Lunelle glared at her but moved another breath closer still to the door. She could smell the warm caress of bread, the music grew louder with each step. Lura snatched her elbow, begging her to come back away from the door, where anyone could step out at any moment.
“There are dangers in these streets, Lunelle. We shouldn’t be here.”
Lunelle, for perhaps the first time in her entire life, ignored someone warning her. She edged toward the tavern, a wave of laughter rising from the window carved in the side. Lunelle tucked herself against the pane, allowing one eye to slip around the opening. In the middle, Mirquios sat at a table piled high with plates and pitchers, several folks in black leather speaking in quiet tones. Or perhaps they spoke at a normal level, but the music from the stage in the corner drowned them out.
Mirquios listened intently, his bright eyes transfixed by whatever the man with a thick sheet of black hair said, their heads both nodding in agreement.
She recognized the man beside him.
Luxuros.
Mirquios raised a hand and gestured toward a colorful map on the far wall, and that’s when she caught it.
The dagger-pierced crown was emblazoned on his wrist in red ink.
“Lura,” Lunelle gasped, looking for her maiden. Lura remained rooted to the corner of the street, unwilling to further entangle herself. Lunelle rushed toward her, pointing toward the window.
“They’rerebels,” Lunelle hissed, confused by the delight that simmered against her skin.
To Lunelle’s surprise, Lura relaxed her stance.
“Of course,” she said. “The Underground,” Lura pointed at the swinging board hanging above the door, the name of the tavern scrawled in Plutonian runes. “The curved arrow is one of the god Pluto’s symbols. They use it in jest to the gods,” Lura explained.
“I wonder if Astra knows about this,” Lunelle whispered to herself.
“Surely he’s told her—they’re Tethered, it’s not as if he could hide it if he wanted to.”
Lunelle’s brows creased. “What do you mean?”
“I’m only assuming, Lunelle, but your sister’s sensibilities are powerful enough, and with the added connection of a Tether? I imagine she’d be able to see every shred of him, past, present, and future.”
“And she still agreed to marry him,” Lunelle thought aloud. “Shemustbe involved.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me if your sister wasn’t running the rebellion by now,” Lura laughed.
“No,” Lunelle breathed. “It would not. The commander is in there as well.”
She glanced back over her shoulder, feeling that ache within her again, and realized that perhaps it had nothing to do with Mirquios, but everything to do with the rebels sitting across from him.
She’d hidden that invitation away, afraid of what it might mean. But if the king was here, if his commander was here, if her sister was aware of their movements…
Lunelle set her shoulders back and nodded, bringing a ceasefire to the war within her.
“I’m going to speak with them,” she announced.
“Lu—”
The princess held up her hand, a mirror image of her mother, and arched a brow.
“As soon as Mirquios leaves, I’m going in. You do not have to come with me, but I need to find out for myself what’s going on.”
Lura fought the smile tugging at her lips as she watched Lunelle’s spine straighten beneath her cloak.
“Yes, Princess.”
ChapterNine
The sudden shuffle of boots and scraping of chairs jarred her from her perch at the tavern window.
