Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
It might be the best of the lot.
I glared at him.
He took his life in his hands, bent for a quick peck, and when he moved away, he said, “I’ll text comm when we get there. And then again on our way back.”
“You better.”
He stopped at the door, did his adorable air kiss thing that was highly detrimental to me retaining my bad morning mood, and walked out.
I took in a very deep breath, held it ten seconds, then counted for ten seconds as I let it out.
I did it again.
Only then did I walk to the closet.
And coffee.
All five females were sitting in the queen’s breakfast room, eating breakfast (Mangold had gone with the men to Gehenn, or more to the point, Zyra had shooed him into the craft along with the men).
Gayle was chasing egged toast across her plate.
I wasn’t sure she’d taken even that first bite.
Aleece was eating like she was a pit ball player, carbing up for a match.
Laura was sipping coffee, casting guilty I’m sorry glances at Aleece and worried You’re freaking me out glances at Gayle.
Zyra was pretending all was fine, even while she kept shooting me looks that asked what in the hells is happening?
Also, weirdly, she kept simply shooting looks at Gayle. Looks I wasn’t sure about. They were maternal and concerned, as Zyra was wont to be.
They were also more in a way that made me feel squiffy.
I was further sipping coffee, remembering how sweet it was that Tanyn thought I had “magic,” but finding it had escaped me in this moment because I had no idea what to do.
But I had to do something because we were sitting down with the males that night to iron things out, and I didn’t need Aleece launching herself across the table to wring Bainon’s neck, and I didn’t need Gayle supplicating herself to Cormac, begging him to love her.
“Okay,” I announced grandly. “This is the deal.”
I wasn’t exactly sure of the deal, and was less sure when they looked at me: Laura, expectantly, Zyra, hopefully, Aleece, balefully and Gayle, glumly.
Before my brain could catch up, my mouth laid it out.
About Barret, Camaryn, the staff, how Tatra treated them.
And then about what Mira said regarding my family being traitors.
That knocked the glum out of Gayle.
In fact, that shifted all of them straight to ticked right the hells off.
“You are joking,” Laura spat.
“I’m not,” I told her. “Now, listen. Tanyn said something, and so much has happened, I really didn’t latch onto it at the time. But he says they’re working under the theory that there’s a leak.”
“A leak?” Zyra asked apprehensively.
I nodded.
“He thinks someone shared that he’d begun renovations on the citadel, and that was why it was attacked. Not that it was a secret, but it isn’t like there’s anyone living there who could see contractors come and go to give bids, who would then pass on that information. Or glaziers and masons at work. So it has to be from this castle, his staff.”
Unfortunately, this made them all look apprehensive.
But in for a credit, in for the whole line.
“Now, it might not be one of them directly reporting to Tatra. It might be they inadvertently told someone who has ties to Tatra. But tomorrow, I’m going to be introduced to all of the employees, the castle staff and the crown’s administrative staff. And I want you all with me when that happens.”
“Um, I’m learning a bit about these kinds of things,” Laura butted in. “And I think you should do that on your own.”
“You should do it on your own,” Aleece, a princess since birth, confirmed.
It struck me I had access to a princess since birth, who would definitely be someone I could hit up to help me wrap my head around the idea of being a queen, but I tucked that away for later and stayed on target.
“I can do it on my own, but I want you all to help me size up beings. With a focus on Mira. She tried to excuse what she said slipping out, saying it happened because she has so much on her mind. She said that, but I didn’t buy it. I haven’t mentioned it to Tanyn yet, because when I do, he’ll lose his mind, and he doesn’t have time to do that right now. So I don’t know if he hired her, or she came with him, or he inherited her.”
“If you’re trying to ferret out a spy, you need to know that about all of them,” Gayle said.
“I’m guessing the castle staff were inherited,” I told her. “At least Barret and Camaryn have been here for some time.”
“Then the admin staff, which of course he’d appoint,” she replied. “And I would say especially them.”
“Servants see and hear a lot of stuff,” Aleece put in.