Chapter 165: The Convoy Route

Renn came back with three pieces of news. Merrow’s relay had been secured. His steward had tried to leave through the kitchen yard. And the steward hadn’t got very far. James looked disappointed that someone else had caught him.

Renn stopped in front of Elizabeth. "I’ve sent to Fort Halden and to the nearest Crown post. Separate messages. I used your presence and the attack on you as priority authority."

"Good. How long?"

"For an acknowledgment, less than an hour if the relay chain is clear."

"And Crown officers?"

"Morning at the earliest."

Elizabeth looked toward the east wing. "The prisoners stay here tonight?"

"Under Academy protection."

"Not Merrow’s."

"No."

"Good."

Renn looked along the wall at the three of us, and his eyes stopped on James. "Sorel told me."

James sighed. "Of course she did."

"You used Spatial."

"Yes."

Renn’s jaw tightened. "I told you no Spatial unless it was necessary."

Sorel turned her head. "You told him what?"

Renn went quiet, which was interesting.

"The situation..."

"His spatial work is still a medical concern," said Sorel.

"I know."

"Then don’t give him exceptions. That’s my medical call to make on this trip, not yours."

James looked between them, and I looked at James, who seemed slightly less pleased with himself now.

Renn rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I also told him to use his judgment if the route closed."

Sorel stared at him. "That is not better."

"No."

"You’re responsible for security."

"Yes."

"I am responsible for whether the students you’re securing arrive with working channels."

"Yes."

James raised one hand. Both adults looked at him, and he lowered it again, wisely.

Renn let out a breath. "We’ll discuss it."

James looked at me, and I smiled at him, and he frowned. Apparently later had arrived for everyone.

***

The courtyard emptied slowly. Merrow’s men were disarmed and moved to the western barracks under guard. The Academy took both estate gates. Nobody touched the carts, nobody cleaned up the blood, and nobody moved the open collars from the cellar. Renn wanted everything left exactly where it had been found until the Crown’s officers arrived. Evidence. Elizabeth liked that word, and so did Renn. I liked beds. Nobody asked me.

Sophie came over once the freed prisoners had been settled. "Both children are asleep."

That was good. "The girl with the ribs?"

"Being treated."

"The ankle?"

"She’s walking without help now."

That was good too. Sophie sat down beside Dream Haven, not on it. She had manners.

"The older woman asked for you," she said.

I looked toward the house. "Why?"

"She didn’t say."

"That seems inefficient."

"Maybe later."

I thought about standing up, and my chest objected. Sophie noticed.

"Later," she said again.

"Good idea."

She smiled. Then she looked at Daphne. "And you?"

"Fine."

Sophie looked at her hands, and Daphne folded them into her lap. "Fine," she repeated, and Sophie wisely didn’t argue.

Elizabeth came last. She hadn’t changed anything about her clothes, though there was blood on one sleeve I was fairly sure wasn’t hers. She sat on the low wall across from us.

"Renn says we’re not leaving tomorrow."

"Excellent," I said, and everyone looked at me. "The journey’s been delayed. I see benefits."

"The signing hasn’t moved," said Elizabeth.

That was less excellent. "How long do we stay?"

"Until the Crown decides whether this estate is evidence, a crime scene, or both."

"Those sound like the same thing."

"They aren’t."

James leaned forward. "What about the western road?"

Elizabeth’s expression changed. "There are still questions."

There were. The staged attack, the tracks, the carts, the tiger mark, the prisoners who were meant to travel without collars, Merrow’s timing, and the First Princess’s convoy taking that same road in the morning. We had stopped tonight. That didn’t mean we had stopped everything.

Renn came back across the courtyard with a leather folder, and he didn’t look happy. Elizabeth saw it at once.

"What?"

"The upstairs room."

Everyone went quieter.

"The Tigers?"

"Their things." He opened the folder. Inside were route sheets: not Crown originals, but copies. I recognized the layout anyway, because Elizabeth had made me read ours. Page one was the road. Page two was the road again. I had complained about that. Apparently criminals found the repetition useful.

Renn laid one sheet on the wall between us. Several points had been marked on it: Waystation Fourteen, Merrow’s estate, the western junction, and further west, a narrow stretch of road between two hills.

Elizabeth stood up. "What is that?"

"The convoy route."

James came closer. "Our route?"

Renn nodded, and nobody said anything.

Sophie looked toward the east wing. "The prisoners."

"Probably meant to be part of it," said Renn.

"Doing what?"

"We still don’t know."

Daphne looked at the marked stretch of road. "And the Tiger warriors?"

"Also unknown."

Elizabeth touched the edge of the paper. "Merrow said they weren’t supposed to come out."

"Yes."

"So whatever they were here for, they weren’t meant to be seen at the estate."

Renn nodded.

James looked at the last mark. "An ambush."

"Maybe."

"You always say maybe."

"Because we don’t know yet."

James didn’t argue. Elizabeth looked at Renn.

"The Crown needs this."

"A copy is already going through the relay."

"Good." She looked at the road again. The room above us had held five Tiger beastkin and a copy of her route, and tomorrow morning her convoy was supposed to leave. I decided I disliked paperwork slightly less when it warned you that someone was planning to kill you. Slightly.

***

They moved us back to the guest wing after that, under guard, which felt insulting, since we were the ones who had found everything. Sorel disagreed.

"You’re injured."

"So are the people guarding us."

"They have shifts."

"I have Dream Haven."

"That is not medically equivalent."

"That’s unproven."

She closed my door herself, and I heard the latch fall, and then her footsteps moved off toward James’s room. I waited, ten seconds, twenty.

[Do not leave.]

’I wasn’t going to.’

[You were considering it.]

’I was considering whether she’d locked the door.’

[She did not.]

’Then I’ll consider it later.’

I let Dream Haven expand across the bed and sat against it. For the first time since sunset, nobody was shouting, nobody was trying to kill Elizabeth, nobody needed me to hold a Barrier, and nobody was asking me to stand. It was almost pleasant. Then I remembered.

’System.’

[Yes.]

’Daphne.’

[Bonded.]

’Stop saying it as if that explains anything.’

Silence. I rubbed my face.

’When?’

[I cannot determine that.]

’Before the courtyard?’

[I cannot determine that.]

’Before she said cover me?’

[I cannot determine that.]

’During? After?’

[I cannot determine that.]

’You have a very broad definition of information.’

[I did not observe the bond forming.]

That stopped me. It wasn’t that it didn’t know when. It hadn’t seen it happen at all. I sat up a little straighter.

’You were here.’

[Yes.]

’You were talking to me. You warned me my condition was deteriorating.’

[Yes.]

’So you were watching me.’

[Yes.]

’And Daphne was three steps away.’

[Yes.]

I waited, and the System waited too, which was rude.

’How did you miss it?’

[I cannot explain that.]

I looked at the dark window. There had been no gold this time, no lines of light across the ground, no warmth spreading through my core, nothing trembling, nobody staring. Nothing had looked back. At least, I didn’t think it had. That thought stayed with me longer than I wanted it to.

’Is it the same as Sophie’s bond?’

[No.]

’James’s?’

[No.]

’Is it Healing Bond at all?’

[No.]

’Then what’s bonded?’

A pause.

[The vessel connection.]

I forgot to breathe for a second. ’You can see that now.’

[Yes.]

’Could you see it before?’

[No.]

’What changed?’

[I cannot determine that.]

I lay back against Dream Haven. This was going extremely well.

’Does the Main Quest count her as bonded?’

[Yes.]

’Healing Path stays at five.’

[Yes.]

’The Healing Bond cooldown is unused.’

[Yes.]

’She doesn’t have accelerated recovery.’

[Correct.]

’And I didn’t activate the skill.’

[Correct.]

Four answers I liked, and one enormous one I didn’t.

’Did I break Theoran’s order?’

The System took longer over that one.

[You did not activate Healing Bond.]

’That isn’t what I asked.’

[No action of yours has been identified as the cause of the bond.]

That was carefully worded, and I distrusted carefully worded things. Elizabeth had infected it.

’So, no.’

[I cannot determine the cause.]

’But you can determine I didn’t use Healing Bond.’

[Correct.]

That would have to be enough, for tonight. I closed my eyes, and someone immediately knocked.

"Go away."

The door opened, and Daphne stood there. I opened my eyes.

"Sorel closed that."

"She latched it," said Daphne. "Latches open."

She came in and shut it behind her. She was walking carefully, but she was walking, and her wrists had been wrapped. She looked at Dream Haven, then at the chair, and chose the chair, wisely.

"What?" I said.

"You kept staring."

I considered pretending to be asleep, but it was far too late. "You noticed."

"Yes."

She waited. Daphne was very good at waiting when she wanted something. I had once thought that made us alike. It didn’t. She was patient with a purpose. I was lazy. It was an important distinction.

"Your hands?" I asked.

"Better."

"Your head?"

"Better."

"Your wrists?"

"Better."

"Then everything’s better."

"No."

I sighed. "What isn’t?"

"You."

I looked down at myself. "My chest is strained."

"Not that."

She folded her hands. "What happened?"

There were several possible answers, and most of them were impossible. You carry part of the Akashic Key. I have a System. It says you’re connected to me now, through something neither of us understands. None of those seemed appropriate. So I chose the part I could say.

"I don’t know."

Daphne watched me. That was usually the answer I gave when I didn’t want to explain something, and she knew it. This time it also happened to be true.

"Something happened," she said.

"Yes."

"To me?"

I hesitated, and that was enough. Her eyes narrowed.

"Alash."

"I didn’t do it."

She went still. The sentence sounded worse out loud, and I noticed.

"That could have been phrased better," I said.

"What didn’t you do?"

"I didn’t use Healing Bond."

Her expression changed. It wasn’t fear. It was attention. "After James, everyone knows you aren’t supposed to."

"I know."

"You almost did."

"No," I said, faster than I meant to, and she noticed that too. I looked at her wrapped wrists. "I thought about whether it would help. Then I thought about James. It would have let you keep going."

"Yes."

"That was the problem."

A pause. Then she nodded once. "Good."

I nearly laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You’re doing it again."

"Apparently."

She looked toward the window, and then back at me. "So you didn’t use it."

"No."

"But something happened."

"Yes."

"And you don’t know what."

"Correct."

Daphne thought about that, and then stood up. That was all. I stared at her.

"You’re leaving?"

"Yes."

"You came here for that?"

"Yes."

"That was a very inefficient conversation."

She opened the door, and stopped.

"Cover me," she said.

I looked at her. She wasn’t smiling, and neither was I.

"I did."

"I know."

Then she left, and the door closed, and I stared at it for a while.

[Host.]

’No.’

[I did not say anything.]

’You were going to.’

A pause.

[Goodnight.]

I pulled Dream Haven over my face. For once, I didn’t argue.