Then the shout again: “Everyone get in here!”

I startled up from my sliver of Zara’s bed. That had come from inside the suite.

“Where is he?” Ilina’s words came as a snarl now.

Adrenaline jumped through my chest as I kicked a blanket free from my ankle and stumbled through the parlor. LaLa careened through the room to land on my shoulder with a soft thump.

Chenda and Gerel were already running toward the boys’ room. I followed, rubbing sleep from my eyes.

From behind my friends, I couldn’t see much besides Hristo standing near the washroom door, a towel crumpled at his feet. (He was dressed, thank all the gods.) Aaru stood beside him, expression half watchful, half cringing from all the yelling.

“How did this happen?” Anger steamed off Ilina in hot waves.

“What?” The closet door was open, but it still blocked my view of the interior. “What’s happening?”

“Look.” Her voice went low. Dangerous.

Dread filled my stomach as I slipped around the foot of the bed and looked over Ilina’s shoulder. Inside the closet, there was:

1. A pile of blankets.
2. One noorestone.
3. An empty water bladder.
4. Nothing else. No one else.

Hristo and Gerel didn’t waste time. They left the hotel without a word, knives and daggers tucked into their waistbands.

I rested my fingers on LaLa’s back. “I should go with them. I should help.” But the words were just that: words. I didn’t know how to find him. I couldn’t guess where he’d gone.

“No.” Chenda shut the closet door. “You have other duties today. If you go running after this enemy, then you won’t be ready to visit the Red Hall this evening.”

“I know him best.” A weak argument.

“No.” Chenda’s tone was steel. “Gerel knows him best. She will hunt him. She will capture him.”

I sighed. She was right. But still, I felt like I should be doing more than getting dressed up for a ball.

“Let the others do their parts. Make sure you do yours. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by things that you cannot control. Focus on the things you can affect.”

This was why Chenda was a better political leader than I would ever be. She weighed her problems. She allowed herself to delegate. She didn’t feel the need to do everything because she trusted the people around her to do their jobs.

“All right.” I hated to concede, but she had a point.

Ilina hadn’t taken her glare off the closet. “Maybe I—”

“No.” Chenda touched Ilina’s shoulder. “You will be more useful here.”

The tension in Ilina’s shoulders didn’t exactly ease, but after a moment, she nodded and looked at me. “Fine. We’ll get Mira ready. Just know that I’m mad about it.”

“Noted.” A faint smile turned up the corner of Chenda’s mouth.

“Who will help Aaru get ready?” I shifted my gaze to my silent friend, but he was just looking out the window, as somber as ever. If he felt anything about Altan’s escape, he didn’t show it.