“You have to get August. He’s the only hope Verity has.” We were sitting in the grayness before dawn on a hillside above the palace. We had not gotten far. The terrain was steep, and I was in no condition for hiking. I was beginning to suspect that Regal’s kick had renewed Galen’s old damage to my ribs. Every deep breath stabbed me. Regal’s poison still sent tremors through me, and my legs buckled often and unpredictably. Alone, I could not stand, for my legs would not support me. I could not even cling to a tree trunk and hold myself upright; there was no strength in my arms. Around us in the dawn forest birds called, squirrels were gathering stores for the winter, and insects chirred. It was hard, in the midst of all that life, to wonder how much of this damage was permanent. Were the days and strength of my youth already spent, and nothing left to me but trembling and weakness? I tried to push the question from my mind., to concentrate on the greater problems facing the Six Duchies. I stilled myself, as Chade had taught me. Around us, the trees were immense, with a presence like peace. I understood why Eyod would not cut them for timber. Their needles were soft beneath us, the fragrance soothing. I wished I could just lie back and sleep, like Nosy at my side. Our pains still mingled together, but at least Nosy could escape his in sleep.
“What makes you think August would help us?” Burrich asked. “If I could get him out here.”
I pulled my thoughts back to our dilemma. “I don’t think he’s involved with the rest of it. I think he is still loyal to the King.” I had presented my information to Burrich as my own careful conclusions. He was not a man likely to be convinced by phantom voices overheard in my head. So I could not tell him that Galen had not suggested killing August, and therefore he was probably ignorant of their plot. I was still unsure myself of what I had experienced. Regal could not Skill. Even if he could, how could I have overheard Skilling between two others? No, it had to be something else, some other magic. Of Galen’s devising? Was he capable of a magic that strong? I did not know. So much I did not know. I forced myself to set it all aside. For now, it fit the facts I had, better than any other supposition I could imagine.
“If he’s loyal to the King, and has no suspicions of Regal, then he is loyal to Regal as well,” Burrich pointed out as if I were a witling.
“Then we’ll have to force him, somehow. Verity must be warned.”
“Of course. I’ll just walk in, put a knife to August’s back, and march him out of there. No one will bother us.”
I floundered for ideas. “Bribe someone to lure him out here. Then jump him.”
“Even if I knew someone bribable, what would we use?”
“I have this.” I touched the earring in my ear.
Burrich looked at it and almost jumped. “Where did you get that?”
“Patience gave it to me. Right before I left.”
“She had no right!” And then, more quietly: “I thought it went to his grave with him.”
I was silent, waiting.
Burrich looked aside. “It was your father’s. I gave it to him.” He spoke quietly.
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to, obviously.” He closed the topic.
I reached up and began to unfasten it.
“No,” he said gruffly. “Keep it where it is. But it is not a thing to be spent in a bribe. These Chyurda can’t be bribed anyway.”
I knew he was right about that. I tried to think of other plans. The sun was coming up. Morning, when Galen would act. Perhaps had already acted. I wished I knew what was going on in the palace below. Did they know I was missing? Was Kettricken preparing to pledge herself to a man she would hate? Were Sevrens and Rowd dead yet? If not, could I turn them against Regal by warning them?
“Someone’s coming!” Burrich flattened himself. I lay back, resigned to whatever happened. I had no physical fight left in me. “Do you know her?” Burrich breathed.