I shot to my feet. “I know that no such thing is true!” I blurted in outrage.
“Regal claims it is so,” Kettricken continued implacably. “He says that Verity had decided before he left that there was no real hope of keeping them safe from the Raiders. And that is why he called back our ship Constance. He says Verity Skilled to Carrod, the coterie member on the ship, to order the ship back home for repairs.”
“That ship was refitted just after harvest. Then she was sent out, to keep the coast between Sealbay and Gulls, and to be ready should the Near Islands call for her. It is what her master asked for; more time to practice seamanship in winter waters. Verity would not leave that stretch of coast unwatched. If the Raiders establish a stronghold on the Near Islands, we shall never be free of them. They can raid winter and summer alike from there.”
“Regal claims that is what they have done already. He says our only hope now is to treat with them.” Her blue eyes searched my face.
I sank down slowly, near stunned. Could any of this-be true? How could it have been kept from me? My sense of Verity within me mirrored my confusion. He knew nothing of this either. “I do not think the King-in-Waiting would ever treat with the Raiders. Save with the sharp of his sword.”
“This is not, then, a secret kept from me lest it distress me? Regal implied as much, that Verity would keep these things secret from me, as beyond my understanding.” There was a trembling in her voice. It went beyond her anger that the Near Islands might have been abandoned to the Raiders, to a more personal pain that her lord might have found her unworthy of his confidences. I longed so badly to take her in my arms and comfort her that I ached inside.