“I don’t think I should go in,” he said in a low voice. “Valri’s here, and I don’t think she’s happy with me.”
Amalie nodded but put a hand on his arm to stop him from turning away. “I was only joking, you know,” she said.
“About what?”
“I would never try to keep you here against your will. You or anybody. I wouldn’t want to.”
That brought his grin back, and he attempted to copy the sweeping bow that Justin and Tayse were so good at, right fist to his left shoulder in a gesture of utter fealty. “Majesty,” he whispered, “I live to serve.”
HE didn’t want to tell the story to anybody but Senneth, so he waited until very late before heading down to the Riders’ cottages after dinner. She was standing outside, seeming not at all uncomfortable with the late hour, the bitter cold, or the unconventional summons.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“It’s freezing. Can we go inside?”
“Tayse is awake. If you don’t mind if he hears-”
He shook his head, shoved his hands in his pockets, and started walking. She fell in step beside him, and almost instantly he started to feel warmer. He felt his shoulders unclench a little as the chill was chased away by her burning magic.
“So tell me what’s happened that has you running out in the middle of the night to confide in me,” she said. She sounded quite cheerful; clearly she had not had the kind of day he had. “I might know the secret already, though, for Justin came back from his audience with the king to tell us that Valri has confessed to being Lirren-born.”
“That’s not what I came to tell you, but it was a pretty interesting moment,” Cammon said. “What did Justin say? Was he shocked?”
“Apparently not. Relieved, actually. Ellynor had told him while they were in the Lirrens, but then made him promise not to tell anyone. Justin said he’d never had to keep a secret from Tayse before and wasn’t sure how long he could do it.”
“Were you surprised?”
She waggled her head from side to side to show uncertainty. “Yes and no. Well, there’s always been something strange about Valri! And I’ll confess that once or twice I wondered if she was from the Lirrens, but it just seemed so improbable that I put the thought aside. Still, it explains so much about her, down to the fact that you’ve never been able to read her. I confess, to some extent, I was relieved, too. This is the kind of secret I don’t mind so much. I have no quarrel with the Lirrenfolk.” Still walking, she glanced over at him. “But if that’s not what you wanted to tell me, what is it?”
“Well, Valri’s part of the story. Remember how, when we were traveling last year, Valri never let Amalie out her sight?”
“Hard to forget that.”
“It’s still that way. Every time I’m in the room with Amalie, Valri’s there. She told me once that she’s protecting Amalie. But, of course, we thought we were the ones protecting her.”
“So Valri’s protecting Amalie from something other than physical threats.”
He nodded. “I think Valri’s afraid someone will see into Amalie’s mind,” he said. “Uncover a secret.”
“What kind of secret?”
“I don’t know.” He could guess, though, and it terrified him.
“And only someone like you would be able to uncover such a thing.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe once we learn what the secret is, we’ll realize why Valri thought it would be obvious to everyone if she didn’t conceal it.”
“Well, unless you’ve made some grand discovery today-” Senneth said.
“She can control the raelynx.”
“Who? Valri? I’m not altogether surprised. I imagine Ellynor can, too.”
“Not Valri,” he said. “Amalie can handle the raelynx.”
That stopped Senneth in her tracks. “She told you that?”
“I saw her do it. We went to see him today.”
“Are you sure you weren’t controlling it? Not even meaning to?”
“Positive.”
She stared at him in the dark. Her pale blond hair drifted around her face like a cap of snow. “How is that possible?”
“I don’t know. She doesn’t have Lirren blood, does she? Her mother was from Merrenstow, right?”
“I’m sure Romar Brendyn could recite you their ancestry for the past sixteen generations. I can’t imagine there was a Lirren bastard anywhere in the line.”
“Then I can’t explain it.” The only other explanation he had come up with was too unsettling to say aloud.
“Are you sure Valri wasn’t the one handling the raelynx?” Senneth asked.
“She wasn’t with us.”
Senneth’s chin came up. “You were alone with the princess? How did that happen?”
“Like you said. Valri met Ellynor and suddenly they were talking about family and friends. It was obvious they had a lot to discuss. So, Amalie and I left the room and then-we just-ended up spending the rest of the day together.”
“I think perhaps I should be filled with foreboding. What else happened?”
“Well, the bit with the raelynx made me forget it for a while, but before that there was something else that seemed strange. I was thinking something, and she heard me.”
“We can all do that,” Senneth said.
“I wasn’t trying to send her a message. She just picked it up out of my head.”
From what he could see in the dark, Senneth’s face looked exceptionally grave. “What are you saying?”
“She could hear my thoughts-”
“What’s the conclusion you’ve reached based on these two separate events?” Senneth interrupted. Her mind was a swirl of confusion and dread-and a certain sense of bitter fatalism. I have feared this for so long.…“Are you saying you think she’s a reader? A mystic?”
They were absolutely alone on an unwatched pathway under the hard stars, and yet both of them glanced around uneasily as if to search out eavesdroppers. Then they drew closer together so they could lower their voices even more.
“Senneth-I don’t know. But I’ve never seen anyone who wasn’t a mystic even attempt to control a raelynx. And I’ve never had anyone go into my mind and look around without my knowledge. Jerril can step inside, but he has to knock, and I always know he’s there.”
“Bright Mother burn me in ashes to the ground,” Senneth whispered and shut her eyes. Although she stood absolutely motionless, Cammon felt her regroup, readjust, brace her shoulders for the acquisition of this new burden. “I have hoped so hard that this wasn’t true.”
“You mean, you suspected it?” he demanded. “You never let on! Ever!”
She shrugged. “It’s the one thing that makes all the pieces fit-particularly once it became clear that Valri is from the Lirrens. If Amalie’s a mystic, Baryn has had every reason to keep her secluded in the palace all her life. If she’s a mystic, Pella had a strong incentive to travel to the Lirrens when she knew she was dying. The queen wasn’t looking for a healer to save her own life, but for someone like Valri who would be willing to wrap Amalie in darkness and keep her safe.”
“Was Pella a mystic, too?”
Senneth started pacing forward, and Cammon followed her. “I never heard such a rumor. But magic follows bloodlines, so it had to come from the Merrenstow side-since no one has ever called Baryn a mystic, and surely after sixty-five years someone would have mentioned it.”
“Then, if it’s true, the regent knows of it,” Cammon said. “Amalie said she spent a lot of time at Romar Brendyn’s estate when she was growing up.”