“Felip.”
She nodded. “Go on.”
Kambry paused. Felip, then Felip again. “Felip Covey showed up in my parents’ quarters claiming he was protecting them because they are important to me.”
“What has the king said about all of this?”
“Um. He doesn’t know about all of it.”
“What part doesn’t His Majesty know?”
“You’re very formal.”
“My queen has properly chastised me.”
“You’re annoying, too. You deserved the chastisement.” For a moment, the banter relieved some of her tension.
“Yet you trust me with information you haven’t told the king.”
“You said you are loyal to me alone.”
“Now you believe me. Maybe you shouldn’t.”
Kambry raised her hands and huffed. “I have to trust someone!”
“There is the king.”
“You’re not helping. Again. And you told me to keep Russal and Felip apart.”
Sybil set her chin in her palm and stared intently at Kambry.
Kambry stared back.
She shook her head, her messy bun dancing. “What haven’t you told the king?”
“I didn’t tell him that Felip was in my parents’ quarters. He knows everything else.” She bit her lip. “Except I didn’t tell him about the woman with Felip in the servants’ passages. Or that Felip is saying he is protecting me from his mother.”
Sybil seemed to consider which revelation to follow. “What does Maizalyn intend?”
“She wants the king’s ring and will kill or maim for it.”
Sybil eyed Kambry’s hand. She rose from her chair, pacing the room and organizing items on desks and bookshelves. “The impressions have been hazy all day. I’ve been trying to get a sense of what’s coming.” She faced Kambry, a book in her hand. “You’re surrounded by uncertainty.”
“You mean you aren’t certain what it means, or I’m uncertain?”
Sybil looked at the book in her hand and set it down abruptly. She strode to her desk and sat in the seat, making it squeak unhappily when she couldn’t decide to lean forward or back. “I don’t know. It’s all very uncertain.” She grimaced. “I know, I’m not helping. I used to know who the enemy was. Now I’m not sure.”
They both gazed at the desktop. Kambry recognizing guilt stabbing at her conscience. She hated keeping things from Russal? Didn’t they just have an argument about him not including her? “Can I trust Russal?”
“Implicitly.”
“Of that you are certain?”
“Implicitly.”
“I want you to direct your attention to Felip. Try to find implicit notions about his trustworthiness.”
Sybil frowned. “You believe it’s up for reevaluation?”
“Something has changed. You said you don’t know who the enemy is anymore. Wasn’t Felip the enemy?”
Sybil tensed. “Do you trust Russal?”
“Why did you call him Russal?”
“Don’t evade me, Your Highness. Do you trust the man you call Russal?”
“I’m very confused right now. If I trust Felip, does that mean I can’t trust Russal? And if I trust Russal, does that mean I can’t trust Felip?”
Sybil uncapped the inkwell, grasped her quill and dipped it. She drew slow circles on the parchment.
Kambry watched the ink grow thin with each sweep.
Sybil didn’t seem to notice it become dry and scrape the parchment. The quill paused, and she stared at the well-formed loops.
Kambry kept silent, willing to give Sybil time. Was this how she connected with Kavin magic?
Sybil’s gaze rose until she was looking at Kambry. “There is a change in the dynamics.”
“I’m still pivotal,” Kambry said with resignation and certainty.
“That has never changed.”
“What has?”
“The focus of the pieces is shifting. Someone else is rising to the fore.”
“Who?”
“A woman.”
“Me?”
“You’re always at the front.”
“Another woman is rising. Will she overtake me?”
“She will try.” Sybil rubbed her face. “There are too many involved, too many who have made recent decisions. The danger has heightened, but whom you should shield yourself from is murky.”
With the thought that her decisions had changed future events, Kambry closed her eyes. Was she now dangerous and to whom or what? She had trusted Felip, and she didn’t know why. She had protected him from Russal. At least she hadn’t let Russal detect him in the hidden halls with her help. In doing that, she had also kept him from knowing about the woman. She needed to figure out what had made her view Felip differently. She no longer feared him or saw him as a danger to Russal. Maybe he was a danger in a different way. Or he wasn’t dangerous at all. No, he was dangerous, but its focus was not toward Russal anymore.
“I’ve never had so many opposing impressions before.” Sybil stood and paced her office again.
“You have conflicting impressions of Russal and me?”
“And Lenar, and Felip, even the Laurentses.”
Kambry’s mouth dropped open. The Laurentses? She didn’t want to consider them her enemy and set them aside for the moment. “Who’s Lenar?”
“One of my apprentices.” She stopped at a desk and stared down at its well-ordered stacks of ledgers.
“You’re worried about an apprentice?”
She faced Kambry. “He witnessed the murder of the king and queen when he was a boy.”
“He was the boy covered in blood?” Russal had told her about the boy who saw the queen murdered right in front of him.
She nodded. “Since then, he’s had occasional impressions, always focused on Russal and, more recently, you.”
Did the trauma of seeing her murder cause him to connect with Kavin? That was curious.
The queen’s blood all over him might have created a connection, she supposed. She knew nothing of the way it all worked. She had a connection to Kavin, and it didn’t take a horrendous murder. It was possible, if anything was.
“Why are you worried about him?” Kambry asked.
“I feel death around him. Betrayal, anger, grief.” She leaned on the desk as if she hadn’t the strength to hold herself up. Even the wild bun on her head seemed ready to collapse on itself.
Kambry hurried to the serving tray and filled a glass with water. She carried it to Sybil. “Drink. You don’t look good.”
Sybil took the glass, but she set it on the desk. “There are connections. Lenar and Russal are linked, but that one day is the only commonality I can find between them.”
“Would Lenar recognize the killer if he saw him?”
Her head shook as if she suffered a tremor. “He has no memory of it.”
“But you know something? Something tying him to Russal.”
“It causes him great distress when he is asked about that day.” Sybil picked up the glass and her hand trembled.
“Sybil, what is Lenar to you?”
“No one claimed him.” She stared into the glass. “I raised him. I held him when he awoke screaming in the night.” The glass clanked against her teeth, and she set it down again without taking a drink.
“Please, sit down, Sybil.” Kambry helped her to her chair. “Let’s take this one at a time. We’ll list them.”
The seer sat down and pushed her scribbles aside. “Russal is in less danger. I sense hurt, but no physical harm. Danger, but not imminent.”
“And Felip?”
“There is change. He’s taking a different course, and you’re part of it.”
Kambry bit her lip. She hoped this course change didn’t draw her from Russal’s side. “Is Felip in danger?” She had broken her habit of playing with the strap of the queen’s scabbard when she was under stress but still felt the urge to tug on it. She clenched her fist.
Sybil’s head
rose to stare at Kambry. “Yes. You need to keep Felip and Russal separate.”
“He’s in danger from Russal?”
“I don’t think so,” she said, but she sounded uncertain. “There is a time and place for them to come together, but not yet. Keep them apart.”
“Russal won’t cause him harm, and Felip won’t cause Russal harm, but if we bring them together?”
“It will be too soon. They are in trouble together, but I don’t think they’re in opposition.” She shook her head and stared at the inked loops. “There is too much mixed up now for me to draw coherent meaning.”
“So Felip could be on Russal’s side.”
“I don’t know sides. It’s an impression that they share a similar direction.” Sybil straightened, her face determined. “Keep them apart.”
Kambry rubbed her temples. It didn’t help. “What about Felip’s mother? Are there any impressions of her that fall into this tangled connection they have?”
“She is an opposing force.”
Kambry slid the sheet in front of Sybil and handed her the quill after dipping it in the well. “I need to know about Maizalyn. Is she the woman that will betray me?”
Sybil huffed. “Of course she isn’t.”
“Why not?”
“For one to betray you, you must trust them.”
“I was sort of counting on her being my betrayer.”
“It is disappointing, I know.” Sybil pulled up one corner of her mouth.
It was a poor attempt at humor, but Kambry felt the same odd need to laugh. “That leaves Lessa, Dorvea, Lady Laurents, my mother and you. This is not good.”
“Don’t you have other women you trust?”
Kambry closed her eyes. Who else was close to her? “Tia. Russal thought she committed treason when she was here before.”
“Another pawn of Felip’s.”
“No, she said it was his brother.”
Sybil leaned back. “I’ve never confirmed the brother.”
“I think there’s a brother. He mentioned a sister, too.”
Sybil scribbled large loops, but it looked halfhearted to Kambry. “Maizalyn would have had to have a second son after she left, and he wouldn’t be King Loren’s.” She paused and gave her scribbles an intense look.
“What do you see?”
“I told you. I don’t see anything.”
Kambry lay her hand on Sybil’s. Her grip on the quill looked ready to break it. “When you focus on the circles you draw, what comes to you?”
“It helps me concentrate. The impressions grow clearer.” Pulling her hand free, she ran the dull tip in tight loops. “You, Lenar, Russal, Felip.” She paused and drew another loop. “Maizalyn and another woman.”
“That’s the lineup. There are no others. What about the Laurentses? My parents, Tia?”
“There’s too many to separate.”
“Focus just on one. Lady Laurents. Just focus on her.”
Sybil drew a long breath and gazed at the page which contained little space for further drawing. “She hates her.”
“Who?”
“Maizalyn Nuss hates Lady Laurents.” Sybil raised her head and looked at Kambry, her eyes filled with dread. “We need to protect Lady Laurents.”
Kambry considered what sort of protection they could provide that wasn’t already in place. The last entrance to the passages! Russal and she had not closed it. Could that allow for an attack? They may have locked the doors essentially, but one could break down a wall if the desire was great enough or even set it afire. There were other ways to get to people, but limiting them was key.
“What is the source of this hatred?”
“Maizalyn started out as Lady Laurents’ maid. Lady Laurents never stopped treating her like one, even after she became the king’s mistress. It was a distinct friction between them.”
“Do you think she will attack Lady Laurents again?”
“She has already attacked her twice. The first left Lady Laurents temporarily paralyzed from poison. She never fully recovered.”
So the cane was far from affectation or simply a tool of an aged woman. Maizalyn had been the cause. Kambry might be all that stood between Maizalyn’s next attack. She stood. “I have something to take care of. I’ll come back, and we’ll pursue this more.”
“Stay here. This is the wrong course.” Sybil reach across the desk and grasped Kambry’s wrist. “Stay here.”
“What do you see?”
“I don’t see anything!”
Kambry yanked her arm free. “You know what I mean.”
“I can’t explain.” She crumpled the ink-covered parchment. “I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“Do you see me hurt?” Slapping the desk, she silenced Sybil’s knee-jerk response. “I know, you don’t see anything.”
“I feel you are striding into danger.”
“Can I handle it?”
Sybil swallowed and flattened the crumpled paper. “I don’t know.”
“I believe I can.” Kambry took the three steps to the door. “I’ll take a guard, and I won’t be long.” She imagined this was the test. Was Sybil her subordinate, or did Sybil intend to rule her queen?
“Kambry.”
She turned at the door and faced Sybil.
“Your connection with the king is also unclear. I suspect deception.”
Guilt bubbled at the back of Kambry’s throat. It tasted bitter. “Have I deceived Russal?”
“Not telling him about Felip Covey finding you in your parents’ quarters is not deception.”
“Russal is deceiving me?” Kambry refused to believe that.
“Or himself.”
“About what?”
“That he is the rightful king.”
“Isn’t he?” Or was an uncle the better choice?
“Kavin no longer provides the promise that he is. That could be Maizalyn’s means of gaining control. When Kavin is certain of its king and queen, no one can win against them.”
“Kavin’s uncertain?”
Sybil nodded.
Then what she planned could strengthen Kavin’s faith in them both.
Chapter Thirteen
Kambry was out the door and closing it when she stopped to look back. Sybil waited at her desk, an unhappy look on her face, but she nodded agreement. A guard stood at the far corner of the hall and gazed at her, straightening at once at her pointed glance. Kambry gave him a nod and headed the other way.
If she took a guard with her, she wouldn’t be able to open the door to the inner map room. She had to get that last access way closed off and make sure no one was in the passageways. What if Maizalyn were outside the Laurentses’ cozy parlor? Or her parents were back from Gordy’s unaware there was someone just on the other side of a wall from them? Maybe the attacks in the maze were meant to let her and Russal know that those that mattered most were not safe.
The quickest way to the audience chamber was through the main halls. She picked up her pace.
What if she used the last entrance to the passages and got there by going under the audience chamber? No, they had locked all the rest of the access points. She would require an open window or door to the outside to have access to Kavin magic to reverse their efforts. She turned the corner to find Lessa standing beside a door.
“Your Highness, been visiting the Sybil?” Lessa asked. Her blonde hair curled up around her chin and swayed with her enthusiasm on seeing Kambry.
“Why else would I be here?”
“If you knew how bored I am guarding doorways, you might find it in your heart to visit me.” A frown dragged her mouth out of shape.
“Where’s Cole? He could keep you company.”
Lessa shifted her feet but kept her back straight and eyes alert. “We’re spread thin with these visiting dignitaries for your coronation. What with the news about Covey being here, every young lady is demanding a guard escort. And if she’s the adventuresome sort, it’s the lord who’s requiring we provide pro
tection.” She leaned in. “Chaperonage, by another name.”
“I think Covey has other things on his mind than finding adventuresome ladyships.”
“Well, he should have it announced so I can go about my usual guarding business,” she grumped.
“And spend some time with Cole.”
Lessa rolled her eyes, but it didn’t hide the blush that rose on her face.
“What if I required an escort?” Kambry asked. It wouldn’t be hard to shake Lessa once she arrived at the audience chamber. She could set her to guard the throne for a few minutes. “Could I steal you away?”
“No,” she said and rolled her eyes. “But Drew is in the next corridor. I don’t think he’s assigned to anyone.”
She’d prefer Lessa, but she hardly thought she could convince Drew to trade places with her. “Where’s your mom?”
“Guarding the Laurentses.”
“Oh, yes.” That was probably for the best. Getting Dorvea to follow her orders would have been a genuine test of her leadership over Kavin. She wasn’t up to that challenge, at least not today.
“You should hurry,” Lessa said. “I don’t know how much longer Drew is going to be available. He may already have left.”
Kambry would have to settle for Drew. Not that she didn’t like the fellow, but he was an even bigger stickler for protocol than Gordy. She’d practically had to order him out of the rose garden when she met with Russal, and it had only one entrance, and he’d stationed guards around the perimeter. She’d have to come up with something to get him to leave her on her own. If she traipsed through the hallways alone, it would get back to Russal, and the last thing he’d said was he wanted her to have guards in tow wherever she went. It seemed like an unfair requirement. He didn’t have guards in tow. Of course, there were all those guards that hid about the place. She needed to find out where they hid. Could she enter the inner map room without being seen?
“I’ll see you later, Lessa, when you’re not busy with adventuresome ladyships. I’ve things to take care of.” She headed off down the corridor and was certain she could hear Lessa shaking her head. She rounded the corner at the end and found Drew with two other guards. They turned their heads together to gaze at her.
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