“That’s right,” Raisa said. “And you put me there. How did you and Fiona manage to escape? And the Manders as well?”

“We were able to recover our amulets,” Micah said. “After that, it was relatively easy to conceal ourselves.” He shrugged. “To be honest, Prince Gerard seemed more intent on finding you, Your Highness. He turned west, to Tamron Court, while we traveled north. When I returned home and found that you had not arrived, I didn’t know what to think.”

“And immediately found somebody else to marry,” Raisa said. “I had no idea you were so determined to settle down.”

“I am as much a prisoner of family and politics as you are,” Micah said. “That did not keep me from worrying that something had happened to you. I thought perhaps Montaigne had recaptured you, or that you were trapped in Tamron Court.”

“Something did happen to me,” Raisa said. “On my way home, I was attacked and nearly killed in Marisa Pines Pass.”

“Attacked?” Micah shook his head slowly, as if to deny it. Micah was a consummate actor, but Raisa thought his surprise was genuine.

“Yes, attacked by someone who was expecting me to come that way.”

Now Micah leaned forward, intent on her. “Who was it? Who attacked you?”

“They were out of uniform, but they appeared to be members of my own guard,” Raisa said.

Micah’s eyes narrowed. “Then it wasn’t…” He stopped himself, took a deep breath, let it out. “It wasn’t the copperheads, then?” But she had the impression he’d changed what he meant to say.

Well, I can hold back information as well as you, she thought. She shook her head. “Hardly,” she said. “The clan healers saved my life.”

“What about…those who attacked you?” Micah asked, his eyes fixed on her face. “Have they been questioned? Do you know why they attacked you? Were they just renegades, or…?”

“They are all dead,” Raisa said, shrugging, but watching Micah closely through her lashes. “I guess we’ll never know.”

Micah sat back a little, looking disappointed and unsettled rather than relieved.

“So,” he said, “there have been two attempts on your life within a space of weeks.” He looked up at Amon Byrne and Han Alister. “And where were you two during all of this? Or do you only surface after the assassins have fled?”

Again, Raisa sensed Han stirring behind her, and she felt the heat of him through her skin. It seemed to roll off him in waves.

“I beg you, Raisa, take better care,” Micah went on. “It’s clear to me that your soldier and your so-called bodyguard are not enough to keep you safe. You cannot keep tempting fate. These are dangerous times.”

“You were the one who dragged me away from Oden’s Ford,” Raisa said. “If you hadn’t kidnapped me, I’d still be there.”