Don’t waste it.
“I need to make one more stop.” Before Cal can protest, I put on my best smile. “It won’t take long at all, I promise.”
To my surprise, he nods slowly in the dark.
“A job at the Hall, that’s very prestigious.” Will chortles as I take a seat inside his wagon. The old blue candle still burns, casting shifting light around us. As I suspected, Farley is long gone.
When I’m sure the door and windows are shut, I drop my voice. “I’m not working there, Will. They—”
To my surprise, Will waves a hand at me. “Oh, I know all that. Tea?”
“Uh, no.” My words shake with shock. “How did you—?”
“The royal monkeys chose a queen this past week, of course they had to broadcast it in the Silver cities,” a voice says from behind a curtain. The figure steps out, revealing not Farley but what looks like a beanpole in human form. His head scrapes the ceiling, making him duck awkwardly. His crimson hair is long, matching the red sash draped across his body from shoulder to hip. It’s clasped with the same sun badge Farley wore in her broadcast. And I don’t miss the gun belt around his waist, full of shiny bullets and a pair of pistols. He’s Scarlet Guard too.
“You’ve been all over the Silver screens, Lady Titanos.” He says my title like a curse. “You and that Samos girl. Tell me, is she as unpleasant as she looks?”
“This is Tristan, one of Farley’s lieutenants,” Will pipes in. He turns a chiding eye on him. “Tristan, be gentle.”
“Why?” I scoff. “Evangeline Samos is a bloodthirsty jerk.”
Smiling, Tristan throws a smug look at Will.
“They aren’t all monkeys,” I add quietly, remembering Maven’s kind words earlier today.
“Are you talking about the prince you’re engaged to or the one waiting in the woods?” Will asks calmly, like he’s asking about the price of flour.
In stark contrast, Tristan erupts, vaulting out of his seat. I beat him to the door, two hands outstretched. Thankfully I keep myself in check. The last thing I need is to electrify a member of the Scarlet Guard.
“You brought a Silver here?” he hisses down at me. “The prince? Do you know what we could do if we took him in? What we could bargain for?”
Though he towers over me, I don’t back down. “You leave him alone.”
“A few weeks in the lap of luxury and your blood is as silver as theirs,” he spits, looking like he wants to kill me. “You going to electrocute me too?”
That stings and he knows it. I drop my hands, afraid they might betray me. “I’m not protecting him, I’m protecting you, you stupid fool. Cal is a soldier born and bred, and he could burn this whole village down if he really wanted to.” Not that he would. I hope.
Tristan’s hand strays to his gun. “I’d like to see him try.”
But Will lays a wrinkled hand on his arm. The touch is enough to make the rebel deflate. “That’s enough,” he whispers. “What did you come here for, Mare? Kilorn is safe, and so are your siblings.”
I heave a breath, still staring down Tristan. He just threatened to kidnap Cal and hold him for ransom. And for whatever reason, the thought of such a thing unsettles me to my core.
“My—” One word out and I’m already struggling. “Shade was part of the Guard.” It’s not a question anymore, but a truth. Will lowers his gaze, apologetic, and Tristan even hangs his head. “They killed him for it. They killed my brother and now the Silvers want me to act like I agree with it.”
“You’re dead if you refuse,” Will replies, telling me what I already know.
“I don’t plan to. I’ll say whatever they want. But—” My voice catches a little, on the edge of this new path. “I’m in the palace, the center of their world. I’m quick, I’m quiet, and I can help the cause.”
Tristan sucks in a ragged breath, pulling back to his full height. Despite his anger earlier, there’s now something like pride shining in his eyes. “You want to join up.”
“I do.”
Will clenches his jaw, his stare piercing through me. “I hope you know what you’re committing to. This isn’t just my war or Farley’s or the Scarlet Guard’s—it’s yours. Until the very end. And not to avenge your brother but to avenge us all. To fight for the ones before, and to save the ones yet to come.”
His gnarled hand reaches for mine and for the first time, I notice a tattoo around his wrist: a red band. Like the ones they make us wear. Except now he’s wearing his forever. It’s part of him, like the blood in our veins.