of Alassa’s speech had been cribbed from Queen Elizabeth I, and a speech Alassa herself had given five years earlier, not when they’d heard what they wanted to hear. The Great Charter would become the law of the land and everything would be perfect forever. Emily knew that wasn’t going to happen – there was no such thing as a perfect solution – but it would definitely make things better. The crowd had something to fight for – now – beyond its own salvation.
Alassa walked into the manor as an impromptu street party broke out behind her. A handful of musicians started playing several different dance tunes at the same time, innkeepers dragged barrels of beer onto the streets and started filling glasses for free, men and women danced in the streets and kissed freely as they celebrated their victory. Emily could feel their pride – a pride they’d never been able to feel before – bubbling through the air. The war had united them in more ways than one. She looked up, hoping to see what Hansel made of the party, but he had vanished. He’d probably followed Alassa into the manor.
Emily smiled at Cat. “Are you coming?”
“I have to check on the defenses,” Cat said. “The last thing we need is Lord Burrows regrouping and launching a counterattack.”
Emily nodded, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then headed to the manor herself. Alassa’s servants had already started to arrive, led by Iodine. Poor Hansel was going to lose his manor to his princess, at least for a day or two. It was the finest accommodation in town, as far as she knew. The manor’s servants were running around as if someone had set their clothes on fire, occasionally casting wistful glances towards the doors. They could hear the sound of people celebrating outside, but they weren’t allowed to join them. Hansel was keeping them busy as he struggled to ensure that Alassa had a comfortable stay.
“Ah, Emily,” Alassa said, as she stepped into the audience chamber. Her words were formal, but there was no mistaking the devilish amusement behind her eyes. “Come join us.”
Emily had to smile. Alassa was sitting on a high-backed chair that somehow looked like a throne, while Hansel and his brother were sitting below her in a manner that made it clear – somehow – that they were very definitely subordinates. A man stood beside the wall, his features vague... she glanced at him sharply as her eyes tried to slide over him without recognizing his presence, then relaxed as she realized it was Jade behind the obscurification spell. Hansel and his brother didn’t know it, but Alassa was protected. If they had anything dangerous in mind...
“We thank you for saving our city, Your Highness,” Hansel was saying. “And all of our people thank you as well.”
“You are more than welcome,” Alassa said. “And we take pride in your service.”
Emily saw Hansel flush angrily, looking down hastily to conceal his reaction. She watched him carefully as the first set of petitioners entered the chamber, hoping to take advantage of the victory to convince Alassa to support them. Emily listened to their requests, ranging from trade concessions and monopolies to petty and pointless legal disputes, and marvelled at how Alassa was calm and gracious to all of them. The bratty princess she’d met years ago was long gone. Instead, there was a mature woman who would make a good queen.
“I think we will have to call a halt now,” Alassa said, resting her hand on her belly. “I’ll go to my rooms now. Emily will accompany me.”
“Of course, Your Highness,” Hansel said. “I will show you the way myself.”
Emily had half-expected Hansel to give up his own rooms for his princess, but instead they’d opened a suite that had probably belonged to Hansel’s mother or grandmother. It was finely decorated, with crafty designs carved into the wooden walls, yet there was something unmistakably feminine about the design. A large portrait hung on the wall – Emily didn’t recognize anyone in the picture – and a fire was already roaring in the fireplace. Hansel bowed once again and withdrew, closing the door behind him. Emily was surprised to realize that Jade hadn’t followed them into the room.
“Well,” Alassa said, once they’d set up privacy wards and checked for peepholes. “I’m very glad we got here in time.”
“So am I,” Emily said. She glanced around, just to make sure that Jade hadn’t somehow sneaked into the room, then leaned forward. “What happened when you told Jade you were going to ride into the city on a big white horse?”
Alassa colored, one hand rubbing her cheek. “Let’s just say that we would have been heard all over Swanhaven if the room hadn’t been humming with privacy wards. He was not happy.”
“Ouch,” Emily said. “What happened?”
“Oh, I distracted him,” Alassa said. She thrust out her chest. “It helped that I was heavily warded and wearing a charmed dress. Speaking of which...”
Emily smiled – Alassa had a habit of choosing dresses that required assistance to put on and take off – and then stepped up to undo the straps. The dress peeled off Alassa’s body, leaving her in her underclothes. They would have passed for a dress in their own right if someone hadn’t known they were underclothes. Alassa twirled around as the underclothes loosened, allowing her to breathe freely. Emily honestly couldn’t understand why she’d worn such a complicated dress when she’d known she’d be riding into a city.
“Because I can tear the dress off, if necessary,” Alassa said when she asked. She put the dress on the chair, then sat on the four-poster bed. Emily sat facing her. “It would be embarrassing, but it could be done.”
“And expensive,” Emily added, quietly. She had no idea what the dress was made of, but the material alone would cost more money than the average commoner could possibly earn in a year. And that didn’t include the craftsmanship that had gone into making the dress. “You are going to wear the dress again, aren’t you?”
“Of course,” Alassa said. “It’s mother who buys a new dress for every party...”
Her face fell. Alassa and her mother had never been particularly close, but... no one had any idea what had happened to her. Even Alicia, who had been listening behind keyholes in King Randor’s court, didn’t know. Queen Marlena could be dead by now. There was no way to find out the truth.
Emily touched Alassa’s hand, lightly. “I’m sure she’s fine,” she said. “The king won’t kill her.”
“He’ll need to marry Alicia if he wants to grant any legitimacy to that little brat,” Alassa said, her face hardening. “And after everything he’s done, why would he stop at murdering my mother?”
Politics, Emily thought, although she wasn’t sure that was true. King Randor might not have been able to put Marlena aside before the war, but now...? Her relatives were the king’s enemies. He didn’t have to worry about incurring more enmity. Right now, he has nothing to lose and a great deal to gain by putting his former queen aside.
Alassa cleared her throat. “You did well here, Emily,” she said. “A few minor niggles, I suspect, but you held out long enough to win. That’s the important detail.”
“Thanks,” Emily said. “How many people died in the siege?”
“How many people will die if my father’s armies rampage over Swanhaven and Cockatrice?” Alassa met her eyes, evenly. “If the reports are true, Emily, my father has been devastating the baronial south. And those commoners were largely... uninfected... by the belief in social change.”
“I know,” Emily said. She thought about the girl who had died in her arms, about the young men who’d been killed on the ramparts. “It doesn’t make it any better.”
“Yeah,” Alassa said. She looked reflective for a moment. “But we have a kingdom at stake.”
She leaned forward, clearly dismissing the matter. “Jade and I will take the main body of the army towards Winter Flower tomorrow, after we’ve had a brief rest,” she said. “I don’t want to give Lord Burrows any time to regroup and summon reinforcements. We’ll be reopening the river and funnelling supplies down the waters on barges, so...”
> Emily had to smile. “You’re learning how to handle a war.”
“I have to learn,” Alassa said. Her voice was quiet, but urgent. “If I don’t know what’s happening, if I don’t know the realities of war, I’ll be forever at the mercy of those who do.”
Lincoln thought the same way, Emily recalled. And he was right.
“Jade won’t betray you,” she said, out loud.
“I’ll have other generals, in time,” Alassa said. “And they will charge off seeking glory and justify it to themselves, if they bother to justify it at all, by saying that they are only doing what I would order them to do, if I was a man.”
“Perhaps you should offer Cat a commission,” Emily said. “He’s smart...”
“But also something of a glory hound,” Alassa said.
“He told me to go,” Emily said. “And I didn’t.”
They shared a look of mutual understanding, then Alassa sighed. “I want you to stay behind for a few days, with or without Cat,” she said. “Someone has to make sure that Eagle’s Rest is on a steady footing. I don’t want to have my rear dissolve into chaos. You can work to set up a provisional council, if you wish, or encourage the traders to forge links with Swanhaven. They have to be reminded, constantly, of the benefits of this alliance.”
Emily nodded. She’d grown sick of the city, if she were forced to be honest, but Alassa was right. They had to take the time to make sure Eagle’s Rest was secure – and the population loyal – or it would blow up in their face. It wasn’t as if they didn’t have ways to incentivise the population to cooperate. Free trade up and down the river would bring an economic boom that would keep the merchants and traders solidly on Alassa’s side.
“If you wish,” she said, finally.
Alassa cocked an eyebrow. “You do realize how many people would kill for such a job?”
“Yeah,” Emily said. “They want to promote their relatives into positions of power.”
“True,” Alassa said. “It’s why they can’t be given the job.”
She smiled, wryly. “What do you want to do afterwards?”
Emily hesitated. After what? After putting Eagle’s Rest on a sound footing? After taking Winter Flower? After winning the war itself?
“I have an apprenticeship waiting for me,” she reminded her friend. A chill ran down her spine. Void had made it clear that he wouldn’t wait forever. “I’ll be studying magic.”
“And you’ll be great.” Alassa grinned. “I’d better start sucking up to you now.”
“You don’t have to suck up to me.” Emily felt her cheeks heat. “Just... be my friend.”
“I can do that,” Alassa said. She leaned back, resting on her elbows. “Do you know how hard it is to find someone who will talk to me naturally? You, Imaiqah, Jade... I tried to talk to Frieda, but she was a little intimidated by me. Have you heard from her, by the way?”
“Just a brief note, before we left Swanhaven,” Emily said. “She’s recovering, thankfully.”
“Go visit her, once we take Winter Flower,” Alassa said. “If Gordian will let you in the door.”
Emily shrugged. “The Grandmaster might insist I meet Frieda in Dragon’s Den,” she said, thoughtfully. “Or that I wait until the summer holidays. But by then... I don’t know what I will be doing.”
“There are other masters,” Alassa said, quietly. “I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding someone willing to take you on.”
“Maybe,” Emily said.
She contemplated it for a long moment. Masters did not seek out potential apprentices. Apprentices were expected to write to potential masters, requesting apprenticeships. It was rare, vanishingly rare, for a master to offer an apprenticeship to a student without some guarantee it would be accepted. And she hadn’t written to any masters. She’d known that she had an apprenticeship waiting for her. If Void told her she could no longer study under him, she’d have problems finding a new tutor...
There was a knock at the door. Imaiqah stepped into the room.
“The army is encamped,” she said. She sounded tired. “And enjoying itself.”
“I’m sure it is,” Alassa said, as Emily and Imaiqah exchanged hugs. “Now, take a seat. Emily is going to tell us exactly what happened over the last few weeks.”
Emily made a face. “Must I?”
“Yep,” Alassa said. She winked. “Start talking.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“YOU SHOULD HAVE RUN,” CAT SAID, as they walked down the street. “I told you to go.”
Emily sighed, inwardly. She’d done her best to avoid having this conversation, but she’d known it was coming. Cat had made it clear, more than once, that she was more important than Cool Waters or Eagle’s Rest or even Winter Flower itself. He’d told her to go and she hadn’t listened, at least in time to save herself. She’d come very close to death on the barricades and she knew it.
She gave him a sidelong look, wondering why he was so angry. He’d made it clear that they were just friends with benefits, hadn’t he? Maybe he cared about her more than he was prepared to admit. Or maybe he was just annoyed that she hadn’t followed his orders, even though she was technically his superior. She found it hard to care right now. She was just too tired.
“I was not going to leave you,” she said, stepping to one side to allow a pair of laborers to walk by. Eagle’s Rest was already starting to recover from the bombardment. “And it all worked out for the best.”
“I told you to go,” Cat said. “Why didn’t you listen to me?”
Emily felt her temper start to fray. “Would you tell Jade to run?”
Cat met her eyes, evenly. “No. But if I was on the other side, if I was advising Randor himself, I’d tell him to run. Because he is the king, because he is so much more than just a person. He is the living embodiment of his cause, Emily. And you are the embodiment of ours.”
“I don’t feel that way,” Emily said. Her emotions spun, as if she couldn’t decide how she should be feeling. “Alassa is the princess.”
“Yes,” Cat said. “But it was you who triggered off everything. And really...”
He shook his head. “If you can’t take orders, Emily, you can’t expect to give them.”
If Sergeant Miles had ordered me to go, I would have gone in a heartbeat, Emily thought, sharply. But Cat is a peer.
She looked away, unsure of how to respond. Yes, she’d chosen to remain when she should have left. She didn’t want to believe that Cat was right about her importance as a symbol, but she knew he had a point. If she’d died, the symbol would have been lost... although she had no doubt that Alassa wouldn’t have hesitated to turn her into a martyr. People would have fought and died in her name, in the name of an idealised version of her that would have been scrubbed clean of all warts and blemishes. But it wasn’t something she was comfortable with, and it never would be.
“I did what seemed best,” she said, finally. “And it worked out for me.”
“It could have gone the other way,” Cat said. His face was dark with anger. “You could have died.”
Emily rounded on him. “You are not my master,” she snapped, feeling her temper flare out of control. “You are not my husband. You have made it clear that you are not even my boyfriend. We are friends and equals, not superior and inferior. And you do not have the right to talk to me like this!”
They glared at each other for a long, chilling moment. Emily braced herself, unsure what to expect. It was their first real argument, the first moment when she’d genuinely thought that their relationship – and their friendship – might be consumed by harsh words and harsher blows. Cat was a magician, he’d studied in a place where men and women worked together as equals... and yet, he might not see her as truly equal. Their relationship, even if it was little more than friends with benefits, might undermine her in his eyes. He might expect her to do as she was told, without hesitation...
A messenger ran around the corner, panting madly. “My Lord, My Lady
...”
Emily heard the sound of cantering hooves and turned, raising one hand in a casting pose. A trio of mercenaries on horseback appeared, one of them swinging a lasso above his head. The messenger let out a groan, his hands dropping to his side as if he saw no point in running anymore. Emily stepped forward, putting Cat out of her mind. The mercenaries were clearly far more important.
They glowered at her as they pulled their horses to a stop, but said nothing. She saw recognition – and fear – in their eyes, even though she didn’t recognize them. They’d had plenty of chances to see her while they were guarding the manor.
“My Lady,” the lead mercenary said. “We have orders...”
“They’re disarming us,” the messenger said. “I... they’re arresting us!”
Emily blinked. “Who’s arresting you?”
“Them,” the messenger said. “The mercenaries!”
“We have orders to arrest him for treason,” the mercenary said. He spoke so rapidly that Emily knew he was lying. “That man passed secrets to the enemy!”
“I never did,” the messenger said. “They’re arresting us and...”
Emily looked at the mercenaries, trying to channel Lady Barb. “We’ll take care of him,” she said. “You may go.”
The mercenaries hesitated, their hands resting on their swords. Emily braced herself, mustering the magic to incinerate their horses. She couldn’t tell if they were wearing charmed armor or not, but there was no point in taking chances. Behind her, she heard Cat moving into position to back her up. She had to smile, despite herself. He was still watching her back.
“Yes, My Lady,” the mercenary said finally.
Emily watched them canter off, then turned to the messenger. “What happened?”
The messenger was still gasping for breath, but the words tumbled out of him so rapidly that they blurred together. “They called the speakers to the manor and arrested them, then they raided our buildings and arrested the rest of us. All of us.”
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