Then again, he’d looked like he’d been ready to kiss her again. Would he definitely go with her? Or say he was a distraction, and stay behind?
A rap on the door provided a welcome respite from her thoughts, and Jade hollered for whoever it was to come in. Samantha opened the door, all warmth and bittersweet smiles, while Garnet followed behind her, eyes focused only on Jade, not looking once around the large room.
Right. This was my parents’ room. She probably remembers everything here.
Samantha hugged Jade and tugged her by the hand to sit on the couch. Samantha tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear, her chocolate brown eyes conflicted. “I don’t like this.”
“Welcome to the club.” Krista smacked the wrench on the tabletop and marched over to them, dropping on the cushion next to Garnet.
A brief grin lit Garnet’s eyes before she made eye contact with Samantha. Her smile slipped away, and Garnet shook her head. “Zak just told us everything Weston said.”
Jade’s heart stuttered. So Zak had gone out to find her mother and aunt, to what? Try to talk her out of it? Was that what he was planning? She couldn’t let that happen. “I need to do this.” It’s what my father wanted me to do.
“I think I agree,” Samantha replied, her voice soft and eyes downcast.
Krista gaped. “What?”
Garnet pressed her lips together while Samantha just sighed and clutched the locket that she wore around her neck. Garnet rubbed a thumb against her forehead, then brushed her hand by her eyes. “Have you met with Advisor Samuel yet?”
“If you talked with Zak, then you should already know the answer,” Jade snapped. She took a breath and softened her tone. “I would assume he’d keep you apprised of everything else, if he mentioned Weston to you.”
Garnet and Samantha exchanged looks.
“He mentioned you spoke with Samuel,” Samantha hedged. “But he didn’t give specifics for that, only told us that we needed to talk to you directly.”
Jade looked away. “Samuel promised the Monomi would be safe under his care here, that he’s a safe choice as a proxy for Violet or me.”
“I still don’t know if I agree that you need to be queen,” Samantha said, lines deepening around her eyes as she spoke. “But we need to play along for now. If we set aside the emotions of late, we can clearly see we need to do something.”
“We need to help Andre,” Garnet whispered. She closed her eyes, her face pale while her hands trembled. “We can’t leave him there.” She opened her eyes to gaze at Jade with a teary expression. “And we need to get you accustomed to palace life.”
Samantha’s soft Piovantian vest wrinkled as she slouched. “Slate wanted you to take the crown,” she whispered, looking down and fiddling with the compass on her belt. “When you were young, he’d talk about all the good you could do when you finally got here.”
“Yet he didn’t see fit to tell me sooner.”
“Sweetheart, the older you got, the more you fell in love with the sky, the more he feared taking it away from you. He feared how you’d react.” Samantha dropped her compass in favor for taking Jade’s hand. The heat of her palms felt scalding to Jade’s cold fingers. “What he did wasn’t right. And I don’t want you to do something you don’t want to. But you should know how much your father wanted this for you.”
Jade let out a shaky breath. She didn’t know when she’d started tearing up, but now her sinuses were congested and her cheeks wet with tears. She swiped her free hand against her face. She didn’t want this life. Never in a million years. Yet she’d have to go along with it for some time. Hopefully not forever.
Even if it was what her father wanted for her.
Jade pressed her hand against her fluttering heart as she sucked in a breath. She wanted to be all that her father dreamt of her being, but this was too much. Wasn’t it?
She could at least go to Aerugo, as Weston wanted, plead for Andre, plead for the Monomi. But what if Lord Everett wanted more from her? What if she and Queen Violet couldn’t reach an agreement? What if something happened, and Jade had to take up the crown fully and completely? What if civil war erupted—because of her? What if something more happened to the Monomi? What would she do then?
Garnet continued, her eyes soft. “No matter what your choice is, you’ll need to be able to speak to the other leaders. They’ll need to hear directly from you what you’re going to do—or not do.”
Samantha nodded, biting her bottom lip. “This Count of Weston’s, his place may be a safer haven than here for learning.” She swept a slender hand at the door. “And if this Francene can help train you in palace life, it’ll likely be more peaceful than here, with advisors coming by every other hour.”
“You need to show some sort of action since—” Garnet’s voice broke. “Since Zander’s death.”
Krista leaned forward on the couch, propping her chin in her hands. “I still don’t like it.”
“You could go with us, you know.” Samantha shrugged when both girls looked at her. “I mean,” she glanced at Garnet, “Jade could use an assistant, or a handmaiden there, right? One she could trust?”
Garnet nodded, color slowly coming back to her pale cheeks. “It would be advantageous, yes.”
Krista pointed to herself, both brows raised with a dubious air. “Me. A handmaiden? More dresses? Have you seen me try to walk in these things?”
Jade snorted through her tears. “Maybe more practice would do you good.”
“Oh, shut up,” Krista snarked. “You aren’t much better in them yourself.”
A genuine grin brightened Samantha’s face. She held up a finger, her face growing stern. “You also need a bodyguard.”
Jade bit her lip. “If he’ll still go with me, I have Zak.”
“Not in your room, you won’t.” Garnet stated firmly. She cast Samantha a side-glance that Samantha smiled slyly at.
Jade blinked at her aunt. “My ...room? What?”
Samantha’s lips twitched as if she was trying to hold back a smile and failing. “He’s not sleeping in your room.”
Jade held a hand up to her forehead as Krista started giggling. “Why—How—What?”
“You need a bodyguard who can be in the same room as you, day and night.” Garnet explained, her tone matter-of-fact. “Zak can be your guard during the day, of course, but you need a woman who can stay close by at night.” She shot Jade a pointed look. “The whole purpose of you going to Aerugo would be to smooth things over and find Andre, not start a civil war or a scandal about how you’re sleeping with your bodyguard.”
Jade’s cheeks heated as her stomach flipped. “We haven’t. We wouldn’t—”
“Would Zaborah work?” Krista interrupted.
Garnet snapped her fingers. “Perfect.”
Jade hunched over, her nerves vibrating. Did Garnet mean to imply that things were like that between her and Zak? Because they most certainly weren’t even close to such a thing. They weren’t even courting. And sleeping together could mean a great many things. She pulled her knees up to her chest so she could bury her face in the folds of her skirt. Too much. This whole thing was just too much.
“I still don’t like this.” Krista crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s coming together, sure, but I don’t trust Weston and don’t want him anywhere near you.”
“Then go tell him that yourself,” Jade snapped. She dropped her legs down again. “Because Areilia knows you haven’t told me that a thousand times already!”
Krista’s eyes blazed. “I think I’ll do just that. Maybe he’ll at least listen to me.” She slammed the door on the way out.
Tears threatened to spill over, and Jade sniffled. Samantha rubbed her back and passed her a handkerchief that Garnet handed over. “You’re both under pressure. It’s hard, but practice patience with her, too.”
Jade blew her nose and rubbed her eyes. “Am I going to have both of you over my shoulder now?”
“I’ll be trying to use my
connections to get Andre freed, or, at the very least, bring awareness to his situation.” Garnet’s hands fisted, and a steely glint sparkled in her eye. “I’m not leaving him there a moment longer than I must.”
“Just be glad your grandmother has already decided to stay here and help watch over everything alongside Advisor Thistle. Otherwise you’d have three of us hovering over you,” Samantha replied with a rueful smile. Garnet’s eyes misted, and Samantha reached out, squeezing Jade’s knee. “But yes, we will be here for as long as we can be with you.”
Chapter Eighteen
Weston
Weston didn’t know what he’d expected when Zak said he’d find him a place to stay for the night, but the Crimson Hawk wasn’t it. Not that he’d expected Zak to kill him and dump his body—not with Weston’s guards with him at least—but the Monomi was pretty clear in that he didn’t like Weston.
Not that Weston could blame him.
His palm had tingled with the ghostly remembrance of holding a whip the entire time Zak talked to his cousin at the desk of the inn, and it continued to tingle as Zak led him and his guards to their rooms. An apology buried itself in Weston’s throat, wanting to get out, but unsure of how to say it. “I’m sorry for whipping you”? “You didn’t deserve that punishment”? “I understand why you defended Jade, and I’m sorry for what happened after”? Nothing seemed right, and yet he had to say something. But the opportunity passed too quickly, and before he knew it, Weston was situated in his room, two guards in a room on either side, and two in the room across, and that was it. Zak had left, and Weston’s apology withered.
He barely slept that first night, every dream blood-tinted and brutal, leaving him gasping for air and soaked in sweat. He couldn’t blame the bed, which was firm and yet soft, surprisingly good quality for an inn. No, not being able to sleep was an apt punishment for all he’d had a hand in.
He washed up in the morning, ate in the pub, then returned to his room, unsure of what to do. Should he return to the palace and try to talk to Jade again? Would she or Zak come to find him and let him know if they were going?
Weston collapsed across the mattress, heedless of how his clothes would likely wrinkle. If he decided to go to the palace, he could always change. The dagger on his belt dug into his stomach, and he rolled to his side to shift Andre’s weapon, then rolled completely on his back. He slid the blade free of its sheath and held it up, tracing the familiar lines with his eyes.
It had been one of Andre’s most prized possessions, gifted to him by a woman he’d loved and lost during the Fall of the royal family. After Andre had been arrested and Weston had seen Ben safely out, he’d snuck back in Andre’s room and looked for anything that could incriminate Andre. He hadn’t found anything, of course, but he had found the dagger on Andre’s night stand, and he’d taken it for safekeeping. He would get it back to his friend, one way or another.
Assuming Jade believed him and would go with him. Weston set the dagger aside and dropped his arm over his eyes. What if she didn’t? He’d have come here for nothing. No, not nothing. He’d at least saved Zandra’s life.
The memory of her son’s blood and Bentley’s death flashed through Weston’s mind, and he rolled over, pushing himself up as he heaved. He clamped his mouth shut and tore his eyes away from the red bedspread, fixing his gaze on the wood floor till his nausea subsided.
How would Zander’s death affect Jade’s judgment on the dangers? Could Francene and Alexander really keep Jade safe? He closed his eyes. What would his father do?
Everett had whipped and tortured those who dared to speak against or lay a hand against their family. He was feared for his iron grip on his military, and Weston had heard enough rumors to know that his father held no compunctions about beating his own men if they were caught slacking off. It had never stopped him from laying a hand on his own family. And Everett’s casual use of females had never been hidden from Weston.
Whatever his father would do to Jade, it wouldn’t be good.
Even with Francene’s help, keeping Jade safe would be difficult.
I hope I didn’t make a mistake in coming here.
The door pounded and he jumped, freezing on the bed. He heard the baritone of Niles’s voice outside his door and what sounded like the dulcet tones of a woman. Weston grabbed Andre’s dagger and slipped it back in its sheath on his belt.
He hesitated, hand on the door knob. If it was a danger to him, there would’ve been more noise, and his guards would have insisted on coming in to check on him. Whoever was out there, he’d be fine. Besides, Andre had trained him well enough to hold his own.
He opened the door to reveal a shapely woman facing away from him, arguing with Niles. Niles raised his eyebrows over her head at Weston. “We weren’t sure if you’d requested her, Your Highness.” She turned around, and Niles smirked behind her back. “She’s a bit more feisty than your typical preference. If she’s not to your liki—”
“I am not a whore for sale!” the woman snapped. She pivoted and stuck a straight finger under Niles’s nose. “If you think for a moment that you’re going to get anything of that sort from me, then you’re in for a world of hurt, mister.”
Weston blanched at the anger darkening Niles’s face, and he reached out, grabbing the woman’s arm and pulling her into his room. She stumbled into him with an exclamation of surprise, and Weston gave his guards a perfunctory nod. “That will be all, thank you.” He closed the door and let go of her before she could pull his arm off with her tugging.
“Look, I don’t know who you are, but that was dangerously stupid out there,” Weston hissed. He waved a hand at the door. “Niles does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and yelling at him like that is going to bring about things you don’t want. Trust me.”
The woman’s eyes widened, then narrowed. She crossed her arms. “You don’t recognize me, do you?”
Bloated whales, was he supposed to? She looked familiar, but not intimately so. If there was anything specifically familiar about her, it was the fire that he could see burning behind the storm clouds in her eyes.
“I—I don’t think so?”
“I’m Krista. Jade’s best friend.” She glared. “Remember me now?”
Now he did. She’d come to the palace a handful of times with Jade, back when they were all kids. That was a lifetime ago. Gone was the overawed girl that he recalled from her first palace visit, and gone was the pre-teen who had taught him to climb a tree, because Jade had already shimmied her way to the top. The Krista whom he vaguely remembered had been replaced by a terrifying hurricane of fury.
“Ah—yes.”
“Good.” Krista stalked toward him, and Weston found himself backing up at the same pace as her. “Because I don’t know what your plan with Jade is, but it won’t work.”
“What?” Weston shook his head. “I don’t have a pla—”
“You may want to save Andre,” she interrupted. She raised a hand, drawing her shoulders back as she spitted him with a glare that could’ve melted metal. “But we all know that you want Jade. You can’t have her.” Krista glided closer, and Weston resisted the urge to give ground to her again. Krista’s voice lowered, and Weston could feel the anger roiling off her. “You keep your slimy fingers off my best friend. Got it?” Krista’s eyes burned. “If you’d been quicker in using that fancy weapon of yours, Zak wouldn’t have just buried his nephew. Jade wouldn’t be making these stupid decisions.”
This time he allowed himself to show some meekness as she moved forward again. He knew he’d have his work cut out for him in proving his good motives, but this was going to be even more challenging than anticipated, with Jade’s storm of a friend. Weston retreated until his back hit the door. A flash of pain traveled through his shoulders, and he pressed his palms against the wood as Krista moved to be within inches of his face.
Her breath brushed over his cheeks. “I don’t trust you.”
Weston’s heart threatened to flee his ribcage.
Everett’s outbursts and beatings were common enough that though Weston hated and feared them, they were merely scary, something that he dreaded but knew he could survive.
This woman? She was less scary than his father, but something about her reminded him of his mother, and that was what kept him focused on her wagging finger and furious eyes. She reached into a hidden pocket of her dress and pulled out a pair of vice-grips.
“Do you know what these can do to metal?” She waved the tool by his belt line. “Imagine what they can do to tender flesh.”
“I can imagine.” Weston’s fingers itched to push her back, get her out of his immediate vicinity. Everything in his body screamed that she was more dangerous than he’d previously expected. He was easily stronger than her, but Andre had warned him that anger gave a different kind of strength, and one that still had to be respected. This, Weston knew all too well, thanks to his own father.
Andre had also mentioned that a genuinely angry woman was terrifying in its own way, and Weston had laughed it off. Now he found himself agreeing with his mentor.
Krista’s eyes narrowed and the vice-grips disappeared into her voluminous skirt. “I am going with Jade, and I am going to be watching you.”
Weston let out a small breath of relief when her hands reappeared empty. “She hasn’t given an answer yet. I don’t know if she’s even going.”
“She will, because she believes she has no choice.” Krista poked her finger in his chest. “She’s going to bring Zak as a bodyguard. And his sister.”
His sister? “Zandra?” Weston blinked at Krista, dumbfounded. “But she just lost—”
“He has two sisters, thanks for caring.” Krista pressed her finger, her nail digging into his chest despite his layered shirts. “Zaborah will be coming with Jade. And me.”
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