The Mirror King (Orphan Queen) by Jodi Meadows Page B

Sergeant Ferris lingered in the hall.
    James picked up the tea tray and took it with him. The door shut, muffling their voices, but they spoke only a moment before James returned. “Sorry. I got shoved in here yesterday afternoon.It’s an upgrade from my previous office; this one has a window.”
    “Nothing to be sorry for. You’ve had a lot to do since you awakened.” It was hard to believe that had only been two days ago.
    James’s eyes lowered and he nodded. “Yet I feel the same as ever. You’re sure you didn’t have anything to do with my awakening?”
    “Absolutely sure.” It had to be a coincidence that he’d opened his eyes just as I touched his hand. “Have you made any progress finding Patrick?”
    “We know where he isn’t .” James sat behind his desk and cleared a small canyon between us.
    Melanie’s list hissed against the desk as I slid it toward James. “I found this last night.”
    His face was dark as he tilted the paper toward him. “Where did you get this?”
    “Fisher’s Mouth.”
    He released a long sigh. “All right. What is it?”
    “It’s a list of Aecorian resistance groups. It’s rearranged, and I think the new order indicates where Patrick is going first.”
    “Can we trust this?” He tapped the first location. “We need to be sure before sending people there.”
    “I trust Melanie.” I pulled out the letter she’d left in the Peacock Inn. I’d read it a hundred times already; most of it was what we’d covered when we met. “The list was her second attempt to leave information for me. She was delivering this when we bumped into each other outside the inn.”
    He skimmed the letter. “The Red Militia?”
    “That’s what he’s calling his army.”
    “Your army, he hopes.” James folded the letter. “You can’t give in to his demand. If you declare yourself queen, you’ll provoke Prince Colin. And then Patrick gets what he wants.”
    “But if I don’t declare myself queen, Patrick marches against the Indigo Kingdom.”
    James narrowed his eyes. “Are you planning to—”
    “No.” I sucked in a breath. “Not right now. It just seems like I can’t win, no matter what I do. Prince Colin won’t give up Aecor, and Patrick won’t wait for me to claim it myself. Unless Patrick is arrested, there’s going to be a war, and I don’t know what side I’m supposed to be on.”
    James rubbed his temples and nodded. “All right. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking about how this puts you in just as bad a position as the rest of us.” He placed the list of resistance groups on top of a pile of papers. “I’ll have people sent to these locations, though even Melanie says Lien doesn’t trust her. If he told her this was the order, it could be more false information to lead us into a trap.”
    Better than anyone, I knew about lying on paper. “I understand. But meanwhile, I can’t sit around and do nothing.”
    “I wouldn’t call your nightly excursions ‘nothing.’” He shook his head, but at least he wasn’t giving me a hard time about it. “What of the letter to Aecor?”
    “I’ve been making notes.”
    “Good.” James glanced at the small clock on a mostly empty bookcase. “I have some time now, if you want to get started. There are writing supplies here somewhere.”
    He gave me the comfortable seat behind the desk while he leaned on the edge, keeping out of my light.
    “Tobiah would be better at helping you with this, but he’s still trapped in his quarters. His guards are already asking questions, but they know better than to voice their misgivings to anyone.”
    “What about the messenger? Alain?”
    “I had him followed. He eventually ended up with Prince Colin, but if they’ve done anything with that information, I haven’t heard about it yet.”
    When I closed my eyes, I saw Prince Colin in my quarters last night. His sneer. His satisfaction. The memory made me shudder.
    James didn’t notice my discomfort. “Anyway, I’ve sat in