Hugh and Cass stood with the horses out of earshot.
Miri asked, “Have you run into many?”
Ginger’s hand settled solidly above the curve of her hip. “Seven stopped us the last trip, just me and Hugh alone. Didn’t think we’d get out of that mess, I’ll tell you, but apparently, I’m not young enough to sell for blood.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Likely clear Hugh would put up a fight too. The kingsmen are damnable, but they’re not fools.” Her eyes came back to Miri, her lashes long and dark beneath a sharp brow. “I know you are newly married and relish being alone, but it’s not the time to be traveling without company, as young and pretty as you are.”
Miri smiled at her. Ginger could not have been much older than Miri and was more than merely pretty. But Ginger didn’t know that Cass and Miri were capable of handling a few kingsmen, should it come to it. “I’m glad to have you both,” Miri said, hoping it was not a mistake and that they didn’t end up killed for being in a princess’s company.
“The queen may be dead,” Ginger said, “but the kings are fools if they think they’ll ever eradicate her supporters.”
Miri startled at the words, until she remembered she’d spoken them to the guards the night before. Ginger didn’t know who Miri was, only that she’d said the words to save her life. The kingsmen had forced her.
“Come now, let’s get some food in you,” Ginger offered.
* * *
It was morethan a week’s ride from Kirkwall to Ironwood, but Hugh and Ginger had traveled enough to know the best routes. They’d stopped at another inn near the city, and everyone inside treated the traders like friends. The couple didn’t have a cart or a wagon and didn’t carry obvious stock, but Miri soon discovered they traded in small trinkets and jewels. It was not something they spoke of, likely to avoid being robbed, but she saw an exchange with the innkeeper and heard a discussion between Hugh and Cass. It seemed they traded jewels fit for lords.
Cass had been distant, allowing Miri to ride beside Ginger and not holding Miri’s gaze longer than was necessary for his duty as her guard or at least appropriate for a pretend husband. But every evening, they sat shoulder to shoulder at dinner, arms brushing as they ate and listened to stories from Hugh. And after, when the fire burned low and the moon was the only light, Cass crawled into the tent beside Miri, closed away from the light and the night bugs, and they lay together in the stillness of the night with a closeness neither could deny. Miri had begun to look forward to it, even though she knew it was wrong. Cass was honoring his duty, the same as her, and neither should be taking comfort in the other or allowing the unspoken accord to carry on. They were walking a dangerous line, and Miri had the most difficult task she could face at risk with every turn.
She rolled over in the dim morning light of that tent, less than a day’s ride from the next king and Ironwood. Cass was already awake, watching her. He had stopped lying at her feet after the kingsmen had attacked, and his hazel eyes were level with hers. He was painfully handsome, particularly when mussed from sleep. She reached up to brush a dark eyelash from his cheek, and her fingers came away slowly from his skin. It was another action that felt dangerous—and entirely too right.
“Tell me about Edwin.” Cass’s voice was no more than a whisper, his expression serene despite his words.
Miri swallowed. It was time to prepare for the next king, whether she was ready or not. “He collects snakes. He keeps the poisonous ones caged but likes to bring them out to intimidate guests. He is well trained with a spear. I’ve seen him strike a man from across a courtyard without even pausing to aim. He laughs too loudly at things that aren’t funny. His smile is too sharp.” She drew a slow breath. “His rooms are at the top of a small keep. A woman will be sleeping beside him, but she’s not his queen.”
Edwin’s mistress had been sneaking into the tower through secret passages since Miri was a child, but the woman had since grown brave. Rumor told that she walked the halls as if she were more powerful than the queen. And if she had Edwin’s ear, such could be exactly the case.
“What waits in his rooms?” Cass asked.
He’d heard the explanation before, but Miri repeated it dutifully. “A low stone tub surrounded by the king’s favorite incense and oils.” It would be as simple as poisoning Casper. She would just place the poison in the oil and leave then let time and habit run their course. But it would be more dangerous as well, because it was not a remote stable. It was the king’s own rooms, and she would need to get in while he slept.
“And how will you escape?”
Miri’s gaze snapped to Cass’s, and it was only then that she realized she’d been distracted by her thoughts for too long. He was constantly having to draw her back. She wondered if she’d spent too much time alone. “I’ll walk from his rooms as one of the ladies. The guards will pay me no mind, not at the hour before dawn when the ladies make their journey to the chapel.”
“If you are not able?”
Miri frowned. “It will work.” The plan for Edwin was one of her least favorites because there were no backup escape routes. The keep was secure and only had two ways out: down a tall flight of stairs or through a tower window to crash to the stone below. She would not be able to return through the passageways from which she had come, because climbing into a tower was one thing. Climbing out from a height was something else.
Cass watched the emotions play over Miri’s face, and she let out a long sigh. “It will work,” she said again. Miri had set to rights one piece of the map of her realm, and the second would come in a month’s time. Edwin made three, less than half the kingdoms when summer was already more than half gone. “It has to.”
Chapter 21
Miri and the others came through the borders of Ironwood all at once. There was no other way for it to be done. Thick forests surrounded the town, and only a few routes were used heavily enough to keep the roads and trails from becoming swallowed by growth. Massive stone structures rose in a sprawling assemblage, their tiled roofs baking in the late-day sun. The group had made it well before nightfall through the muggy heat beneath the trees, and Miri had never been so eager for a bath.
“There we are,” Hugh said, gesturing toward the west side of the town. Cass’s gaze moved to him, and Hugh chuckled. “Oh no. Don’t you go telling me you’ve other plans. You’ll come to our home and sup with us, at least for tonight. Let us thank you for the company in the only way we can.”
Cass opened his mouth to reply, but Ginger made a gesture that cut him off. “No,” she snapped. “We’ll not hear otherwise. I’m terrible at farewells, and I’ll need a moment before I can manage to send off the likes of you.”
Hugh gave her a look.
“For the maiden’s sake.” Her eyes rolled toward the heavens. “It’s not an insult. Don’t make me explain it again.” Ginger shook her head and kicked up her horse, smacking Wolf on the rear as she rode past. “Come on, Bean. Let’s get you into clean clothes and bake something sweet now that we’re finally off the trail.”
Cass drew a resigned breath and pressed his heels into Milo’s flanks to ride beside Miri. They traversed the cobbled streets through a town that was better fed than some of the others, for Ironwood was self-sustained with access to ample water and wildlife, the ease of shipping goods down the Maidensgrace, and a king who relished splendor and rewarding his people when they showed their loyalty. Edwin had treasuries aplenty before he’d joined the other lords in their plot. He hadn’t allied with the others for money or power. He was in it for the standing, to be the central figure, the most important in his kingdom. It had worked. Edwin was king.
They rode past cottages and small buildings, heading through the winding streets toward the manors and shops. A man was selling ribs, and a woman near him hawked bread. The soil was rich in Ironwood, and many houses had small gardens for vegetables and herbs. They didn’t have room for pasture, so meat was supplied by rabbit, fowl, and wild game. Miri had been educated in the current workings of the kingdoms by Nan and Thom, but she remembered those kingdoms from when she was a child. Even where they seemed to prosper, Miri could see signs of the toll the kings had taken on the people and the land.
“Here we are,” Ginger called over her shoulder, smiling broadly at an impressive two-story home between a cottage and the yard of a small manor.
