Chapter 221

The sun was up before Cassius dozed off. Trying to sleep while Kit was locked up in the tower just felt wrong. While he trusted Eli’s judgment and knew he would never do anything to harm the princess, if he had known that Eli wasn’t going to bring her back with him, he would’ve never consented to letting him be the one who went to find her.

None of that mattered when a loud pounding on his door woke him just a few hours after he’d finally fallen asleep. He was confused at first, blinking and wiping drool from his chin, his hair disheveled, and his clothing wrinkled from sleeping fully dressed. By the time he reached the door, the pounder had demanded his attention at least twice more. “Just a moment!” he shouted, lifting the bar.

Queen’s Guard—six of them. Cassius was awake now. “What is it?”

“Queen Rona demands your presence at once.” It was scar-face. Vin, Cassius thought his name was. His shoulder displayed the commander’s patch, but Cassius thought he could take him easily if he had a sword and there weren’t five other thugs alongside him.

He decided to play innocent. “Whatever for?”

“That is between you and the queen.” Vin looked him up and down. “Good thing you thought to sleep in your clothing last night.” He made a sweeping gesture with his arm, as if inviting Cassius out into the hallway.

“Last night, I was out looking for the princess. She is unaccounted for, if you haven’t heard. May I at least change my clothes? And grab my sword?”

“Neither of those will be necessary. The queen would like to see you immediately.”

“So if I’d been wearing my breeches, she wouldn’t have allowed me to put on any trousers?” Cassius asked with his head cocked to the side.

Vin didn’t bother to answer, only placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, an indicator that any pleasantness Cassius may have picked up on was completely unintentional.

Reluctantly, Cassius followed along behind the commander, the other guards flanking him. It was still early, and since everyone in his immediate vicinity had been up late last night, he had no idea if anyone would even know he was being led to the queen. He hoped someone would see, or else he could end up in the muck like the poor guard who’d slept in Eli’s bed, and it might take days for anyone to be the wiser.

No one said a word as they walked the long hallways to the queen’s throne room, not even the servants and others who passed them in the hallway. Cassius saw a familiar face. Blankka, Kit’s former lady-in-waiting who now worked in the kitchen. She didn’t look directly at him, but he was certain she had seen. Perhaps she’d have the courage and the decency to go tell someone what was happening, in case Cassius wasn’t released right away. He wasn’t sure why he had the idea that this might end badly. So far, Rona had been nothing but pleasant to him. And yet, a horrid feeling was still bubbling around inside of his stomach.

Two guards stood on either side of the door, and they both pulled them open at the same time, letting Cassius in. Vin came with him, as did another guard, a short, stocky fellow who looked like he weighed as much as Cassius but without two feet of his height. He wondered what purpose they served.

Rona’s nose was in the air, as usual, when Cassius entered. He bowed and approached as he was required to do, bending down on one knee, reciting her exaltations, and kissing her ring. When she allowed him to, he rose and waited patiently for his ruler to enlighten him as to why he was here.

“Cassius Peet of Warchester Keep,” Rona began, running her long fingernails across the armrest of her throne. Her long, black dress seemed to match the color of her soul as she scowled at him. “I have a few questions to ask of you.”

“Anything, Your Majesty. You look radiant this morning, as always.”

A hint of a smile pulled up one corner of her mouth, but it looked more like amusement than because of his flattery. “What were you doing running about the castle last night? Some of my men said you took them on a wild goose chase.”

“A wild goose chase? Your Majesty, with all due respect, you must know the princess is missing. I was out looking for her, as were some others. And then... I thought I saw the duke. Could it be that he is still within the walls of Castle Wrenbrook? Hiding in unused rooms?”

Any hint of a smile was gone now. The queen wasn’t amused in the least. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that?”

“Which part, my Queen? You most certainly must believe that I was looking for the princess.”

“Perhaps.”

“And why would I lie and say I thought I saw the duke if I did not? I suppose I could be wrong and it was someone who looks much like your husband, but what would be the purpose of inventing such a story?”

“I think we both know the answer to that question, Cassius.”

“We do?” He prayed that she didn’t. For all he knew, she’d sent her guards in to search all of their chambers for evidence that they’d managed to break into the room the men were guarding and found what Avinia had taken.

“Yes, Cassius. To test the loyalty of my guard. Granted, these two bumbling idiots you ran into last night may have fallen off of their duties to help give chase to a ghost, but if you think for one moment that any other members of my detail are not completely loyal to me, and willing to follow my orders at every moment, you will soon find out how wrong you are.”

Cassius wasn’t sure how to respond. He hadn’t thought for a moment that the queen would give that particular reasoning. “Why ever would I want to test such a thing, Your Majesty? Of course they’re loyal to you, as am I.”

She swallowed so hard he could see her throat move from several feet away where he stood. Rona rose and walked toward him, her gown flowing out around her like tentacles. She paused when she was right in front of his face. The musty scent of old cologne and her stale breath hit him at once. “Do you think I have no idea what goes on under my castle roof? I know that there are those planning to dispatch me, Cassius. I know that my husband was chief among them. What I am not sure of is if your loyalty is to me, to the true ruler of Yewforia, or to someone else who may seek to replace me.”