Kossi’s white shirt and dark blue waistcoat made his noble figure stand out, much more than his usual black clothes. Once I got close enough, I noticed the small golden cufflinks at his sleeves. He frowned.

  “Is anything wrong?”

  I sighed.

  “Everyone’s been staring at me since the soulfeather incident, and it’s not even my worst problem. Would you mind talking elsewhere?”

  “Aren’t we supposed to sit down and eat like the other guests?”

  “It won’t be long, I promise. Then we can have dinner with everyone.”

  Poor Kossi is hungry again, it seems. Is he even fed in-between parties?

  I led him out of the ballroom through a door that was left open, with guards on either side. After seeing several guests come in and out of it, I supposed the corridor led to the bathroom and we wouldn’t look too suspicious if we disappeared for a few minutes.

  “What happened during soulfeather?” asked Kossi.

  I shook my head.

  “I can’t tell. The earth tried to swallow me, and I was left in the dark, in some kind of grave, until Senior Magus Malin rescued me. If I did anything wrong, I don’t know what it was.”

  “You were buried alive and you have a bigger problem?”

  The lights were dimmer in the corridor, but I could still see Kossi’s puzzled face, his eyes like pools of liquid gold. And behind him, casting their shadows over us, two of his guards followed, as if they could do anything against him.

  I shrugged and tried to flash a comforting smile. It’s not like I’m allowed to tell him about the invasion of Inabar, anyway.

  “Perhaps you can help me. Let me explain… Oh, look, there’s a balcony. Let’s go talk over there.”

  We stepped into the evening light, with the sky still displaying shades of pink to the west. I leaned on the balustrade while Kossi stayed one step behind me. Despite the apparent tranquility, I chose to speak in a low voice.

  “It’s about the servant who looked after Princess Jilu’s dog. His name’s Brunz and he was sacked after yesterday’s incident. I found him just outside the Citadel. He was thrown out with nothing, not even a trin, he doesn’t speak a word of Brealian and he didn’t know what to do with himself, so he stayed where he was, sleeping under a hedge. I brought him to a nearby farm, so he could have a bed and some food while I find him another job. It’s just further west, along the coast. First farm on the right.”

  Kossi nodded. “You did the right thing, Al. But what do you need me for?”

  “To bring him to me, should I be unable to get to him before we leave Zerta.”

  He froze. “How do you… Oh, is it one of those things you just know? The part of your power that I can’t sense?”

  Is it Cherub he’s talking about? But I never mentioned them to anyone, not even to Catalin! Then again, Kossi knows I accomplished things my natural power alone can’t explain, and for all his clumsy attitudes around humans, he’s not stupid. At least he’s providing me with an explanation that doesn’t involve an attack on Inabar. Another lie, brought on a silver platter.

  I looked down at the quiet courtyard.

  “It might be. I have this feeling that I might leave in a hurry, and I promised the man I’d be back soon. Could you do it if it happened? Hop back and forth and bring back Brunz?”

  Kossi glanced at the guards who stood behind us.

  “Do you know what you’re asking from me? I committed crimes and I’m serving a sentence for that. What would be the point of trying to make amends if I sneaked out whenever I feel like it?”

  Oh, Kossi, I wish you were more playful. Can’t you be my River Song, just this once? Live adventures with me, and then pop back into your cell as if nothing happened?

  I sighed. What I felt was right went against rules that my friends wanted to stick to, leaving me unable to help a man. They weren’t insensitive, though. They just had different priorities, and no matter how wrong I thought they were, I couldn’t be openly mad at them. I closed my eyes, trying to find the right words. Was there still a way to convince Kossi?

  Someone spoke on the floor just above us. Someone else breathing fresh air on a balcony.

  “This is a disaster and it wouldn’t be happening with the right person on the throne.”

  I couldn’t recognize the voice. It sounded male, rather low, and holding back a lot of anger.

  “Esthar is too thick to recognize a spy acting right under his nose, and his daughters are foolish enough to take advice from her,” added the man. “She should have been disposed of by now.”

  My eyes shot open. By the Almighty, he’s talking about me!

  “I’m sorry, my lord!” pleaded another man.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “I don’t want apologies. I want efficiency.”

  “Tonight?”

  “Of course not. We should let the engagement celebration follow its course. However, with the king’s entourage having to leave in a hurry, there’s always room for an accident.”

  “A carriage accident, again? Aren’t you worried it might raise suspicions?”

  “We’ll find something else. Let me think. The woman can swim, so we can’t just throw her into the Rekario… Did you hear that?”

  What did they hear? Oh no, it was me.

  The edges of my vision were darker than the rest, and color was fading. I realized I’d been hyperventilating.

  They know I’m here and they plan to murder me. Were they behind the soulfeather incident, too? What should I do?

  My limbs felt like lead. No matter how much I wanted to run away, I couldn’t move. I could only stay there, sweating, part of my brain refusing the reality of what I’d heard, and the rest of my mind drowning in dread.

  Kossi moved in a blur and pulled me away from the balustrade, just as a lightning bolt hit the spot where I’d been standing. Before we could decide what to do, a man jumped from the upper floor, hastily hiding his face with a black scarf. Loose dark gray clothes obscured the details of his figure.

  Kossi stepped forward and shielded me with his right arm.

  “Who are you?” he asked, a small flame coming out of his mouth.

  The man’s eyes opened wide.

  “Oh, it’s you! I can’t believe I almost…” He held out a hand towards us. “You never heard anything.”

  He blew on his hand, and magic hit me. It was so fast I hardly had time to read the glowing symbol that appeared mid-air, right before my eyes, aimed at my short-term memory. Quick spell, terribly efficient, but also easy to counter with my unique power. In the blink of an eye, I crossed it with an imaginary red pen, right before it entered my mind. I felt the shockwave bounce inside my skull, wiping my consciousness for a second.

  By the time I recovered, the man was gone. I ran to the balustrade, but wherever he was, his dark-clad figure was nowhere to be seen. No sign of him in the courtyard, nor on the balcony above ours. Perhaps he’d run away, perhaps he was just hiding in the shadows. I turned to Kossi, who stared at me with a puzzled face.

  “Al? What did you want to tell me?”

  I frowned.

  “What are you talking about? The magic user’s gone! You saved me from his lightning spell, and then he…”

  I froze. He didn’t only target me.

  Echoing my fears, the dragon spoke again.

  “There was no magic user, only you and me, and the guards, of course, and you were about to ask me for help!”

  I waved at the two guards behind him.

  “Sirs? Is it really what happened?”

  “Yes, my lady. We arrived here, you leaned on the balustrade, and we were waiting for you to speak.”

  My heart sank.

  “You didn’t hear anything.” You forgot the past few minutes, the three of you, so whatever you might have heard is gone forever.

  As tears built up in my eyes, Kossi’s tall figure became blurry. He reached out at my shoulder, and his warm hand closed on the top of my sleeve.

  “What’s going on, Al? You know I owe you my life. Can I help?”

  I wanted to punch his blue waistcoat, to yell at him for not keeping his promises. You silly dragon, you were subdued by a spell once, and you said you’d be more careful in the future! Why did you fall for something as basic as an amnesia spell? But I couldn’t. There were three of them, only one of me, and I was supposed to have forgotten everything, just like them.

  I sniffed. It might be a matter of life and death for me. If whoever planned my murder realized I still remembered their conversation, I might die sooner and with extra gore effects, so right now, it was best to keep my thoughts to myself. I lowered my head.

  “Kossi, if I needed a horse in the early hours of the morning, could you help me get it?”

  “What for?”

  I wiped my tears with the back of my hand. Oh no, I shouldn’t be doing this, I’m wearing makeup!

  “There’s someone I need to retrieve, and a little bird tells me I’ll be in a hurry tomorrow. I can’t ask you to leave the Citadel, but can you help me get out? With a horse, I can be back before anyone notices I’m gone.”

  Kossi hunched a little, so he didn’t tower over me.

  “If anyone else requested something so strange from me, I’d refuse, but I trust your power, Al. I’m aware you know things I don’t. I’ll see what I can do.”

  I nodded.

  “Thanks, Kossi.”

  “Will you be all right? You look distraught.”

  “Complicated day,” I pretended, looking away.

  “At least, let me arrange something before we get back inside.”

  With his thumb, he carefully wiped my lower eyelids.

  “I’ve removed most of the stain. We can go back now. I’m hungry, aren’t you?”

  Not exactly. Knowing someone wants me dead isn’t exactly the best way to open my appetite.

  From the few mouthfuls I managed to swallow, it seemed the food was excellent. I asked a servant to compliment the kitchen team, only to be met with a vaguely outraged look.

  Come on, how do people know they did a good job if no one tells them?

  Someone wanted me dead, because they thought I was a spy. Were they even wrong? I’d reluctantly befriended emperor Faur, and now he was taunting us from the border he’d conquered. He’d played me and turned me into one of his agents.

  But one of the men had said something else, and the words I supposedly never heard kept circling around in my brain. “Another carriage accident.”

  Queen Consort Epona and Crown Prince Sorosiel had died in a carriage accident, one year earlier. Whenever King Esthar or Crown Princess Nigella mentioned it, the way they talked about it left no room to doubt. It was unexpected, unplanned by anyone, only a cruel and random tragedy. But was it?

  I looked at the royals, dining at the main table, smiling to their relatives, pretending not to worry about the political situation. We were all dreading something, and they were better than me at pretending to enjoy themselves.

  “It wouldn’t be happening with the right person on the throne.”

  It was funny how, in a weird case of Streisand effect, being supposed to forget a conversation made me remember it more acutely. As I tried to eat, my mind sat before this puzzle and attempted to assemble it.

  Whoever intended to murder me had probably killed Sorosiel and Epona, too. And they also thought Esthar wasn’t fit to be king.

  Why does it always boil down to this? Saegorg planned a war because he wanted Esthar’s throne. Vilo wouldn’t mind sitting on it himself. And now it seems someone else is trying to get it. Am I the only person in Brealia who doesn’t want the crown?

  As advised by the king before the ceremony, I left the party early, packed my things and tried to get some sleep. However, the slightest sound made me startle. I was hypervigilant, both exhausted and unable to fall asleep. Who knew what might happen if I lowered my guard? Even awake, I couldn’t always counter a fast spell. In my sleep, killing me was all too easy.

  I finally got up, put on the comfortable clothes I’d kept for the journey, and tiptoed out of my guest room. The guards barely reacted when I walked past them, simply giving me a casual look as I left. The night was pitch-dark and only the circular ballroom was brightly lit. I wandered in the shadows, hoping to stay unnoticed with my dull outfit and my hair down.

  After a while, I managed to sneak into the stables. Most horses were sleeping, but I could hear some of them chewing. I breathed in their warm, reassuring smell. Although my horse girl days were far behind me, I still felt safer with horses around.

  I sat down on a hay bale. No killer would look for the Great Hero Al here, would they? Perhaps I could allow myself to relax. In a few hours, I’d saddle a horse and bring back Brunz, so he could travel with me. No matter what Princess Nigella thought, I needed an assistant, more than ever. And by the Almighty, I missed Catalin so dearly…

  Before long, I was sleeping in the hay.