“I stayed within the final ward. I was being careful!”

“No.” Tension and anger lift the tips of his hair into smoky black strands. “You were being selfish.”

“How am I supposed to be king if I can’t—”

Abruptly, Lark exits my room, closing the door behind him.

“Room is clear,” he says slowly. He looks at Sel, then me. “Everything all right out here?”

“Yes,” I mutter.

“Peachy,” Sel grumbles.

Lark appears unconvinced. “Right. Well, as far as I’m concerned, my job here is done. I’m heading to the infirmary next.” He tips his head to me in a silent salute. “Crown Scion, see ye in the morning.” Lark turns down the hall, tapping his fingertips on the railing as he goes.

“Douglas.” Sel crosses his arms over his chest.

Lark looks back over his shoulder. “What now?”

Sel’s brow furrows. “That legion didn’t come from nowhere. They knew Bria—the Crown Scion was here. I’ve seen isel work together before. I know what I’m talking about. Either an uchel or goruchel ordered them to attack tonight, or someone else did.”

Lark’s face goes blank. “Someone… else?”

“No time for games, you know what I mean. I know our report about the Morgaine-Shadowborn alliance got to the Council within twenty-four hours of the ogof battle, which means the Mageguard got the intel within a day. It could be the Morgaines. The old man is in a mood. He won’t listen to me, but…”

Lark holds his gaze for a moment, then nods. “I’ll ask Seneschal Erebus to have the guards search again.” His eyes flick to mine. “Night.”

When Lark reaches the stairway and descends to the foyer, I step closer to Sel and whisper, “Erebus trained you himself and he won’t listen to you? I’m a stranger to him. What if he decides not to listen to me? How can I be king if I can’t—”

He holds up a finger. “Wait.”

My mouth snaps shut. We wait. We hear the ding of the first-floor elevator. Hear the door open. Close. Even I can hear the wires and gears whine as it drops. In the distance, two floors below, another ding sounds in the silence. Far enough away now that we can speak in private.

Sel exhales and lowers his hand. “You need to be more careful, in every way. In what you reveal of your abilities or lack thereof, and to whom.” He runs a hand through his hair. “And to answer your question, I do not know how you will lead. Just as I do not know what the Regents will say when they discover that the Crown Scion of Arthur cannot call aether on her own without varying degrees of self-destruction.”

“They’ll keep me benched,” I say. “Keep me here, locked away, while you all search for Nick.”