When They Come Home

In the morning, Nyla found Aria in the linen cupboard. Nyla had news. "Three horses," she said. "Full pack gear. They rode in at six. Half the yard staff just stopped and stared." The Voss brothers were back from border patrol.

Aria was counting pillowcases. She had not slept. Not one minute. She pretended the world was the same. "People stop and stare at lots of things."

Nyla said the stable boy told her Caden looked like he was carved from a mountain. Cole scared his horse. Callum smiled, which was strange. Nyla also said Aria's work roster changed. Now she had to clean the brothers' wing upstairs.

Aria said, "Of course I do. That makes complete sense." She did not sound like she meant it.

She went to clean. She thought the brothers would be in meetings all day. Only Caden was. Cole and Callum were not.

At nine forty five, she opened the door to the upstairs sitting room. Callum Voss was sitting by the window, reading. He was very still. He looked like he had been there a long time.

Aria did not jump. She said, "I can come back." Callum said, "You can clean. I am not leaving." She started working on the far side of the room, away from him. She always tried to be small and quiet around them. It was a habit from years of trying to be safe.

The room was silent except for her work and the sound of pages turning. This was what Callum did. He did not attack like Cole. He did not fill the room like Caden. He was quiet and patient. That made her uncomfortable in a different way.

She was wiping the fireplace when he spoke. "You look tired." She kept her eyes forward. "I am fine." He said, "I did not ask if you were fine."

She said, "I look tired because it is ten in the morning and I have been working since before six." He said, "You always start before six." She had no answer. He knew her schedule. She filed that away in her mind.

He told her the border patrol was extended. There were complications near the northern edge. Things were moving faster. She set down her cloth and turned to face him. In two days, two Voss brothers had given her information about Ashveil. She did not believe in accidents.

She asked, "Why are you telling me this?" He looked at her with calm green eyes. "I am not telling you anything. I am having a conversation in a room I happen to be sitting in."

She said, "You are the least conversational person I have ever met." Something almost like a smile crossed his face. He said, "Clean the room, Aria," and went back to his book.

She finished and left. In the hallway, she walked straight into Cole. It was like hitting a wall. Her bag dropped. Things rolled out.

He said, "Watch where you are going." She said, "You were in the doorway." She picked up her things. He was looking at her with his usual intensity. Cole always seemed like he was in the middle of a fight that started before you arrived. His hair was wet. He wore off duty clothes that still looked aggressive.

He said, "You were in Callum's sitting room." It sounded like an accusation. She said, "I was cleaning it. It is on my roster. I did not ask for it." She stepped around him. He called after her, "You have got something on your sleeve. Left one. Near the cuff."

She looked down later. A grey smear of dust. She did not go back. She decided not to waste mental space on Cole Voss pointing out dust.

At noon, she passed a window overlooking the main courtyard. She looked down and saw Caden crossing the yard with a senior warrior. He walked with purpose. Then he stopped. Right in the middle. He looked up. Directly at her window.

Her breath caught. He was looking at her. Not through her. At her. For three or four seconds. Then he turned and kept walking.

She stepped back. Her heart pounded. He had never done that before. The study conversation, the records room, and now this. A pattern. He was doing things on purpose. Something was building.

Nyla found her at lunch in a small side garden. Aria told her everything. Callum shared border news. Cole pointed out dust. Caden looked at her.

Nyla put down her bread roll. "He stopped walking in the middle of the courtyard to look at your window?" Aria said yes. Nyla was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "I have an idea. Something is happening. Not normal politics. Something with you. And all three of them know more about it than you do."

She was halfway to her room when a hand grabbed her arm.

It was not gentle. It was not Rook's careful hold. It was Cole. His fingers closed around her elbow. He pulled her into the dark space of the stairwell. Before she could speak, his other hand pressed flat against the wall beside her head. She was trapped.

"Do not move," he said. His voice was low. Not angry. Something else. "Someone has been in your room."

She became very still. "What."

"I saw it from the courtyard. A shape. Moving past your window." He was so close that she could feel the heat coming off him. The same heat she had felt in the hall that morning. The same unfair warmth. "I came up the back stairs. Whoever it was left before I got here. But your door was open."

She looked toward the lower staff hallway. "Did you see who."

"No." He did not move. He did not step back. "But I found this on your floor."

He opened his other hand. In his palm was a single piece of paper. It was folded. It was sealed with wax the colour of dried blood.

"Do not open it here," he said. "Do not open it anywhere they can see."

Then he was gone. He took the stairs two at a time. Aria was alone. The paper was in her hand. The feel of his grip was still warm on her arm.