Hope ignited in Sabine’s face. “Really? Do you really think so?”
Jax reflected on Charles’s behavior since meeting Sabine. His desire to teach her, be near her, to make her laugh, and stick up for her. “He lights up when you’re around. You bring out the best in him.” She patted Sabine’s lap with a coy grin before rising from the chaise. “I’m going to check in on George to make sure he’s all right.”
As Jax extended her hand to the doorknob, Sabine cleared her throat. “Jax, did you happen to read something in my journal about Captain Solomon?”
She froze. Fear at what she was about to learn vaulted through her veins. “I may have read something,” she confessed. “Something that didn’t make much sense to me. Is he all right?”
“Depends on your definition of all right.” Sabine rose and came to cradle Jax’s hand. “He’s struggling.”
“Struggling with what?” Dread gripped her spine.
“With his feelings.” Sabine hesitated before taking the plunge. “His feelings for you.”
An invisible hand tightened around Jax’s throat. “What?” She could barely form the question.
“Back in Pettraud,” Sabine began, “I’d been lamenting how much Philippe had changed and whether or not I still cared for him. I asked George if he’d ever experienced heartbreak, and—likely due to the wine I’d plied him with—he told me he lived with it every single day.”
The muscles around Jax’s heart clenched.
“He said he was once given the chance at happiness, when he was twenty-six years old, but he turned it down for the sake of duty.” Sabine broke away from Jax’s intense gaze and stared out the window. “He said he’s regretted that decision every day since. And now, the woman he has loved for over a decade has married another man. He feels his heart shatter every time he sees them together, but he cannot bear to leave her side. So he endures the pain of the woman he loves being with another, just so he can remain close to her and love her in the only way he can.” Soft tears streamed once more down Sabine’s beautiful features.
For a moment, Jax forgot how to breathe. Every inch of her felt like it was being crushed by the condemning silence that followed Sabine’s admission.
“I, of course, told him that he should tell this woman how he feels, because maybe she feels the same,” Sabine continued, “but then the next morning, after I saw you two together, I realized who George Solomon has loved for so many years. And I understood why he would never leave your side, even if it caused him pain. The bond you two have…it’s quite special.”
Blinking back tears, Jax found her words at last. “But Perry—”
“I’m not here to judge you, Jax. I have no doubt about the love you have for Perry and the strength of your union.” Sabine reached for Jax’s hand and threaded her slender fingers through the Duchess’s white-knuckled fist. “But I think you owe George his freedom. He won’t give himself that chance as long as you keep him by your side.”
The thought of what Sabine was advising her to do unhinged her pent-up fear. “You think I have to remove him as Captain of the Ducal Guard?”
Sabine’s head bobbed. “I think it is the only way for you both to be truly happy.”
Jax began to tremble all over. “Why did he never tell me? All those years…why did he stand silently by?” Her regal composure continued to crack. “Why did he tell me no when I offered him everything?”
“I don’t know.” Sabine released Jax’s hand and wrapped an arm around her instead. “If you want to understand all that before letting him go, you need to ask him.”
A few traitorous tears slid down Jax’s nose. “I’m not sure that’s a mystery I care to solve.” She wiped her face clear of emotion. “I—I need to attend to some other matters.” She reached for the doorknob. “I’m sorry you found us rifling through your things, my dear, but ultimately, I’m glad we were caught. What are you doing back inside, anyway? Isn’t everyone still out in the garden?”
Sabine waved a hand at the mess in her room. “I think the moroseness of the morning finally got to me. I don’t think I washed my hair well enough to get the stench of death off me, so I’m planning to soak in a bath.”
“Oh.” Jax frowned. “I would have thought Vita did a thorough job helping you this morning.”
“What do you mean?” Sabine’s nose wrinkled.
Jax chuckled. “Vita’s helped me clean up after dealing with a dead body more than once. She’s quite gifted.”
Sabine tilted her head. “Vita didn’t help me. She came down to fetch Charles and I from the cellar, yes, but that was all.”
“Really?” Jax recalled her earlier interaction with her lady’s maid. She was certain Vita had said she helped Sabine wash all the blood of the autopsy away. Why was Sabine lying to her, after all they’d just shared?
Sabine’s innocent expression revealed a tinge of wariness. “Yes. I think I’d remember having help.”
A frown settled over Jax’s features as she left Sabine to her bathing and wandered down the hallway to George’s suite. The door opened before she had a chance to even knock, and George ushered her inside. “I see you made it out unscathed.”
With his worn, yet dashingly handsome face before her combined with what she’d just learned about him from Sabine, Jax found herself momentarily at a loss for words. Those kind, chocolate eyes gazed at her with such concern and loyalty. Where was the pain and anguish Sabine mentioned? Was she really causing him immense heartache? How could she send away her best friend? Not only did she need him by her side, but Saphire needed his strength and wisdom. The duchy’s army depended on Commander General Captain George Solomon to see her people through this harrowing conflict.
Realizing she’d been silent for too long, Jax opted to conceal her inner turmoil with humor and stuck her tongue out at him. “No thanks at all to you. What if Sabine had attacked me?” She tried to sound accusatory, but her stony exterior cracked into a teasing grin.
George winced with guilt. “I know. I should have stayed behind, but my side has been throbbing since lunch and I needed a dose of painkiller. I was just on my way to check in on you.”
Jax rested a hand on George’s forearm. “I know Sabine’s innocence has always been a given in your mind. I won’t fault you for simply humoring me and my wild theories.” Her shoulders slumped. “But I am at a loss. Once again, we are back to having no lead suspect.” Her hand dropped to her side, brushing against a bulge in her dress skirt. “I completely forgot!” She dug into her pocket. “The Ducal Guard’s report from the palace!”
Jax pulled the two letters she’d received. While a pain of regret echoed in her chest as she put Perry’s letter aside for now, she ripped open the seal of the Ducal Guard’s missive and read it aloud.
“From the urgency of your letter yesterday, we reached out to our network of spies within Tandora’s borders to gather intelligence on what is known about Raulph’s family. Based on the early reports from our sources, the Crescent Inn is a respected institution along Tandora’s southern border. The inn caters mostly to traveling nobles and merchants, but on occasion, a royal delegation will rent rooms. The last delegation to spend time at the inn belonged to Duke Savant, who made several stops there during the summer months. A few sources note that Raulph was always assigned to Savant’s rooms and assisted the Duke with whatever he required during his stays. It seems the two grew quite close. Occasionally, Raulph even served as Savant’s footman during the Duke’s visits to Duchess Tandora’s court.”
Jax looked up from the slip of parchment, not needing to read further. “Virtues, we’ve been going about this all wrong!”
“Raulph wasn’t carrying out orders from Tandora.” Tension etched through George’s features as he put it together. “He sought to kill Olavo acting as Duke Savant’s agent.”
Clutching the letter tightly in her hand, Jax cursed. “Which leads me to believe that after Raulph’s failed attempt, Duke Savant somehow penetrated Galensmore�
�s walls and manipulated Olavo’s killer.”
Rubbing his neck in frustration as he went, George moved to one of the windows. “Virtues. Now we need to reexamine our all suspects and look for connections to Savant. Members of Thanasis’s court fled to Savant, didn’t they?”
Jax nodded. “But besides a letter from some courtier named Altonia, Bernard reported nothing of concern in Thanasis’s correspondences.”
George’s eyes darkened. “We should look through his letters ourselves, just to make sure. Savant may be writing to Thanasis in code, in disguise.”
“Or Bernard could be lying.” Which triggered another thought in Jax’s mind. “Before we take any further action, I want to speak with Vita. Sabine lied to me about Vita helping her clean up after Olavo’s autopsy, and I can’t figure out why.”
George motioned to the door. “Let’s hurry, then. We’ve wasted enough time following the wrong trail.”
Pocketing both the letter from the Ducal Guard and the note from Perry, Jax gathered her skirts and swept out of the room, George hobbling behind her. The medicine must not be working just yet. She wished she could order George to stay behind and rest, but she needed his help. She needed him beside her.
How could I ever send him away?
The off-topic thought annoyed her. She had a murder to solve. She shouldn’t be concerning herself with secondhand gossip. Perhaps Sabine was lying to her about this, as well. What game was the girl playing at?
Jax knocked on Vita’s apartment door, her knuckles throbbing from the force with which she attacked the hardwood. “Did she decide to go outside with everyone else after cleaning up in the kitchens? I thought she planned to take a nap?” Jax asked, her brow furrowing.
George shrugged in answer.
Her impatience getting the better of her, Jax grabbed the latch and pushed the door inward.
The orderly, quaint sitting room she and George had hidden in just this morning now appeared as if a tornado had descended upon it. Countless throw pillows had been tossed all about, lying strewn across the floor. Even a chair had been knocked over, its legs up in the air.
“What in the Virtues?” Jax inched her way forward to examine the disheveled scene. It was unlike Vita to leave such a mess…or to make one in the first place.
George put an arm out in front of her, a dangerous dagger shining in his other hand. “Be careful, Jax. Something’s not right.”
Had Olavo’s attacker set their sights on Vita? Did they think the young woman knew something that might incriminate them? The jagged pieces of this puzzle whirled around in Jax’s mind. “Vita? Vita, are you in here? Are you all right?”
No reply.
Exchanging hesitant glances, Jax and George moved farther into the sitting room, trying to piece together what had happened.
“Let’s check the bedroom,” Jax suggested. She wanted to see if it was in the same chaotic state.
The only thing out of place in the tidy bedroom were the open wardrobe doors. Having remembered the dresses Vita had selected from Carriena’s closet during their first day at Galensmore, Jax was surprised to find Vita’s wardrobe suspiciously empty. “Her gowns are gone.”
George’s head swiveled around the room. “I don’t see her travel bag, either.”
A beam of sunlight caught Jax’s eye. Something in the back of the spacious wardrobe had captured the light streaming in from one of the far windows of the room. “What’s this?” She reached through the inky blackness and felt for the object.
Her hand brushed across something both silky and hard. Curling her fingers around it, she pulled it out into the light. The ruby-studded gold shoe glimmered fully in the sun.
Jax frowned. “These are the shoes Madame Neasa made for Vita before we left Pettraud.” What was going on here? Vita’s clothes and travel bag were gone, but she’d left behind the precious shoes she’d been gifted. Now that she thought of it, Jax couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen the young woman wearing them.
Jax rolled the shoe around in her hands, her heart stopping as she stared at the sole. No longer the creamy hide she remembered, it was completely black!
George hovered over her shoulder. “What?” he asked, hearing her intake of breath.
“These shoes…” Jax stuck her hand back into the depths of the wardrobe and pulled out its companion. “They’re covered in dirt!”
The right shoe was even dirtier than the left one Jax had found first. As Jax examined them, a horrifying image solidified in her mind. “It’s not dirt. It’s ash.” Jax’s eyes filled with tears. “Soot from a fireplace.” The memory of the messy fireplace in Olavo’s room flooded her thoughts. The smeared footprints around the hearth from all the ash. Jax herself had ruined her own slippers snooping about the room.
“No…” George trailed off, obviously coming to the same conclusion as Jax.
Clutching the shoes in her hands, Jax stormed into the sitting room, knowing what she would find…or wouldn’t find.
Vita’s apartment did not contain a fireplace.
Jax’s chest burned with anger and humiliation. After she’d given her complete trust, her faith, to her friends, she’d been betrayed once more.
George arrived at her side, surveying the scene as well. “Vita’s family is from Savant.”
“Even though the Duke nearly caused Vita’s family to lose everything they hold dear, he still must have a hold over her.” Jax violently tossed the shoes on the ground, watching them skid condemningly across the wood floor. “Why didn’t I see it? She’s been acting odd since we’ve been here.” Jax tried to calm herself as she sorted through memories. “Quiet, yet jumpy. Aloof and distracted. It’s not like her at all. I thought she was simply feeling homesick from the letters her parents sent—” Her jaw dropped at her own blind stupidity. “The letters! Vita’s been receiving mail from her family a lot lately. Since she’s been in my service, she’s hardly received any communications from home, but she’s gotten two notes in the three days we’ve been here!”
George frowned. “You think they are actually from Duke Savant?”
Jax nodded, scanning the room for any remnants of the letters. Since Vita had no fireplace of her own, she’d either disposed of them elsewhere, or perhaps tried to hide them through other means.
Knowing Vita’s resourcefulness, Jax’s gaze narrowed in on the scattered, eerily identical pillows littered around the floor of the room. “Let’s check each of them,” she said. “She could have easily opened the seams, stuffed the letters in, and then stitched the pillows back up.”
George complied, and together, they quickly worked their way through the myriad of pillows. While they didn’t find any letters from Savant, two of the pillows had been sliced open at the seams.
He sighed. “She must have taken them with her.”
“But where could she have gone?” Jax’s temper burned away at her nerves. “She knows Galensmore is a fortress!”
George headed for the doorway. “I’ll alert Wynn and Ansel. Wynn can begin a search of the estate while Ansel informs Corporal Highriver. He can deploy the rest of the guardsmen to assist in the search.”
Jax was on his heels and nearly collided with him when he stopped short. “We’ll find her, Jax.”
His reassurance did little to calm the raging sea of despair inside her. She had trusted Vita. She hadn’t even considered her friend a suspect during their investigation. Guilt blurred her vision. She’d been so quick to doubt Carriena and even Sabine’s loyalty, yet she’d never given her lady’s maid a second thought. Her fists balled at her side as she remembered the words of trust she’d bestowed to both Uma and Vita. How could Vita do this, after all we’ve been through?
The battle inside Jax’s head was cut short by the winded appearance of Corporal Highriver as they reached the first-floor landing.
“Highriver?” George’s greeting was laced with confusion.
The soldier did a doubletake at seeing George by Jax’s side. “Captain!
I wasn’t expecting to see you up and about. After what we were told…”
“Told?” Jax and George snapped at the same time.
Highriver nodded, his beady eyes brimming with confusion. “Yes. Your lady’s maid came running down to the gatehouse in a state. She said Captain Solomon had taken a turn for the worse, and she’d been sent by Master Charles to gather some maulroot to help bring the Captain back from the brink of death.”
“Maulroot?” If the situation hadn’t been so dire, Jax would have laughed. Maulroot had been the poison used to taint the chocolates she’d received at Ogdam Oasis. Vita must have mentioned the first plant that came to her mind.
Highriver gave her an odd look, unaware of her internal dialogue. “Yes, maulroot. She said she’d seen some along the road when you all arrived the other day, and that she’d been sent by you to get it.”
George gritted his teeth. “And you opened the gates for her, didn’t you?”
Highriver bowed his head. “Yes. She told us you had but moments to live if she didn’t retrieve the herb. I can see now we were deceived.” He straightened, ready to meet the consequences head on. “She provided us with an order bearing the Duchess’s seal, so do not think me entirely foolish, Captain.” He held out a rolled piece of parchment. Indeed, the broken red wax bore the Saphire crest.
Jax bit back her anger, but her body still trembled. “She could have easily accessed my seal. I left it in the top drawer of the desk in the study.” She met Highriver’s defeated gaze. “You are not the only one to blame for this, Corporal. We were all duped.”
“When did you let her outside the barrier?” George asked.
“Only a few minutes ago,” Highriver reported. “I came to check on you as soon as the gate was secured.” He scowled at the budding hope in their expressions. “But she was on horseback. She’ll have a good lead.”
“Vita’s not a skilled rider. If I make haste, I can still catch up to her.” Jax was already dodging past the fuming soldier. “I’ll bring her back to answer for what she’s done.”
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