[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.“Of course we’re friends, but we—”“We’re not allowed to talk to each other, is that it?” Raisa pulled her long plait of hair forward and rebraided it.“We can talk to each other, but—”“Only across a crowded room?” She scooted closer.“Is this too close?” And closer.“How about this?” Until her hip was pressing against his.“Raisa, will you let me finish a sentence at least?” he growled, but didn’t move away.“I don’t know where it’s coming from, but Da said people are talking about us.He threatened to post me to Chalk Cliffs if he hears any more about it.”Raisa put her hand on his arm.“He wouldn’t.” Chalk Cliffs was a port on the Indio Ocean, hundreds of miles away.He lifted an eyebrow.“Aye.He would.So if that’s what you want…”“Are you going to let Micah Bayar dictate who I see and talk to?”He stared at her.“What?”“Micah spoke to his father about seeing us outside my room the other night.Lord Bayar spoke to the queen, and the queen spoke to your father.”“The queen’s involved in this?” He raked back his hair, looking bewildered.“I don’t get it.” He paused.“I was wondering if you and Micah were, you know…” He couldn’t seem to find the word he wanted and stopped, cleared his throat.“Last night, I didn’t know if…” He ran out of words again and stared down at his hands.That wasn’t really a topic she wanted to discuss with Amon Byrne.“Never mind Micah,” Raisa said.“He’s just used to getting his own way.But something’s going on.I just haven’t figured out what, yet.I need friends I can trust.I need somebody on my side.”“I’m on your side, Rai,” Amon said quietly.“Always.You know that.”Raisa took his hand in hers.“Then help me.”He eyed her warily.“Help you how?”“I need eyes and ears.I need to know what’s going on—in the queendom, in the Wizard Council house on Gray Lady Mountain, everywhere.I feel like a canary in a cage.I see only the four walls around me, and meanwhile the castle is surrounded and my enemies are closing in.”“What?” He gazed into her face, no doubt looking for signs of madness or drink.“What are you talking about?”“You know the blooded queens have visions sometimes that foretell the future.” Amon nodded.“Well, I feel the way I did the day of the fire on Hanalea.I’m trapped, with the flames rushing toward me and nowhere to go.”“Well.” Amon cleared his throat.“How can you tell if it’s a true vision? I mean, I have nightmares sometimes, but that’s all they are.”“It’s possible that I’m imagining things,” Raisa said.“But I can’t take that chance.”“Have you told the queen? Seems like that’d be the place to start.”“The thing is, I think she may be part of the problem,” Raisa said.“I’ve tried to talk with her, and we just end up arguing.”Her voice trailed off at Amon’s conflicted expression.She and Amon had always shared grievances with each other.But now it felt as though she were asking him to side with her against the queen he’d sworn himself to.“That’s not much to go on.A feeling,” he said finally.“And the peculiar way people are acting,” Raisa argued.“My mother went on and on the other day about how I shouldn’t marry a southerner, that things are just too unsettled down there.”“Maybe it’s just jitters about you getting older, making your debut, and the like.” Amon extended his hands, palms up.“All parents have trouble with that.I remember when my sister, Lydia, had her name day.Da interrogated and terrorized any boy who came near her.”“I don’t know.At the same time, it seems like she’s in a hurry for me to get married.She says she’d like to see things settled, that she may not be around too much longer, like maybe she knows something I don’t.Even though I’ve not reached my name day and there’s no candidate in sight.”“You said it wouldn’t be for years and years,” Amon said, almost accusingly.Raisa shrugged.“If I have anything to say about it.” She shuddered.“I don’t want to get married.I’m only fifteen years old.”“Well, I’m just seventeen,” Amon said.“And I’m going back to the academy in the fall.What do you want me to do? Who do you want me to spy on?”“Not spy, exactly.For instance, I get information from Demonai Camp that I don’t get from anywhere else.They don’t flatter me.They don’t treat me like an empty-headed icon.In a way, they respect me more than anyone else does.”“What kind of information do you want from me?”Raisa sat up straighter.“Well, if there’s trouble coming, I’m thinking it must be coming from one of two places—from the wars in the south, or from the Wizard Council.”“What about the people of Fellsmarch? What if they were planning some kind of rebellion?” Amon asked.“Why would they do that?” Raisa said, frowning.“People love the queen.Whenever we go out in the city, they all cheer and throw flowers at our feet.”Amon was shaking his head, wearing a look that was almost pitying.“What?” Raisa snapped, instantly annoyed.“Well, they’re miserable, for one thing, and starving, and from what I’ve seen, the Queen’s Guard spends most of their time pushing them around.”“No,” Raisa said with conviction.“The Guard is there to protect the people.”“Raisa, have you ever been to Southbridge?”“Of course I have.I’ve been to the temple there, and I’ve ridden through dozens of times.It’s kind of run-down, but…”“Let me guess.You rode in a carriage with an entourage down the Way, with your Guard lining the streets to either side.”She nodded reluctantly.“Pretty much.”“You can’t tell what’s really going on when you’re so…insulated.I’ve been on foot patrol in Southbridge and Ragmarket for the past two weeks.Let me tell you what happened this week.Yesterday, six people were murdered in Southbridge.Four boys, two girls, all about our age.They were tortured and strangled.”“Sweet Hanalea,” whispered Raisa.“I didn’t hear about this.Who would do something like that?”“Good question.They were all in a street gang called the Southies.Sergeant Gillen thinks a rival gang called the Raggers did them for revenge.”“Revenge for what?” Raisa asked, leaning forward, fascinated in spite of herself.“The Southies beat up the leader of the Raggers a few days ago, a boy by the name of Cuffs
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]