“Hopefully, we’ll settle things here soon and we can head east to deliver them,” Carys said, carefully tucking the dolls in the front of her pack.

“I hope so,” Bri muttered. “We need to get some more answers today. We should split up. People will be more likely to talk to you than to me.”

Carys nodded. “You’re doing a good thing helping Delta out, even though she doesn’t deserve it.”

“If I’m going to be the ruler of the Eastern Court, then this is a smart move,” Bri assured her. “We have Hale and Remy in the High Mountain Court, Rua and Renwick in the Northern Court . . . The Southern Queen is a wild card, but Neelo runs the place, anyway. It’s the alliances with the West that we still need to secure.”

“And if I become Queen of the East, I’ll take credit for this plan.” Carys, so used to being attacked by her friend, ducked before the pillow even left Bri’s hand.

“I’ll go see what more information I can get from Delta’s second-in-command,” Bri said, pulling on her boots and taking out her dagger and sharpening stone. “Soldiers seem more inclined to talk to me, at least.”

Carys ambled over to the bathing chamber mirror and scowled at herself. “These bloody three hairs,” she hissed, yanking at the unruly hair along her jaw.

“How do you even spot those? You are so fair, you’d need to be an inch from your chin to see them,” Bri countered as she sharpened her dagger.

Inlaid with amber, it felt like an extension of her own arm, its weight and length were so familiar. There was something comforting about holding it. The intricate carved knots on the handle had worn over years of use, and she never bothered to shine it. She wanted people to see it was a blade she didn’t mind getting dirty.

“I need to see if that brown witch has more of that stuff Fen gave me,” Carys said, rubbing her hand over the red patch on her chin where she had plucked the hairs.

Bri eyed her friend up and down. “Carys, you are and have always been a goddess.” She rolled her eyes. “You could have a full beard and swathes of chest hair, and all your suitors would still swoon. You know that, hey?”

“I know.” Carys paused, straightening her tunic over her bosom as she surveyed her figure. She had a powerful frame from years of training, but with an ample chest and curving hips. She moved with the stealth of a wildcat, and every head turned at the swish of her hips. Finding Bri’s gaze in the mirror, she added, “Thank you.”

Bri shrugged. “It takes no work for me to say it because it is true. Perhaps after a dozen more times, you’ll start believing it.”

“Don’t you have places to be, people to interrogate?” Carys tossed over her shoulder.

“We have a formal breakfast to attend first.” Bri huffed, groaning as she stood and stretched her neck. “I hope you didn’t fill yourself up on fried bread.”