Krew moved to replace the sound barrier he had broken through at almost the same time I did. Our magic combined as it hit the main door to Krew’s room, and instead of looking like a webbing of magic, it seemed to form a brick wall.
I’d been so busy training with Owen lately that I had done very little combining magic with Krew yet. We’d been too busy waiting around for Krew’s magic to vanish, except it never had.
“Wow,” Owen commented.
I gave my head a shake. “Was it because I’m feeling anxious and paranoid? I did not sendthatmuch magic.”
Owen just kept staring at the sound barrier with his head cocked, the weirdest expression on his face.
“I might just be being paranoid,” I offered as I spun toward Krew. “But the blanket was moved from the bench to the couch, one of your mother’s journals knocked on the ground carelessly, which Silvia or I would never do.” I pointed. “And that drawer is now ajar.”
Krew was immediately next to me, his hand on my lower back. “No. You are not paranoid. I have no doubt my father sent someone digging.”
“Don’t you have a guard outside the door at all times or something?”
“Yes and no. When either of us are here, there are guards there, yes. Three when both of us are here. But during the day there are occasions of shift changes when it can go unguarded for a few minutes. Everyone knows better than to dare come near my wing.” He paused. “I will remedy that immediately. It just hasn’t been an issue in years. And it is only unguarded for at most ten minutes while the guards check in with me wherever I am located.”
I thought back to how Krew had been when we’d first met. I was pretty sure he made it clear to everyone that he was not someone you just stopped in on. He had a point. Still, with all the secret meetings he had with The Six and such, it was probably a good idea to keep his wing locked up tight.
Krew rubbed his hand up and down my back. “I am sure it was just my father or one of my father’s men. Looking for the ring.” He paused. “Which they will not find.”
I nodded. “Okay. That’s kind of what Owen and I assumed.” I would have also maybe suspected Nara, but since we had just been in the gardens with her, she was officially off the hook.
Krew looked out the window a moment as if looking for the ring.
“What?” I asked.
Krew gave his head a shake. “With the tests they are running, the ring thus far has been acting like only a ring, not an object siphoned with magic.” He paused. “I can’t help but wonder, if the ring truly contained my mother’s magic, would my father have cared about making it look like he hadn’t been here? He’d have just tossed the entire wing.”
I sighed. “So you don’t think the ring is it?”
Krew shook his head. “No. I don’t.”
“Then why still look for the ring?”
“I have no idea. With as much as my father likes shiny objects, and as often as he wore it, he probably just misses the damn thing.”
I rubbed a hand at my temples. “But do we need to be concerned that he thought to search here? Given that Nara was his only initial suspect?”
Owen snorted. “Not really. If anything goes missing, or if anything goes wrong for that matter, the princes are usually the first to be blamed.”
Krew rolled his eyes. “That’s definitely true, but he could just ask me. I wish he would so I could try to get a read on him.”
My eyes went back to that drawer ajar. I wanted to walk the entire wing and check all the closets. Also under the bed since I knew personally what a good hiding spot that could be. It was just strange to consider that one of the king’s men had been here. My safe place.
“Are you all right?” Krew asked gently.
I popped my shoulders up into a shrug. “I don’t know. I don’t like the thought of your father or one of his men in your wing.”
“Our wing,” Krew corrected.
“Our wing,” I agreed.
Owen pointed at the door. “I don’t think you are going to need to worry about it happening again if your magic can do that when combined.”
He had a point. Other than the silver magic that we wouldn’t want one of the king’s men to find. “Maybe it was a fluke?” I offered. “Because I was stressed out thinking that someone was up here? In my safe place?”
Owen glared at me and crossed his arms. “Nothing is ever a fluke with you, Jorah. Not your magic. Not the damn wolves in the forest. None of it.”
