Chapter 40
forty
Kas deals with things.
Kas said his goodbyes to Ataht and dragged a reluctant Della from her brother’s side.
“Thank you,” Hevva said, standing from her chair to hug her daughter quickly before resuming her watch.
The healer had poked his head in, but waited in the hall for his opportunity to check on the prince.
Letif was quite doting, if a little overbearing.
That was why Kas kept him on the payroll, for rare occasions such as this.
Yawning, Kas rubbed the back of his neck and took Della—who was trying to creep back to the bed—by the hand to escort her away.
On the landing, he passed her off to Fatema, who herded the princess to her room.
“How is she?” Kas asked Letif who stood off to one side, speaking with Thera in low tones.
His housekeeper looked up with a twinkle in her eye as Letif said, “Miss Kiappa is resting. She wishes to speak with you.”
A grin tore across his face as he took off, back toward his apartment. As Kas’s foot touched down on the top stair, the door to the Tarisden Suite banged open and Nes stumbled onto the landing, wearing his robe.
He liked the look of it, quite a lot. But it wasn’t the right time for those types of thoughts.
Racing to Nesrina, he scooped her up and gazed into her majestic eyes.
“I told you to stay in bed!” Letif’s gruff voice cut across the landing.
“I’ve got her,” Kas called at the same moment Nes murmured a somewhat insincere, “Sorry,” under her breath.
“We’ll be in my old room.” He wanted Thera informed more than anything else.
The door banged closed behind them as Kas hit it with a gust of wind.
“This is your old room?” Nes peered up at him.
He shrugged and she gripped onto him a little tighter. “Until I became the duke.” Kas deposited Nes on her favorite chair before perching on the second one himself. “You wanted to talk to me.”
She nodded, eyes wide as some memory assaulted her. “Rihan.”
He grunted as his heart dropped several feet in an instant.
What about the arse? She’d been mumbling his name in her sleep for days.
Kas had hoped—foolishly, he now realized—that he’d been mishearing her.
Nesrina didn’t want to marry him, she never would.
She still harbored feelings for the blond soldier, despite whatever story his sister and the king heard.
“Rihan kidnapped me. He tried to kill Ataht too, I think. And King Ehmet.”
Never mind.
He gripped the arms of the chair and stiffened as a chaotic mix of understanding, relief, hope, and self-directed frustration washed over him. “Why? Did he hurt you? Force himself on you?” A tortured sort of rage overcame Kas and he stood, sat, stood, and sat again.
Nes pressed a hand to her heart. “No! Aside from the blood, I’m unharmed.”
Relieved, he scooted his chair closer, reaching out to grasp her hand. “Did he say anything helpful at all? Why would he do such a thing?”
She shook her head, then froze. “Wait, yes. I asked him if he was going to kill me—”
“You what?”
“Stupid, I know. But he didn’t.” She winced at the memory before shrugging. “He said he had what he needed. Then he said the ruins would reveal everything, the true king, or something like that.”
Kas sat there for a moment, thinking, or trying to, as a million tiny moments, comments, bits and pieces fell into place. Shit. The Big Secret had, without a doubt, caught up to him. A final piece clicked into place. “Runes. Runes not ruins.”
“What?”
“He rode south.”
“What?”
Lord Kahoth turned his gaze to Nesrina. “You’re positive it was Rihan?”
“Without a doubt.”
Kas nodded tersely. “Stay here?” His words were a question more than a command.
“Yes. I don’t think I can get far anyway.”
“I need to tell Hevva.” He pushed up from the chair and made it partway across the room before turning to face Nesrina. “She’ll likely leave immediately for Kirce. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
“Wait . . .” She struggled to her feet, looking woozy.
He rushed over, steadying her shoulders as he gazed down into her mossy eyes.
“Kas,” she whispered, “yes.”
He crushed her to him, then bent to plant a kiss on her rosebud lips before he could reconsider his actions. The Big Secret, you arsehole, his subconscious hissed. Kas pulled away before getting fully lost in the moment. “No.”
“No?” Hurt fell across her features.
“I— I have to talk to you after Hevva.” He gave her a peck on the cheek.
He’d been aiming for her lips but she turned away, a sour expression on her face.
With a gentle finger beneath the chin, he urged her to look at him.
“Wait, Nes, I mean no, I won’t hear it yet.
I can assure you”—he kissed her again, this time hitting the corner of her mouth before she turned—“I haven’t changed my mind. ”
Nesrina breathed a sigh of relief and melted into him. “Oh.”
Kas held her there for a moment, her cheek pressed against his chest and her arms wrapped around his waist. He wound his fingers through her tangled waves and breathed her in, comfrey and all.
Gods, please let everything be all right.
Please let her forgive me. He prayed she’d find it in her heart to look past his keeping yet another piece of information from her.
He’d come clean, as soon as possible. Then, as long as Nesrina would allow him to hang around, he vowed to never ever part from her again.
“I’ll return.”
She nodded mutely, the ghost of a hopeful smile gracing her face.
Kas bound from the room to warn Hevva that Rihan was making his way south, with a fucking canteen of the king’s real sister’s blood.
This was bad, worse than terrible, bordering on horrendous.
He hoped his sister’s earthshaping abilities would allow her to make better time than usual on her inevitable ride back to Serkath.
Ten minutes later, Kas returned to the Tarisden Suite to find Nes snuggled beneath the blankets, her breathing even and peaceful. His bathrobe, the one she’d been wearing, lay discarded in a fuzzy puddle beside the bed.
She said “yes,” technically. Kicking off his boots, he slipped onto the mattress beside her, moving slowly and quietly.
“Kas?” she murmured, alert though her eyes remained closed.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“No, it’s all right. You said you needed to talk? What is it?” Concern marred her soft features as she opened her sleepy eyes and shifted to sit against the headboard.
“Fae blood magic,” Kas mumbled, unsure of where to begin.
“Fae blood magic? What? I didn’t even think that was real.”
“Me either.” He rubbed his temples, hard, as if applying pressure to his head would force his thoughts to hop into line.
“I don’t even know where to start. You know there’s been a threat against the king, you know he was intentionally harmed during the hunt in Serkath, and you know Rihan kidnapped you. ”
“Those are the facts, yes.”
“You told me once that chaosweavers come in pairs?” Perhaps it would be easier to let her come upon the outrageous truth herself.
Nesrina nodded.
“And your father tutored Ehmet.”
She frowned. “More facts? Yes, starting when the king was still the prince. Around eight, I think. Ending when he was sixteen. Then Papa met Mama a few years later, and eventually, they had me.”
“Your father knew the queen before he was Ehmet’s tutor, right?”
“Mhm. They met when they were young, not long before she became queen. They were seventeen or eighteen or someth—” She gasped.
“I think you’re part of a pair.”
“Oh my gods.” Nesrina pressed the back of her head against the headboard and inhaled, her eyes squeezed shut.
“Your eyes, they match his and Della’s. And your hair, so similar to Ehmet’s and Ataht’s.”
She patted her locks while her brows danced. “They must have had an affair. Does it count as an affair if they were both single? Oh, and they would have been so young. Gods . . . My poor father. Poor Queen Adellan. Poor . . . everyone.”
Kas couldn’t even imagine how she was feeling, the whirling emotions of finding out so much of your past has been a lie, or if not precisely a lie, hidden.
Finally, she stiffened in a move he’d been waiting for. Tension rippled through Kas as she offered him a flat look. “You knew.”
He gulped.
“How long have you known?” her voice was soft, too quiet. Too calm.
“Less than a week. Hevva told me when she got here. She—”
“I can’t believe you kept this from me.”
“Nes,” Kas began as his hand shot out to grab hers from where it rested upon the sheets.
He wound their fingers together and held on for dear life, thanking the gods when she didn’t pull away.
“I wanted to tell you the moment Hev told me her suspicions. Hevva and Ehmet only realized it recently, or suspected. And Hevva said I couldn’t tell you until the traitors were caught.
She was worried that, well, that this would happen—sort of.
” He shook her arm that he held and gestured to her bandages with his free hand.
“We were worried someone would try to question you, to get an admission. We didn’t expect fucking blood magic. ”
“All right.” Nesrina squeezed his hand, sending a small shiver of relief through his system.
She wasn’t nearly as angry as he expected, but that didn’t necessarily bode well. “All right? You’re not mad?”
Nes shook her head. “I understand, kind of. It’s a lot to take in. You told me the truth, though. You didn’t make me figure it out on my own.”
“Well . . .”
“All right, you kind of made me figure it out on my own. But all in one conversation counts, I’d say.”
A small smile flitted across Kas’s face. “Thank you.”
“Thank me? For what?”