Under normal circumstances, Eryx barely tolerated ceremonial protocol, but this time he left the middle-aged man on his knee and glowered at Reginald and his family still seated behind them. Three picture-perfect citizens dressed up in their Sanctuary best. “You’ve served them how long?”
To his credit, Yaron kept his head down. “Over fifty years, sir.”
“More than enough to build loyalty.”
“My loyalty is to the throne and the ellan first, my clients second.”
A smart answer, considering the circumstance. Not that Eryx wouldn’t have seen through a lie. Being a Shantos male, he carried the sum of all Myren gifts, including Lexi’s scary emotional radar. Thank the Great One, Eryx wasn’t as in tune with the gift as his mate, or he’d have called Ludan on his secrets years ago.
“I’m surprised you didn’t send for your daughter’s lawyer,” Eryx said to Reginald. “They say Thyrus hides memories better than most.”
Reginald cocked his head arrogantly, crossed one leg over the other, and circled his foot. His fitted black pants, tall leather boots, and tailored gray duster were the standard for wealthy merchants, but Ludan doubted any of Reginald’s peers used such quality fabrics. “If I were a part of her schemes, that would have been a reasonable response. However, given my family’s desire to cooperate, that would be counterintuitive.”
Eryx huffed a disbelieving chuckle and studied Yaron, still kneeling at his feet. “Rise.” Not waiting for the man to reach full height, Eryx circled the solicitor and paused before Serena’s mother. “Any hints as to your daughter’s whereabouts, Fatima?”
“Not a word, Your Highness.” She bowed her head and clasped her tiny hands in her lap. Her pink velvet gown covered her neck to toes, and it matched the wingback she sat in so well it was a wonder anyone noticed her at all. Rumor had it she’d been as lovely as her daughter in her youth, long hair the color of the moon, a classic face, and unnaturally beautiful blue eyes. Now it was hard to imagine beyond the wrinkles lining her face and the veins running beneath her pale skin.
For Serena’s brother, Eryx only raised an eyebrow in silent question.
Callen scoffed and rolled his eyes, a brave move considering Eryx’s waning patience. “Believe me, if I locate her, I’ll be the first to share. She’s a spoiled brat and always has been.” He mimicked the raised eyebrow back at Eryx. “I’d think you of all people would know that.”
Fatima gasped.
Reginald surged to his feet with a sharp reprimand. “Callen.” He smoothed his duster over his stomach and affected a stiff bow for Eryx. “I hope you’ll forgive him, my malran. My son is young. The events of late have left him short-tempered and thoughtless.”
“The boy doesn’t know what short-tempered is.” Ludan prowled forward, giving his beast a little extra rope. Adrenaline surged and partially dulled the ruckus in his head. “I can show him, though.”
Yaron glided between Reginald and Eryx and urged his client back to his chair. “Perhaps we’d do best to proceed with the scans and let everyone get back to their business. While the Doroz family is most disappointed in Serena’s violation of her sentence, they hold the safety of our race as the highest priority. So…” He folded his hands in front of him and tilted his head. “What are the time barriers needed for today’s work?”
“Two months, at least,” Eryx said.
Yaron smiled and dipped his chin, but not fast enough to hide the patronizing glint in his eyes. “I can understand Your Highness’s need for the most information necessary. However, Serena already provided her memories following the trial as a part of her sentence. Two months is an excessive time span considering she’s only been under house arrest for four weeks. Perhaps we could agree to the beginning of her sentence?”
Ludan crossed his arms. “Or I could just take what I want without your interference.”
“No way.” Callen perked up and twisted toward his father. “He’s doing it?”
Fatima covered her mouth with a dainty hand, but Reginald just resumed his bored pose from before. He waved a dismissive hand toward his solicitor. “Two months…one month…just give him what they want. I want my family free of this mess.”
Ludan advanced.
Yaron held up a hand. “One other thing, if I may. Memories will be limited to those with Serena present. Others are invalid for the purpose of this interview.” He focused on Eryx. “Agreed?”
“For now.” Eryx motioned Ludan forward. “Let’s get this done.”
Heading for the mouthy youth first, Ludan crowded close and snatched his hand. The solicitor’s memory-filtering gift slid into place a half a second before Ludan could get an unfettered peek. Not that there was much to look at. In seconds, he was in and out. Callen didn’t just dislike Serena. He’d had nearly zero interaction with her in the last few months.
Fatima held out her hand, palm up, before he even looked at her. Her fingertips were ice cube cold and trembling against his palm.
“It won’t hurt.” At least he wouldn’t make it hurt for her. Like Eryx, he could take memories with as little or as much pain as he wished. He could also take them fast. A whole lifetime in the space of seconds without a solicitor’s intervention. Without the blocking influence, Ludan was pretty damned sure he’d find evidence Reginald was more the source of her tremors than Ludan.
Weeks from Fatima’s memories zipped past, only random blips coming into focus where Serena was present thanks to Yaron’s intervention. Aside from dinners and a trip to Sanctuary, there was very little. Nothing of substance.
He loosened his grip, and she snatched her hand away.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Yeah, there were secrets there. Dark, ugly secrets. He shifted his focus to Reginald.
He smiled back at Ludan, confidence bordering on defiance, and offered his hand. “You see? As I stated, my family is innocent of my daughter’s schemes.”
A weird, offsetting pulse rippled through Ludan a split second before he gripped Reginald’s hand. His thoughts scattered, and the room went hazy. There was a purpose to his visit. A mission. He shook his head and took a deep breath. Memories. Reginald’s memories. Closing his eyes, he tunneled through Reginald’s mind.
Praise the Great One, no wonder Serena was screwed up. The man looked at her with nothing but distaste and disgust. How could anyone ever come out of this household unscathed?
A scene flew by so fast and muddled he nearly missed it. Serena stood in a darkened kitchen, her hand on the door to the outside. Reginald spoke to her, but the words were muffled. An urge to bypass the whole scene burned hot as a torch aimed at his skin. Damn it, why couldn’t he focus?
“Sir?” Yaron’s voice sounded like he stood at the end of a long tunnel. “Sir, is your scan complete?”
Ludan released Reginald’s hand and nodded, turning away until he could catch his breath. Serena hadn’t left, of that he’d been certain, but the words spoken between her and Reginald were too broken and muffled to understand.
All the other memories he’d consumed in the past surged in one deafening wave. His eyelids twitched and a piercing stab burned at each temple.
“Anything?” How Eryx’s simple question made it through the chaos was a miracle.
Ludan shook his head but didn’t dare make eye contact. One thing about Eryx, not much escaped his notice. One look at Ludan’s face and he’d start digging. “Nothing.”
Behind him Eryx and Yaron exchanged commentary. Reginald and his family wisely held their tongues.
God what he’d give for the silence Brenna offered right now.
Eryx’s voice cut through his thoughts. “This isn’t a political opportunity for leverage, Reginald. The council has ruled her a fugitive and a risk to our race.”
“My son might be careless in his mannerisms, Your Highness, but I assure you, we all want Serena dealt with. The moment any of us sense her via link, your guards will be alerted immediately.”
“Good.” Shooting o
ne last intimidating glare at Callen, Eryx shifted for the door. “Because if I find her alive or outside of zeolite without your assistance, I’ll consider all three of you accomplices in her escape.”
Chapter 4
Brenna trailed two steps behind Lexi and Galena on the way to the kitchen. They’d met up with Eryx’s sister, the healer, on their way to find Orla, and neither had stopped their rapid-fire chatter since. Understandable given the information Galena had missed out on while checking on patients, and more than a welcome respite for Brenna. An idle time to unwind her thoughts.
Tall windows lined the castle’s back hallway and cast narrow beams of light on the gray stonework and handmade tapestries. So bright and beautiful. Still, if she could’ve found a way to politely extricate herself from the two women and ruminate in private, she’d have leveraged it in a second, but there was no escaping Lexi once she got her mind wrapped around a task. Right now it seemed her task was keeping the women busy until the big reveal tonight.
Gliding through the kitchen’s arched entry, Lexi’s gaze locked on to Orla—or more like the lower half of Orla—hovering inside the pantry. Without the gift of flight, Brenna had given up trying to access the two-story storeroom, but for Myrens, the awkward space was a breeze.
Lexi tugged on the hem of Orla’s cornflower gown. “Knock, knock.”
“Oh! Lexi!” Orla lowered to the ground. Her silver hair hung loose to her waist and her cheeks were a tad pink, but her cornflower-blue eyes sparked with a mix of happiness and mirth. “My goodness, you scared me.
“Sorry.” Lexi hefted the sack of flour from Orla’s arms and peeked at the higher shelves. “What are you doing, anyway?”
“It’s nearly harvest. I’m inventorying for winter before I place my orders with the market. I got a little overexuberant with the briash last year, and I’d like to avoid another miscalculation.” She wiped her hands on a faded ivory hand towel, then tossed it to the cobalt tile countertop. “What’s got all my girls gathered in the kitchen when they should be out in the sunshine before it turns cold?”
“Dinner.” Lexi peeked under a towel covering a large ceramic bowl. “As in a big one. Ramsay’s awake and has news about the prophecy. He’s sharing over food.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” Orla bustled back into the pantry and started pulling out supplies, handing them over her shoulder to Lexi and Galena. She might have been nearing her five hundredth birthday, but the energy pouring off Orla seemed on par with a teenager. With the simple yet fitted cut of her gown and the intricate silver chain sloped around her waist, she looked more like a socialite than the castle’s chatelaine. “Shouldn’t we send him something up beforehand? He was out for a long time, and those boys never go long without food.”
“He’ll live.” Galena pulled a barstool from underneath the oversized square island and perched on the edge. “Besides, Brenna said Trinity’s in a rough spot. Kazan got us the information for the prophecy, but it cost him his life.”
Orla spun, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. “Mercy.” She scanned the kitchen, then swung back to the stores behind her. “Well then. We need comfort food. Lots of it.”
“That’s why we’re here.” Lexi checked the ingredients already laid out on the counter. “So, what’s on the menu?”
Orla stared up at the shelves and tapped her lips with one hand, the other anchored at her hip.
“The amber wine roast,” Brenna blurted.
Everyone swiveled toward her.
Where the idea had come from, Brenna didn’t have a clue, but she was certain it was the right suggestion. “You made it for Trinity right after she came here. She loved it.”
Galena propped an elbow on the countertop and nibbled on a skinny breadstick. “You’re right. And you don’t get much heartier than roasted aron. I swear I put on five pounds just smelling that dish.”
“Will Graylin be coming, too?” Orla twisted for a confirmation from Lexi, but spun back around before she got an answer, piling items in her arms. “Viccus goes well with the roast, and he’s partial to it.”
Lexi smirked and unloaded Orla’s newest haul. “I’d say he’s partial to anything that comes out of your kitchen, but I’ll eat whatever so long as we get dessert.”
“Lastas,” everyone said at once.
Lexi beamed. “Exactly.”
Shifting into action, Brenna hustled to the vegetable bin, while Orla set Lexi and Galena to work crushing homegrown herbs. That was Orla’s real specialty. The woman could coax a plant bound for the compost pile back from the dead with little more than a brush of her finger.
Moment by moment, the chatter and the simple task of peeling the fuzzy sage husk from the viccus soothed Brenna’s jangled nerves. The process was familiar. Simple. Although, having warm and welcoming women around her was far more enjoyable than the isolated years she’d slaved at Maxis’s estate.
Heavy footsteps sounded behind her, and a second later Jagger, Lexi’s somo, sauntered into the room.
“Hey, Jag.” Lexi motioned to the honey-stained trestle table centered in the cozy nook nearby. “Have a seat and we’ll get you something to tide you over until dinner.”
“No need.” He helped himself to a cup of coffee, then moseyed to the table a stone’s throw away. How anyone could stomach the stout brew without a nearly one-to-one ratio of sweet cream Brenna couldn’t comprehend.
She finished off the last of the viccus and plodded to the sink, brushing close enough to Lexi that she could mutter, “What’s he doing here?”
“He’s my somo,” Lexi answered just as quietly. “He goes almost everywhere I go.”
Sprawled in one of the hand-carved chairs near the corner, Jagger stared out at the private garden that lined the back of the castle. He might stay beside Lexi whenever they left home, but inside these walls, Jagger gave her free rein.
“He’s only with you outside the castle.”
Lexi hesitated long enough that all the women stopped what they were doing and gave her their full attention. “To be honest, I don’t know. Before he left, Eryx insisted Jagger stay and keep an eye on us while they were gone. Something about Ramsay making him promise to keep you safe.”
More like make sure she didn’t escape. The mere thought grated her patience and goaded her to take a long, unsupervised hike on principle. She might not be running around in a gown that could pass for a burlap sack anymore, or suffering Maxis’s cruelty, but apparently she was still a prisoner.
“Is everything okay?” Lexi abandoned her herbs and urged Brenna away from the sink. “The last few weeks you’ve seemed pretty happy, but you’re jumpy today. And don’t think I missed your red, puffy eyes when you walked in the library.”
Brenna shook her head and went back to washing the viccus.
“Okay, then tell me this much. Ludan didn’t have anything to do with the tears, did he?”
“No.” The denial came out way too fast, right on par with how her blood flow shot from normal to light speed. She braced her fists on the countertop and took a slow breath. No matter what she’d seen in Ramsay’s vision, or what her future held, Ludan didn’t deserve suspicion. Not from people he considered family. She twisted so all three women were clearly in sight. “If it wasn’t for Ludan, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
All three spoke at once.
“What?”
“What happened?”
“Ludan?”
Brenna couldn’t help but smile at Lexi’s shocked expression. “Yes, Ludan.” She dried her hands and carried the cleaned vegetables to the island, snatching some flour along the way. “You know how I like the bluff. I was there, thinking. I got a little too close to the edge, and…” She shrugged a shoulder and sprinkled some of the fresh herbs into the flour.
“And?” Orla said.
“And I fell.”
Galena laid her knife down on the counter. “Fell as in tripped? Or fell as in off?”
God, this was awkward. “Off.”
; The tension in the room thickened, and the silence was so stark the room may as well have been empty.
Brenna huffed out a tired sigh and looked up. “It wasn’t what you think. Something reminded me of Maxis and my past and I got distracted. I guess Ludan followed me, saw me fall, and caught me.”
Quiet.
“It’s okay.” Brenna met each woman’s gaze individually, then waved them back to work. “I’m fine. Crisis averted. Now can we get back to work?”
They did, but not before they did the scary eyeball communication thing that always went with their telepathy. Unlike Ian, she hadn’t really seemed to latch on to the whole Myren hearing thing yet, but she sure needed to spend some time learning. If nothing else, they’d be forced to wait until she wasn’t in eavesdropping range before they shared their private thoughts.
“So.” Lexi cleared her voice and scooted the small glass bowl full of ground herbs closer to Orla. “I guess Ludan gets our ‘hero of the day’ award.”
Galena’s husky laugh came out more relieved than humorous. “Sounds like it.”
“You girls don’t give him enough credit.” Orla rubbed a mix of herbs and oil along the oversized roast. “He might be gruff, but no one’s heart is kinder. Not for those he cares about.”
“Well, he definitely cares about Brenna.” Lexi pulled the cork out of a gallon-sized ceramic jug and tipped it toward the roasting pan. The rich crimson wine trickled into the basin, filling the room with a sweet cider scent.
“Well, of course he does,” Orla said. “We all do.”
“No, I mean he cares about Brenna.” Lexi glanced away from her task long enough to make sure Jagger wasn’t paying too much attention and lowered her voice. “As in I was picking up some seriously discombobulated mojo while we were in the library.”
“Ludan?” Galena’s gaze shot to Brenna’s. “I mean, you’re totally worth his notice, but Ludan’s never so much as blinked at a woman. Not like Eryx and Ramsay used to.”
“You’ve got it all wrong.” A man like Ludan wouldn’t give a woman like her the time of day. Especially one who knew her history like Ludan did. “He was just being protective.”
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