Brightly Woven

shoulder once more.
    “You did what you had to,” he said. “You’re alive and we’re together again. That’s all that matters to me.”
    “I wish…I wish there could have been another way,” I mumbled. “None of those men were like Dorwan.”
    “The other way would have been death as well, only it would have been yours,” Oliver said. “And that’s no more honorable than what you did.”
    North and I were silent.
    “And in any case, if the king is dead, the war will be over before it even began,” Oliver said.
    I felt North nod once before resting his cheek against the top of my head again.
    Oliver hesitated a moment before leaving. “Are you going to…put it back on?” He looked at North, lifting his wrist slightly. I felt North shift beneath me, and I realized what he was asking.
    “Yes,” I said. “He’ll put the bracelet back on.”
    Oliver relaxed. “I’ll be on the upper deck, then.”
    “Commander Swift,” I called as he began his ascent up the staircase. “Thank you for coming.”
    He shrugged halfheartedly. “I didn’t come for you. I came for my friend.”
    I waited until Oliver was gone before looking up into North’s face.
    “You don’t think he meant the queen, do you?” North said. “Because that would ruin a rather touching moment.”
    I elbowed him. “When things settle down, you should try talking to him again.”
    He leaned his head back against the wall.
    “And I do want my bracelet back,” I told him.
    “I can hardly believe that,” he said.
    “You gave it to me.” I could still picture it in a coiled heap on the floor of the queen’s chamber. “Of course I want it back.”
    “With or without the magic?” he asked.
    I bit my lower lip. “Either way you think best,” I said after a moment. He reached into the pocket of his trousers, retrieving the thin chain.
    “Just to hide your magic,” he promised, fastening it over my wrist. “To contain it. I’ve added a clasp, so you’ll be able to take it off if you need to.”
    He drew me closer to him once more, his fingers stroking my loose hair. The boat released a beastlike groan as the anchor lifted from the water. We felt the exact moment the wind caught our sails and set us in the direction of home.
    I let my eyes drift shut, perfectly at ease. For a moment or two, I thought North might have fallen asleep.
    Just then, he whispered in my ear.
    “Syd,” he said. “What did they do to your hair?”

    After less than a day at sea, we reached Provincia. We landed in the courtyard of the palace, at the bottom of the stairs. The Sorceress Imperial was pacing the length of them, accompanied by a few members of the Wizard Guard. I remembered standing there several days earlier, seeing the queen for the first time. It seemed like a distant memory now.
    Before she could say a word, I held up the bracelet for her to see, and she nodded in acknowledgment. I wore borrowed trousers and a shirt that North had scrounged up, but the Sorceress Imperial’s extravagant robes no longer had any effect on my confidence.
    “I need to speak with you,” I said. “Immediately.”
    North looked at me in surprise, but Hecate’s face did not betray her curiosity. After a moment she nodded again.
    North took a step as if to go with me, but Oliver held out an arm and blocked his path. I cast a reassuring smile over my shoulder at him as we walked up the steps into the castle.
    We made our way through the long halls and winding staircases in silence. The castle felt different to me now, subdued and dark. Everything in Auster had been so bright andclean, so well cared for, that in contrast Provincia seemed in danger of collapsing under the weight of dust and grime. How had the city—the kingdom—fallen into such neglect?
    The interior of the Sorceress Imperial’s quarters was sparse, decorated only with maps and shelves of musty old books. She sat down in a leather chair, never taking her eyes off me. I sank down onto a settee. A portrait of a dark-haired family—a husband, wife, and their mischievous-looking son—looked down on us from the fireplace.
    “I have very little time to waste on you,” Hecate said sharply. “If you’re expecting some sort of apology, you should realize how blessed you truly are that I haven’t had you killed.”
    “What would killing me solve?” I asked bitterly. “I’m surprised you won’t just throw me out to the battle, hoping I destroy Auster without harming