Chapter 74: Peeking

Valen pressed himself against the back of his mother’s skirts and peered around the corner of the corridor.

It was, he decided, the best hiding spot in the entire palace. The stone wall was thick, and his mother’s gown was wide enough to cover almost all of him.

"Valen," Karina whispered, not looking down. "Your head is sticking out."

"It’s only a little."

"It’s a lot."

He pulled his head back an inch. Then, very slowly, he pushed it out again.

Down in the training yard below the balcony, his father was walking.

Not lying in a bed. Not being carried by servants. Walking, with his chest still wrapped in linen beneath his open shirt.

Beside Leonidas, Rafael limped along with one arm braced on a wooden training post, his head still bandaged, one eye no longer swollen shut. He was glaring at everything. The soldiers, the fence, a pigeon that had landed on the rail.

"You should not be out of bed," Rafael was saying.

"Rafael." Leonidas’s tone was patient. "I am standing. Not fighting."

"You are standing in the open, in a courtyard, with a killer loose." Rafael’s good eye narrowed. "And with the Empress’s palace full of windows."

"They’re barred."

"Barred windows can be climbed."

Leonidas made a sound that might have been a laugh. "Climbed by whom? A pigeon?"

Rafael scowled at the pigeon again.

Valen pressed a hand over his mouth to keep from giggling.

"Mama," he whispered. "Rafael is being scary."

"Rafael is being Rafael," Karina murmured. But there was a tiny, unwilling curve at the edge of her lips.

Then a new voice cut across the yard.

"You should both be in bed."

General Aldric strode into view, arms crossed, expression stormy. He stopped directly in front of Leonidas and looked him up and down.

"I was not aware," Aldric said, "that the Empress’s palace had become a convalescent home for wandering men."

"General." Leonidas’s voice was very even. "I am simply taking air."

"You are taking a risk."

"Agreed," Rafael muttered. "For once."

Leonidas looked at him. "Whose side are you on?"

"Whichever one keeps you alive."

Aldric’s jaw tightened. "This is the Empress’s home. Her children sleep in the rooms above you. And you walk around it like—"

"Like a man who is trying to get better," Leonidas said. "As quickly as possible. So that I may leave."

"Then you may leave sooner if you stop showing off."

"I am not showing off."

Valen watched in awe as his father and the General glared at each other. It was like watching two big cats circling. Any second now, someone was going to growl.

He tugged his mother’s sleeve. "Mama. They’re going to fight."

"I know."

"Should we stop them?"

"Not yet."

"Why?"

"Because," Karina said, watching with an almost dreamy expression, "this is very entertaining."

Valen giggled into his palm.

Something bumped against the back of his legs.

He looked down. Daerys had crept up behind him, clutching his wooden block against his chest. He tilted his head, eyes round, and pointed at the yard.

Valen leaned down. "It’s the King and General Aldric," he whispered. "Watch."

Daerys nodded solemnly. Then he wedged himself between Valen and the wall and pushed his head out, right beside his brother’s.

Two small heads. One dark, one pale. Peeking over the stone.

Then, a third head. Karina crouched down, her chin nearly resting on top of Valen’s hair, and craned her own neck around the corner.

Three heads. All in a row.

"Ooh," Rynan said loudly, appearing at their side out of nowhere. He plopped down on the floor, his little legs kicking. "What are we looking at?"

"Shhh!" Karina hissed.

"But what are we—"

"Rynan."

"Okay okay okay." Rynan slapped both hands over his own mouth, eyes bright with mischief. Then he lowered them and whispered, so loud it could have been heard in the next kingdom, "What are we looking at?"

Down in the yard, Leonidas went quiet.

Then, slowly, he turned around.

Four heads. All in a row. Peeking over the balcony.

Valen’s whole body froze.

Leonidas stared up at them. His eyes moved from one small face to the next, and then, last of all, to Karina, crouched behind them all with her chin practically resting on her son’s head.

He blinked once.

"Oh," he said. "Hello."

Rynan yelped, scrambled to his feet, and knocked his forehead against the stone rail. "H-hello!" He rubbed at the bump, eyes watering. "Hello, King Leonidas! We were not looking at you!"

"Of course not."

"We were looking at a pigeon."

"Ah."

Leonidas’s gaze slid back to Valen.

"Hello, Valen," he said.

Valen’s fingers curled into the stone.

For a moment, he wanted to duck back behind his mother. To pretend he had never been there at all. But he was the crown prince, and Mama always said crown princes were brave.

"Hello," Valen said.

Karina straightened. She smoothed her skirts, took a breath, and made her face stern.

"Leonidas."

He turned to her at once. "Empress."

"When will you return to Shadow’s Edge?"

The smile faded.

"You left your people unguarded," Karina continued. "Your subjects are frightened. And their king is here, walking around my courtyard."

Leonidas didn’t flinch.

"I know. It was a terrible thing," he said quietly. "For me to do. To abandon them. I have thought about it every hour since I woke." His throat worked as he swallowed. "I will leave. As soon as my wounds allow."

Karina said nothing.

"And after this is all over," Leonidas went on, "after Dorian is dealt with, you will never have to worry about me again."

Something in her chest pulled tight.

She turned away before her face could betray her. She stared at the far wall, at the thin gray line of the mountains beyond the city.

I hope Zarek is fine.

"Valen."

The soft voice made her look back.

Leonidas was looking at their son. Not at her. His shoulders had dropped, and his hands hung at his sides, open.

"I..." He hesitated. "I can teach you how to shift before I leave."

Valen’s eyes went wide.

"Really?!"

The word burst out of him, before he clamped his hand over his mouth and hunched his shoulders, trying to look calm. His ears had gone pink. "I mean," he tried again, in a much smaller voice. "Really?"

"Really."

Karina frowned. "Is that safe?"

"Yes. The first shift is dangerous only if done wrong." Leonidas met her eyes. "I would never let anything happen to him."

She searched his face for a long moment.

Valen shifted from foot to foot. "Uncle Cassian was going to teach me," he said. His voice dipped. "But then..."

He trailed off.

The dragon.

Nobody needed him to say it. Karina put a hand on his shoulder.

"Weeee!" Rynan flung both arms in the air. "Me shift! I shift too!"

Karina looked at Leonidas.

This was good, she decided. Something warm. Something that would take all their minds off everything, even if only for an afternoon.

"Fine," she said.

Valen’s face lit up like the sun.

"But slowly," she added. "And I am watching."

"Understood."

"And Rafael and Aldric are watching too."

"We will be," Rafael said grimly.

"Oh, we most certainly will," Aldric added.

Leonidas chuckled, holding his hand out toward his son.

"Come on, then," he said. "Let’s go."