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.He found his father at breakfast, dining alone, as was his habit.Once the first few words were out of Amon’s mouth, Captain Byrne stopped eating, sat back, and listened stone-faced, firing a question here and there.When Amon finished, his father threw his napkin on the table and sent his orderly to fetch his duty officers to the garrison room.Amon extended his sword to his father, hilt first.“I’m sorry, sir,” he said stiffly.“I hereby resign my comm—”“Keep that,” his father growled.“You’ll likely need it.”“Sir?” Amon stammered, confused.“But…when the queen hears…”“They are headstrong, the Gray Wolf queens,” his father said.“No one knows that better than me.The most difficult task a guardsman faces is to say no to his sovereign when he knows it may result in his own dismissal, imprisonment, or death.” He fixed Amon with his hawklike gaze.“But sometimes you have to say it.You should have said it to the princess heir.”“But how can we do that, sir?” Amon restored his sword to its scabbard.“I mean, we serve the queen, and so—”“We serve the line of queens,” his father said.“We serve the throne.Sometimes an individual makes a bad choice.”Amon stared at his father.“But isn’t that…isn’t that…”“Treason?” Captain Byrne smiled thinly.“Some would say so.Who are we, after all?” He rose, walked to the hearth, and prodded the fire with a poker.The careful arrangement of logs collapsed in a fountain of sparks.“We Byrnes are here by a covenant made with Hanalea, the first of this stubborn line,” his father said, staring into the fire.“It is a tricky business, for sure, but we’ll be all right as long as we keep our eyes on the good of the line and the good of the realm.”“But…not everyone in the Guard is there for the good of the realm,” Amon said, thinking of Mac Gillen.His father nodded.“Time was, the captain chose every man and woman who went into the Guard.That’s no longer true.Politics have come into play.I did not choose Mac Gillen, and I’ve been unable to dismiss him, much as I’ve tried.”Who chose Mac Gillen? Amon wanted to ask.But didn’t.“What…what are we going to do, sir?” he asked.His father continued to gaze into the flames, his face hard and unreadable.“We’re going to risk everything to protect the line.”“What do you mean?”“The princess heir has her name day this summer, after which she’ll be eligible for an alliance by marriage.” He turned and leaned against the mantel, looking as grim as Amon had ever seen him.“It may be best for the long-term defense of the Fells if the princess heir marries a southern prince.But they’re conservative in the southern kingdoms.If they find out our princess was held captive overnight by a street thug, it may affect her prospects for a match.”Amon’s stomach clenched.He thought of Cuffs Alister, his knife at Raisa’s throat, declining a hostage switch.He found himself actually spluttering.“He wouldn’t…if he’s touched her, if there’s—”His father held up a hand.“The facts are less important than the perception when it comes to marriage contracts, Corporal.”The facts are important to me, Amon thought.“They…they wouldn’t name Mellony heir, would they? If Rai…if the princess heir is tainted,” he said, not really sure who “they” might be.Amon shook his head.“They may try, but we cannot allow that.Mellony is not the blooded heir, as long as Raisa lives.The Naéming does not recognize politics.I hope Her Majesty won’t be influenced…” His voice trailed off.“We are direly in need of a strong queen,” he said softly, rubbing his forehead as if it hurt.“Da,” Amon said, anxious to get back to his subject, “when you said we’d risk everything to protect the line, what do you mean by that?”His father fixed back on him.“Here it is.We will not announce that the princess has disappeared.We will set the Guard looking for one Rebecca Morley—that was the name you said she used, wasn’t it—who fits the princess’s description, taken from Southbridge Temple by Cuffs Alister.Rebecca, we’ll say, comes from a wealthy family but wanted to do good works for the poor.We’ll offer a very generous reward for information.”Amon wasn’t sure he understood.“But…we’ll tell the queen the truth?”His father looked him straight in the eyes.“No.”Amon couldn’t believe it.His father, the soul of duty and propriety, was proposing a massive deception, one that could have dire consequences if it went bad.It would be perceived that the captain of the Guard had risked the princess heir to protect his son.It could be his career.“Da! We can’t do that.If you’re found out…”“Remember what I said.We are bound to preserve the line, no matter the cost.If this Cuffs knows who he holds, it will put the princess heir at greater risk.He might be frightened enough to kill her on the spot.He could carry her across the border and sell her off to some southern prince.Or align himself with the Gray Wolf’s enemies.”“If she’s even still alive,” Amon forced himself to say.“It’s been hours and hours.”“She’s alive,” his father said.“I would know if the line was broken.And you will too, once you’re truly named.” His father put his hand on Amon’s shoulder, stopping his questions.“I know the queen enrolled you in the Guard, but anyone can be enrolled, as I’ve said.This is different.”He left it at that, but Amon was glad to take his father’s word for it.Glad he wouldn’t have to insert the language “If Raisa’s still alive” into every speculation.“But…but how will we explain Raisa’s disappearance?” Amon persisted.He was half relieved he wouldn’t have to face the queen right away, half convinced this scheme would never work.“She must have been missed by now.They’re probably already in a panic.”“Averill Demonai will help us,” his father said.“He’ll say Raisa’s gone back to Demonai Camp for a…a prenaming ritual.Very secret, very sacred.Lord Bayar will be furious, but we can live with that.” A smile ghosted over his face.“Why would Averill do that? He’s her father.He has to be worried.”“He’ll want to keep it secret for the same reasons we do—for the good of his daughter and the good of the line.”“What would you have me do?” Amon asked humbly, knowing he deserved no role in this, but desperately desiring one.“You’ll comb Ragmarket and Southbridge
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