We move through the palace corridors quickly.
Two guards fall into step behind Jason without being told — they do not know who he is but they know he is with me and that is enough. The staff we pass look and look away with the trained discretion of people who have learned that seeing too much in this palace is a liability. Good for them.
Fenris holds the ward door open and I carry Ava through it and set her down on the bed and she immediately pulls the coat tighter and sits upright, because of course she does, because Ava will not lie down and be managed if she can possibly help it.
"Lie down," I say.
"I'm fine," she says.
"You shifted for the first time in your eighteenth year after spending two days in a dungeon with torn hands and no food." I look at her. "Lie down."
Something moves across her face. She lies down.
