‘And what if…’ The Duchess’s true years crept over her face. ‘What if Rassa had her kidnapped? What if she’s held captive to solidify his claim? What if –?’ Her voice broke.
What if she’s dead?
My body broke out in a cold sweat.
‘He’d want her far away, if he wants to kill her.’ Aubrey’s words were hollow. ‘It’s in his best interests.’
‘Most Edarans will expect to hear about her eventually,’ Isra said, ‘even if she never returns to Court. Rassa’s reign would crumble if they thought he had her killed.’
‘If she’s killed in Farezi during the next three days, under international law he’s killed Edar’s Queen,’ Aubrey said.
The Duchess turned sickly pale. I didn’t feel well myself, but wasn’t sure whether to try and comfort her.
Isra frowned. ‘Even if he kills her in the next three days, she may never be found. Any witnesses or killers will also die. Rassa’s smart enough to usurp the throne through stealth. He won’t leave himself vulnerable to mistakes.’
‘If he’s unaware of the different abdication laws, he already has,’ Matthias said. ‘Otherwise, he’d keep Lia close. If he was sensible, he’d keep her hidden until the dust settled, then trot her out to show how wonderful he is.’
Perhaps Rassa wasn’t supposed to take the throne like this. Perhaps his ambition had again outstripped his abilities, propelling him to act rashly.
‘This being Rassa, sense isn’t always involved,’ Isra said.
‘We’re wasting time debating this!’ I regretted the harsh words, but ploughed on before I could lose my nerve. ‘We have to get Lia back, and it’ll take longer than three days.’
‘Of course,’ Isra said. ‘But Rassa breaking international law is the best way for Eshvon and Othayria to support you. And your Queen has already thrown our time, energy, and sincerity back in our faces. She hardly gave us a day to leave!’
‘And yet you’re still here,’ Matthias said acidly.
‘Lia was surely protecting Aubrey by rejecting him,’ I said. ‘Why would Lia’s marriage curb Rassa’s ambition? Aubrey could have suffered an accident. Lia could have died giving birth, along with the child. If the child survived… well, children die so easily from many things.’
I glared, secretly vindicated at their horror and revulsion. ‘Rassa would have still found a way to the throne. Even if there were suspicions, he’d have dealt with them. Lia did her best to protect you. Now you can help us, or rely on Rassa’s poisoned courtesy.’
‘Of course you’d claim that,’ Aubrey said. ‘You shared Lia’s bed.’
‘She shut me out, regardless.’
‘She declared her love for you,’ he said. ‘As much as she publicly could.’
‘It doesn’t matter now.’ Of course it did, but I wouldn’t admit it to him.
‘If we could get back to the matter of my daughter’s disappearance?’ The Duchess’s polite veneer splintered.
Matthias resumed pacing. ‘Check with your agents if anyone saw anything,’ he said to me. ‘Do you suspect any have turned on you?’
I shook my head.
‘Regardless, be cautious. If Rassa’s ignorant of international law, he’s slipped up somewhere else. We only need the barest hint of a trail. Your international network isn’t fully secure, but there’s nothing we can do about that now. If Rassa sent her abroad, we have links at our disposal.’
‘I’ve lost the most agents in Farezi,’ I pointed out. ‘We shouldn’t underestimate him.’
Matthias sighed. ‘He’ll have sent her to the middle of nowhere in Farezi. Stick with what he knows, no other countries involved.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Isra demanded.
The Duchess straightened in her seat. ‘You’re Fifth Step through remarriage, Miss Bayonn. What would you know about agents and spy networks?’
Aubrey’s face bloomed with disbelief.
I glanced at Matthias.
‘Lia’s no longer Queen,’ he said. ‘We need your contacts to find her. There’s no reason to hide this anymore.’
I took a deep breath. ‘I was – I am – Lia’s Master of Whispers.’
I’d finally spoken the secret so few knew, not even my family. The catalyst that had caused me to fall in love with Lia.
I knew it now. I didn’t love her just because she was my Queen, or because she was beautiful, or because I shared her bed. I loved her because she’d faced corrupt nobles and frustrated people while still fighting to do what she considered right. Because she loved the north, and its people, and she loved her parents.
Because she loved books, and curling around me in bed. Dragging me for winter walks because it reminded her of home.
Because she loved me, and she loved Matthias, and she’d kept him close even when my presence changed their routines. Because she’d let me go, even though it broke her heart. Because she’d stopped me from making a decision I’d regret for vengeance.
I loved her.
I’d lost Papa. I wouldn’t lose her as well.
And if I had to destroy Rassa to get her back, so be it.
The Duchess frowned, considering me.
Aubrey raised his eyebrows.
Isra laughed, as if waiting for a punchline, then sank into shocked silence when none came.
‘My daughter chose well,’ the Duchess said. ‘No one suspected you. I’d never have thought being Whispers and beloved would mesh well, but no one else, aside from family and close friends’ – she nodded towards Matthias – ‘would have ensured Lia’s survival so well.’
The roles hadn’t meshed well, but I wouldn’t admit that.
‘I suppose,’ I said, ‘I’m like my father, in that regard.’
The Duchess’s nostrils flared, the only indication she knew what I was talking about. For a single moment, I was at a crossroads, caught between Lia and Papa.
‘We need to find witnesses to Lia’s departure,’ I said, choosing my direction, ‘or mistakes in covering up the trail–’
‘You have spies in Eshvon?’ Isra exploded.
‘Eshvon has spies here!’ Matthias shouted back.
I grabbed a thick leather-bound book and slammed it on the table. Silence fell. ‘We need to find the trail before it goes cold.’ I kept my voice low, refusing to give in to panic. ‘I have an agent who can help.’
I went to the panel in the wall, and rapped a four-tone rhythm. A pause of three heartbeats, then it was repeated back. He hadn’t wasted time coming here after getting my note. I flicked the hidden catch to reveal the passage entrance.
Truth stepped into the room, and swept his cold gaze over everyone.
Matthias turned to me, stricken. ‘What have you done?’
I raised my chin. ‘I didn’t need your permission.’
‘You have no idea of the danger you’ve put us in.’
Unlikely. It only took a moment in Truth’s company to realise he was death. He delivered murder immediately, or quietly weeks later. Around him, people abruptly remembered how easily they could die.
Aubrey and Isra stood close together. The Duchess backed away, putting as much furniture and people as possible between her and Truth.
Truth rolled his ink-dark eyes towards me. ‘Whispers, I said you were watched. You didn’t heed me, and now your Queen is gone.’
I bristled. ‘Everyone is watched.’
‘Ah, but you – you – and you’ – he pointed at the Duchess, Matthias, and me – ‘were particularly watched. Your deaths were planned in loving detail. They would never be traced. Your Queen was forced to abdicate to keep you all alive.’
My chest tightened. It was my fault that Lia had abdicated. Everything happening to her now was because of me.
Matthias sputtered, but I cut my hand through the air. He stared, as if I’d threatened him with a knife.
‘I paid you so you’d help when Rassa acted against Lia,’ I told Truth, ‘not to berate me.’
He laughed. He
made it sound sincere. ‘I knew you had a backbone.’
‘Has Rassa taken my Queen?’
‘He drugged her. She signed the document before passing out.’
The Duchess’s face drained of colour. She sank into the nearest chair. ‘He’s taken my child.’
‘Where did he send her?’
‘Farezi.’ His gaze flickered towards Aubrey and Isra. I suppose I wouldn’t want specific details revealed to other royalty, either. And knowing Truth’s reputation, he’d probably sabotaged the Othayrian and Eshvon spy networks several times.
‘So Rassa technically drugged the ruling Queen and kidnapped her,’ Matthias said.
Truth nodded.
‘It’ll take longer than three days to find her,’ Isra said. ‘She’ll no longer be Queen.’
Matthias laughed. ‘As you said, it will help with international support. And when we get her back, how long will Rassa stay in power when faced with Lia, outraged and very much alive?’
‘The law won’t be on her side,’ Isra said.
‘She abdicated under duress. She never agreed to being drugged and kidnapped.’
‘We’ll have to keep at least one witness alive for their testimony,’ I said. ‘We don’t know how damaged Lia’s reputation will be when we find her. Rassa could convince the Court she wasn’t making rational decisions. No one would believe anything she said.’
Truth looked terrifyingly pleased. ‘The Whispers speaks sense.’
I sighed. ‘My name is Xania. You may as well use it. We’ll be spending a lot of time together.’
A wait, you think you’re coming? look spread across Matthias’s face – only for a moment, but long enough for him to turn sheepish at my glare.
‘You’ll have to be organised and swift,’ Truth said. ‘Rassa will react quickly once he realises you’re gone.’
Aubrey glanced at the Duchess. ‘Isra and I will stay as long as we can.’ And protect Lia’s mother. He went to her and bent his head, murmuring. He’d have made a good son-in-law.
No matter. That future was lost.
I had to find Lia. I wouldn’t let Rassa take her future.
She’d given up her throne to protect us, even if it meant ignoring her duty. Monarchy meant choosing many over few. She’d failed the choice, and I loved her anyway.
She’d done it to protect us.
Now we would save her.
Chapter Forty-Five
Xania
We wasted little time. We’d depart before sunrise and head south.
Matthias and I gave the Duchess copies of Vigrante’s treason with Rassa. He squirrelled away the originals.
I sent messages and dragged in agents for urgent meetings. I did everything to blow my cover except actually admit it – no agent could now still think I was only a cog in the Whispers’ wheel. But once Matthias and I were gone, it wouldn’t matter. Rassa would appoint his own spymaster. If he realised I was Lia’s...
No. I wouldn’t admit anything.
As I was on my way to pack, a servant in Rassa’s colours stopped me. ‘His Majesty requests an audience.’
I didn’t want to face him.
‘I’m Third Step by birth,’ I said. ‘I’m unworthy of the King’s attention or time.’
‘His Majesty has decided otherwise.’
I hoped I wasn’t about to disappear myself. There wasn’t time to warn Matthias.
We entered the royal wing. I found myself in a freshly-opened suite still smelling of dust and stagnation. The windows were wide open, despite the cold. Rassa held court around a large table.
His smile didn’t reach his eyes.
I curtseyed, though not as deeply as I would to Lia.
You are not my King.
He narrowed his eyes, then flashed a grin. ‘Gentleman, if you’ll excuse us a moment.’
Amid suggestive laughter, I followed him into a small study. The shelves were empty, the paintings small.
He picked up a carafe of red wine. ‘Sit.’
I waited for him to speak, but he drained his glass and watched me.
‘Your Majesty,’ I finally said, ‘I’m at your service.’
I want to break this glass and carve your treason on your skin.
‘No, you’re at her service.’
‘She was my Queen.’
‘You were her dalliance. You entered a room, and she undressed you with her eyes.’
The memory of Lia’s bed, the soft sheets and her softer skin, her drowsy reluctance to get up on cold mornings –
I had to stop underestimating him. He didn’t know about the abdication laws, but he charmed and manipulated people as easily as breathing.
‘Your father was a baron.’
‘I come from… humble nobility, Your Majesty.’
‘The only talents your father cultivated were gardening and a fascination for merchants.’ Deep breaths. He’s trying to make you angry. He didn’t know Papa at all. ‘My mother was briefly charmed by his winter roses.’
I forced a smile. ‘Mama will be thrilled.’
‘I also heard,’ Rassa added, ‘your father cultivated an unfortunate talent for curiosity.’
‘He had many interests.’
‘Mmm. Curiosity often leads to… unfortunate endings.’
I froze. ‘My father died from a slow illness.’
Rassa smiled like I was a precocious child.
If Papa had discovered Vigrante’s treason, he must also have discovered Rassa’s ambitions.
Over the coming weeks, even months if Rassa truly wanted to be careful, Matthias and I would meet unfortunate, even regrettable accidents. The Duchess would offend Rassa so badly, he’d have no choice but to banish her from Court, and everyone in Lia’s estate would be ill-equipped for winter.
There would be suspicion, of course, but no proof.
‘Your mother would be devastated by another death in the family,’ Rassa said. ‘I’ve also heard rumours about your unfortunate history with knives.’
Apart from Papa’s notebooks, I’d never find better proof that Rassa had ordered his death. It had been sloppy, a trait I now linked with Rassa’s impatience. Discovering the truth behind Papa’s death had been possible when it was only Vigrante, but I couldn’t go up against another royal line and survive. Vigrante had worked with Rassa and still met a horrifying end when his usefulness ran out: exactly what he’d done to Brenna.
If I was still the same person who’d met Matthias, before I became Lia’s Whispers, I’d try to slit Rassa’s throat. I’d die – quickly, slowly, or on a public scaffold – but I’d try to take him with me.
My hand twitched for the knife hidden in my skirts.
Rassa’s smile faltered. His fear was intoxicating.
Except my family would never understand why I’d try to kill him. They alone would mourn my treasonous death.
And Lia needed me.
My hand went still. I looked Rassa in the eye, holding it until he turned uncomfortable.
‘There’s no need for concern, Your Majesty,’ I said. ‘I’m in no danger from illness or… curiosity.’ I stood to curtsey, even though he was still seated. ‘If you’ll excuse me. My family is expecting me and will worry. And neither of us would want that, Your Majesty, would we?’
If I’d wanted to twist the knife another way, I could have hinted at Vigrante’s financials, how things somehow hadn’t added up. But it was safer to keep the few secrets left to me.
I left before he dismissed me. I strode by Rassa’s men, baring my teeth when they leered.
I turned a corner, and another, and then slumped against a wall. My legs trembled. I sucked in breath after breath. I wasn’t dead yet.
‘Not so easy when you’re no longer in favour, is it?’
I jerked my head up. Terize stood before me, her arms folded. Something didn’t look right... her posture, that was it. Terize usually hunched her shoulders. But now she stood tall, her shoulders back, her expression almost haughty.
I
frowned. ‘Terize?’
Her dress was new, with richer fabric and better stitch-work than Patrinne would have allowed.
‘Rassa was right about you,’ she said. ‘Those who rise swiftly fall even faster.’
Rassa? What did Rassa have to do with –
Hazell.
Terize.
The Treasury.
That had been the missing link.
‘Oh,’ I said.
Hazell’s discussions with Alexandris had been a smoke-screen for his Treasury involvement. There had been financial links between Vigrante and Rassa, but none involving Hazell because he had overseen Rassa’s finances in a different way. At some point, Hazell had betrayed Vigrante for Rassa. And when Vigrante had realised his dwindling usefulness to Rassa, he’d turned to Lia for help.
Hazell had probably not killed Vigrante. But he’d certainly allowed it to happen.
All those financial discrepancies, including the one Terize had ‘uncovered’ and shown me to keep suspicion away from her, must have been overseen by Hazell. Coin never would have done it. So –
I met her gaze, pretending calm I didn’t feel. ‘Does Hazell claim to love you? Men like him, who follow Rassa – they’re all like that. You’re wonderful, you’re beautiful – until there’s someone prettier, wealthier, more influential.’
Terize laughed. ‘Hazell doesn’t love me. But he’s useful: he introduced me to Rassa. Marriage was my mother’s plan, not mine.’
‘And what do you want?’ I’d been as silly as I’d believed Terize, falling for her poor self-confidence and awkward attempts at friendship.
Coin’s cat had never liked her.
‘I want freedom.’ Her expression hardened. ‘I want my own life, away from my stupid mother. I want my own choices.’
‘What about the consequences of your choices?’
‘I’m favoured by royalty now, not you. You should be more worried about the consequences of yours.’
‘Rassa is worse than Hazell,’ I said. ‘How can you follow him knowing what he did to Vigrante – to the Queen? He’ll discard you when his power is secure.’
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