Aria pressed her hand to her mouth, swallowing the sob that threatened to escape. "Then where is he?"
Kael's jaw tightened. "That's the part I don't know."
He moved deeper into the room, crouching near the wall. "Look here."
There was another marking smaller, hurried. A crude drawing of a crown carved shallowly into the stone.
And beneath it was a symbol Aria didn't recognize.
But prince Kael did.
His face darkened. "That's Eryndor's sigil."
Aria's blood ran cold. "My brother saw him?"
"Or someone acting for him," Kael said grimly. "Which is worse."
Aria sank to the floor, back against the wall, the weight of it crushing her. "He's just a boy," she whispered. "He doesn't understand politics, or coups.
He just watches."
Kael crouched in front of her. "And that makes him dangerous."
Tears slid down her cheeks silently.
Kael looked away, jaw tight. "I'll help you" he said quietly. "But you must understandif Lucien finds out I brought you here without permission—"
