The Rebel Assassin

Chapter 39: Snow and Heat

"Will you sit down and rest?" Nemia was watching me reproachfully. "You've been pacing for ages."

"It helps me think." I wasn't made for sitting still — or for being injured, if it made people coddle me so much.

"Maybe you need a break from thinking."

Maybe she was right. With a sigh, I leaned against a tree Nemia had strictly forbidden me from climbing the moment she saw me eying it when we came out. It was the closest to resting I could give her while I was so wound up.

The Protector's garden was bitterly cold. Our breath froze in the air and snow crunched beneath my feet as I settled myself. A trail of trampled slush marked the path I'd been pacing. It wasn't pleasant, exactly, but it was a refreshing change from the stuffy rooms of the Protector's Hall, where every fireplace roared and every wall was insulated with tapestries.

I thought it had been nice of the Protector, when she passed me on the stairs up to my room, to stop and offer us any winter clothing we may need if we wished to go outside. The clothing we'd packed in anticipation of crossing the mountains was bulky and utilitarian, and she insisted a servant find us more suitable gear. It was especially kind since I doubted the Protector often casually strolled around her guest quarters, which meant she had specifically come by to see if we had made any progress and offer us the use of her gardens.

Looking around the walkways — it was hard to even think of this as a garden, with the flower plots that would only bloom in the Protectorate's summer all heaped with snow — it was strange to think that it was only autumn in Solangia, where it was almost never this cold.

Nemia had cleared a spot on a stone bench to sit while I churned the snowy paths to mud, and she made an almost picturesque image in her elegant borrowed coat. An outdoor version of that decorative Emorian coat, it was long, dark blue and high-collared, startling against the stark garden of snow and stone. Strands of glossy black hair escaped her cap when the wind came and put a tinge of pink into her pale face.

I stifled a laugh, watching her gather a handful of snow and bring it to her mouth. "Taste good?"

"S'cold," she mumbled into it.

"I am shocked." I moved to sit next to her. "You better share with me."

"Find your own," she laughed, turning to keep her handful of snow out of my reach. I tried to strain around her for a moment, then gave up, leaving my arm draped over her.

The warmth of her laughter faded out of me. "I'm so... restless." It wasn't a strong enough word, but for the moment I was comfortable, resting against her, and didn't want to say how jittery and impatient I felt.

"I know."

"Why is Iso like this? Why do I keep feeling like he's a bad ambassador on purpose, when I know he wants Englescroft to succeed? Why did he do such a bad job if he's as clever as everyone warned me he is?"

"Morie..."

"He has to have a larger game in play, but I have no idea what."

"Maybe you should..."

I sat up, feeling the need to pace again. "You agree Iso might have Jaden, but if he took Jaden to have leverage over me, why didn't he say so when he captured me? I mean, he didn't say anything about me having royal blood. We don't know for sure that he knows. He can't know. If he did know, if he did want to put me on the throne and control me, why hasn't he started putting that into motion?"

She shrugged helplessly.

"I have no idea where Jaden could be. Am I wrong for trying to figure it out? Should I be focusing on the Phoenix? The Protector is impatient for us to finalize the plan so we can get started. That's something I actually have a clue about, and we can't afford to lose her support. But I can't think about that when Jaden's out there somewhere."