Bayle huffed, but he seemed to relax a bit. He smoothed the satin of his uniform. He looked much more like a leader in it, and he even carried himself better. Kasper had definitely been right about the effect clothing had on the psyche.

“Kasper is right,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

Bayle nodded, and I suspected that was as close to an apology as I would get.

“It has been a great shame that the Queen went missing on my watch,” he said finally. “I’ve tried to pinpoint how exactly Konstantin got in here, but the truth is that there are too many holes in our fence for me to know for sure.”

“The Queen had begun to fear for her safety before Konstantin even arrived,” I said. “There’s a chance someone on the inside was working with him.”

Bayle lowered his eyes. “I have considered this.”

“And do you have any idea who it could have been?” Kasper pressed when Bayle didn’t go on.

“No.” He shook his head. “I simply don’t know how any of the guards could benefit from the disappearance of Queen Linnea. She’s kind and fair to everyone. The kingdom has a policy that doesn’t allow us to pay ransom, and I doubt King Mikko would go against the rules of his ancestors, so no one could profit from her kidnapping.”

“What if she had been killed?” I asked. “Would anything have changed?”

“I can’t see how,” Bayle said. “The crown follows the Biâelse bloodline. There would be no transfer of power, since Queen Linnea only has the title by marriage.”

My thoughts circled back to where they’d started—the only person who could benefit from Linnea being gone was the one who didn’t appear happy to be married to her.

“As the head guard, who are your official bosses?” I asked.

“The King has final say in all matters of the kingdom, but to a lesser extent, I am sworn to obey the entire royal family, including the Queen, the Prince, and Marksinna Lisbet as the Queen Grandmother,” Bayle answered.

“What would you do if any of them asked you to commit murder?” I asked, and both Bayle and Kasper stiffened. It was a taboo topic among guards.

“In times of war, I am to defend the kingdom and fight our enemies,” Bayle said, practically reciting the answer from a textbook. “In times of peace, I am to protect the King at all costs. It is my duty to kill if necessary, but never to murder. Taking a life must only be done in preservation of the kingdom.”

“I know what you’re supposed to do, but I’m asking you what you would personally do,” I said.

“I would follow the tenets of my position, and I would not murder anyone,” he said, but his eyes darted just slightly when he spoke.

“Would you tell the person you’d been instructed to kill?” I pressed. “Because if you turned down the King, I’m sure he could keep asking until eventually he found a guard who would do as he asked.”

“I…” Bayle stopped for a moment, thinking, and when he spoke again, his shoulders had sagged. “I would like to believe that I would do the right thing.”

Later, when we were walking down the spiral stairs to the main floor, Bayle had gotten quite the lead on Kasper and me, and he was well out of earshot. Just the same, Kasper slowed his steps and lowered his voice.

“There is no right answer to that question, you know,” Kasper said, and I looked sharply at him.

“Of course there is. Murder is always wrong.”

“When you’re a civilian, that’s true,” he conceded. “But the King has the power to declare war and name anyone a traitor, worthy of death. He decides what is and what isn’t murder. When you swear to serve him, you give up your own individuality; you forsake your own beliefs and morals in the name of the higher calling of serving the kingdom, for honor and duty.”

I shook my head. “You can serve the King without betraying your own morality. They don’t have to be mutually exclusive.”

“I would like to think so, and I like to live my life that way,” Kasper said. “But if the King commanded me to do something, and I denied him, he could have me locked up or banished. Even executed. So it’s not just morality that would influence my decision. It’s also self-preservation.”

I stopped, and Kasper walked down a few more steps before pausing to look back up at me. Until this moment, I’d viewed him as one of the most upstanding people I knew, worthy of admiration. He was honorable, noble, and seemed to embody every quality that a member of the Högdragen was supposed to possess.

“But you wouldn’t do it,” I persisted, almost begging him to agree with me, to pretend that this was all a misunderstanding. That the most virtuous members of the Högdragen couldn’t be as fallible as everyone else.

Kasper sighed heavily. “I believe I would do my best to sway the King to the correct course of action and to protect the innocent. But in the end, I am nothing more than a sword at the end of the King’s arm. I do as he directs.”

TWENTY-ONE

entanglement

From out in the hall, I could hear Kasper talking, followed by the fainter sound of Tilda’s laughter. His bedroom door was open, so I peered around to see him holding his cell phone out toward the dome glass wall that held the murky water at bay. He was video chatting with Tilda and giving her a tour of our accommodations.

“The water is so dark,” Tilda was saying, her voice coming out weak and metallic from the phone. “I’d expected it be clear and bright.”