He pulled the silken scarves from around his face. Six years on, he looked different—and yet somehow just the same. He was about her age, with high, angular cheekbones and the brown skin of eastern Valorian, his mother’s legacy. He’d been gangly when she left, and clumsy—except with a practice sword. But since then, his face had sharpened, and he’d grown tall and lean and self-assured. His bright-green eyes still glittered like gems, just as she remembered.

“I’m glad you’re back,” he said suddenly, color rising to his cheeks under her scrutiny.

Constance’s mouth flickered into a smile, teasing. “So where do you suggest I sleep?”

He cleared his throat. “The apartments on the first floor are relatively habitable—I’m afraid that’s the best you can hope for these days. We’re rather short on manpower. I’ve already sent some servants to prepare them for you.”

“Those were my mother’s apartments once,” said Constance. She’d been only four when her mother had died, but she remembered clearly enough.

He blinked. “There is another empty suite in the east tower, and I hear the north wing has vacant—”

“It’s all right. Downstairs it is.” She wasn’t sure she could cope with another trip across the courtyard.

The first floor was already a hub of activity. As she descended the last few steps, Constance caught a glimpse inside the apartments through the open door as a manservant brought in a basket of firewood: a small team of maids had started removing the dirty dust sheets from the bed and were bringing in clean blankets, sweeping the floor, and laying a fire in the soot-stained chimney. The door shut behind the manservant, and Constance hesitated outside—old habits died hard, and the masked priestesses had taught her to listen before she stepped into a room. A snatch of gossip from the servants reached her ears:

“They say the hounds came back still hungry. They never caught her.”

“D’you think she’s still in the city?”

“Constance?” Irvine was waiting at her back.

“Sorry,” she said, shooting him a small apologetic smile. “It’s a long time since I’ve been here.”