wasn’t Donashe or one of his men. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself that the camp leaders would not venture so far downstream, she had no trust in Donashe’s vow to the Monts that he would not cross. These men were opportunists of the worst kind and she feared what would happen if they ever found out the truth of who Phaedra and the women were hiding.
She saw two pairs of feet and caught her breath until Tesadora squatted down to stare inside.
‘We’ve been looking for you,’ Tesadora said, none too pleased. ‘She’s refused to return to the cave and we can’t have her running around without anyone keeping an eye on her.’
‘And this belongs to me,’ Quintana said coldly, annoyed. ‘If you want to use it, Phaedra, ask me in the future.’
‘Well, if you must know, it belongs to the Lumaterans,’ Phaedra said. ‘Perhaps we can travel to the palace and ask Isaboe of Lumatere for permission, so we can both use it. What say you? She seemed to have taken a shine to you last time we all met.’
Quintana crawled in beside Phaedra, who shoved her hard out of the way.
The Princess hissed. ‘You could have harmed the little King.’
‘I shoved you in the arm, not the belly,’ Phaedra said. ‘And I was here first.’
She heard Tesadora’s sound of annoyance.
‘Are you sulking?’ Tesadora asked.
‘She is,’ Quintana said. ‘About the Mont.’
Phaedra ignored them, not wanting to give Quintana the satisfaction of reacting. She was going to hold her tongue if it was the last thing she’d do.
‘You have no idea what it felt like that everyone knew the business of my spousal home!’ she cried out, because Phaedra failed at most instructions to herself.
Quintana stared at her with disdain. ‘No idea? What a thing to say.’ She waved Phaedra off, as if an irritant. ‘One gets used to the whole kingdom knowing when you’re swiving,’ she said to Tesadora as if Phaedra wasn’t present. ‘If that’s the worst thing that’s going to happen to her, she’s fortunate indeed.’
‘Just go away, Your Majesty. Tesadora is right. You’re safer in the cave with Cora and the others.’
Quintana’s lip curled with distaste. ‘I can’t bear another day with them. The hag was already at it with the slut this morning.’
‘Can she at least try to remember their names?’ Phaedra said to Tesadora.
‘I remember their names perfectly well.’ The Princess sent her a look of irritation. ‘Have I not told you about my memory for detail?’
Phaedra wanted to scream with frustration. The delusion would have been amusing if she wasn’t speaking to the future heir’s mother.
‘No? Well, I should have mentioned it.’ Quintana spoke as if Phaedra had responded. ‘I know all their names. I know the names of every woman who slighted Ginny in her village and every lad who has so much as winked at Florenza and every person in the valley who irritates Cora. It’s all they speak of day in and day out.’
‘You do not,’ Phaedra said.
‘Oh, I do.’
Phaedra looked out to where Tesadora was still crouched. ‘She does not.’
‘I think she does,’ Tesadora said with a sigh. ‘She’s quite extraordinary.’
Phaedra bit her tongue, well and truly sick of Tesadora’s awe of the Queen of Uselessness.
‘Go on,’ Tesadora said to Quintana. ‘Let’s get this over and done with. Prove her wrong. Florenza’s suitors to begin with.’
‘Josslyn, Kent, Freshier, Arns, Mitcheloi, Samule, Talbot, Patroy, Idiotjoy.’
Tesadora gave Phaedra a meaningful look. ‘Don’t get her started on how many bricks held up her chamber in the palace of the Citavita, or how many steps there are in the second tower, or how many leaves there are in this forest with a red-gold tinge.’
‘She made up that last name. Florenza has never mentioned an Idiotjoy.’
Tesadora laughed and finally stood.
‘Look after each other, you silly fools. All this running around will end with someone getting caught. Rafuel insists that one of those men is onto him.’
‘Which one?’ Phaedra asked, her stomach twisting at the thought of being captured.
‘The squat one with fair hair,’ Quintana responded. ‘The hangman.’
They both stared at her. Phaedra shivered to see the look of terror on Quintana’s face.
Phaedra knew exactly who she was referring to. He was the one always whispering in Donashe’s ear.
‘He wants to impress Donashe and seems to resent our Matteo,’ Tesadora said. ‘You’ll protect yourselves in numbers. Not on your own.’
With that she walked away.
Phaedra felt Quintana studying her.
‘We’re going to need weapons,’ Quintana said.
‘And where will we get these weapons?’
‘I watched Froi.’ Quintana crawled outside. ‘We’re going to have to be practical. Come.’
Phaedra followed reluctantly and watched the Princess collect sturdy tree limbs and scrounge for stone.
‘We can’t survive with only a dagger and bare hands to find us food,’ the now Princess of Practicality said. ‘We’re going to have to make spears. That way we can better catch the trout. Further downstream I saw an elk, too.’
‘Spears? An elk? You’ll never catch an elk,’ Phaedra said.
‘I’m hungry.’ There was the cold determination again. ‘If I’m hungry, so is this child and if I have to catch an elk to feed it, I’ll do it.’
She ordered Phaedra to collect a certain type of stone, describing its features. Phaedra collected anything she could find, holding them up in her skirt to show her. Quintana chose carefully and made rude sounds of annoyance if Phaedra had collected one not to her liking.
‘It’s for a purpose, fool. We need to make a flint fuse. This,’ Quintana said, selecting a stone, ‘will not do. And we need a hammer stone to shape it.’
Then they collected more branches and Quintana measured two to both their heights. And the more Phaedra watched the certainty in her movements, the more she found herself responding to the Princess’s orders.
Once they were ready, they sat in the shelter working at creating a spearhead out of flint, using the hammer stone. Phaedra enjoyed hearing nothing but the sounds of their labour.
Once or twice she felt Quintana’s eyes on her, but she didn’t want to look up. It was too small a space to endure her stare, so Phaedra kept her head down.
‘I only enjoyed it with the Lumateran … Froi,’ Quintana said quietly.
‘What?’
‘It.’
Phaedra’s peace was over. She felt an anger rise up inside her at the memory of her humiliation that day with Lucian and the Lumaterans.
‘You’re mocking me.’
‘I’m not at all.’
Phaedra studied her suspiciously, hoping that any conversation about mating would not take place again. She was happy when they continued their work in silence. But not for long.
‘Even if he did live,’ Quintana said, her hands clenched fiercely around the hammer stone and flint spearhead, ‘there’s no life for us together.’
The Princess glanced down at her belly. ‘One of the many blessings of this is that I don’t ever have to lie with a man again. If they don’t kill me, they’ll wed me to some idiot nobleman, and do you know what I’ll say on my wedding night? I’ll say, “Charyn already has an heir and cursebreaker. Leave me to my peace.”’
Quintana sounded weary of the world, and her focus was back on her task.
‘How did you learn to do that?’ Phaedra asked quietly, watching her shape the stone.
