Chapter One #2
Dimri glanced up, and sure enough, Roque was staring. He didn’t look away when Dimri caught him, like most people would have. Instead, he grinned and winked.
Dimri looked away. It shouldn’t be so easy to fluster him, but there was something about Roque.
Dimri had always found him attractive, but his physical aspect wasn’t what made him interesting.
His long, branch-like horns, red glowing eyes, and short, messy, white hair were nothing next to his relationship with Berith.
He wasn’t just Berith’s bodyguard. He was Berith’s friend and confidant.
He was family to the prince, which made him all the more intriguing.
“Dimri?” someone called out.
Dimri blinked and glanced around the office. Everyone was watching him, which was a sure sign that he’d been distracted. From what he could tell, Berith had asked him a question, but he hadn’t answered yet, and everyone was waiting for him to do so.
He cleared his throat. “I apologize. I was distracted.”
Luckily, Berith wasn’t the kind of ruler who would take offense at that. “I think all of us are a little distracted right now. Lucifer and I were talking about how he should confront Ramiel. Do you think that taking him head-on is the right way to do this?”
Dimri was here to work, not to stare at pretty people. He needed to remember that and that being distracted could mean his death and the death of thousands of people, including people he cared about.
“Well, I understand why attacking instead of waiting for Ramiel to do so sounds like a good idea,” he said carefully. He didn’t want Lucifer to take offense.
Thankfully, Lucifer was an ally and a friend of Berith’s. He didn’t seem offended by Dimri’s words. Instead, he waved at Dimri to continue talking.
Dimri really should’ve paid better attention.
“We have to think of all aspects of this, though,” he continued. “I know that some of you here want to go out there and find Ramiel right now, but that would be a bad idea.”
“Why?” Roque asked. “He attacked us. People are going to expect us to get revenge.”
“Which is exactly what he’s waiting for. It’s what he would do, and he expects everyone to react the same way.”
“You talk as if you have personal knowledge of that,” Lucifer pointed out.
“I don’t, but I’ve made it my job to keep an eye on anyone who might be a danger to Berith and his throne, and he’s one of those people. You can’t tell me that you’re surprised by what’s happening.”
“I don’t think anyone is. You’re saying I should’ve stepped in and done something about him sooner?”
“You couldn’t have. No, what I’m saying is that we need to analyze all sides of the situation.
He’s going to expect us to react to his attack.
He’s counting on us doing so, and I don’t think anyone here wants to do what he expects us to do.
Besides, I think it would be safer for everyone to find the spy he has in the palace before doing anything. ”
“How do you know he has a spy in the palace?” Roque asked.
He was frowning as if the spy had personally offended him, which, in a way, was true. His job was to protect Berith. How could he do that when someone close to the prince was working against him?
“How else would his people have managed to get into the palace, so close to Berith’s family that his daughter had to protect herself with a knife?”
Dimri had been impressed by the princess, but maybe he shouldn’t have been. She’d always been fierce, just like her parents. She’d make a good ruler once she was old enough.
Assuming they won this war. If they lost, there would be nothing left of Berith’s family. Ramiel would make sure of that.
“How do we find the spy?” Berith asked.
“We don’t. I will find the spy.”
“What do we do in the meantime?” Roque asked. “You can’t seriously expect us to sit on our asses and wait for you to do your job.”
Dimri arched a brow. “I don’t. I expect you to continue doing your job.”
Roque’s body went stiff. “Are you saying that I’m not doing my job?”
How had he gotten that from Dimri’s words? Dimri had no idea, and it felt odd to apologize for what was clearly a misunderstanding, but he opened his mouth to do just that.
He didn’t get the chance.
“I think Dimri is paranoid,” Roque said, looking around the room. “We don’t know that there’s a spy in the palace. Ramiel spent time here in the past. He probably found out how to sneak around then. There was no need for him to have a spy.”
Dimri narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like being told that he was paranoid, even though in some ways, he was. It was hard to trust anyone with his job. That didn’t mean he wasn’t right, though. It didn’t mean that there wasn’t someone in the palace plotting to betray Berith at this very moment.
* * * *
ROQUE WASN’T SURPRISED to hear that Dimri thought there was a spy.
He probably saw spies everywhere. It was kind of his job, and while Roque was glad that Dimri had Berith’s back, they couldn’t afford to waste time.
He was sure that the spymaster could find stuff about anyone if he dug deep enough, but would it be important things?
Would it be things they could use against Ramiel?
Roque didn’t care about who disliked Berith and who thought the prince wasn’t doing a good job. He cared about who wanted Berith dead.
Right now, that was Ramiel.
“Do you have any idea who it could be?” Berith asked Dimri.
Roque wasn’t surprised that Berith was taking Dimri seriously, either. He would be a fool not to. Roque was confident that Dimri had saved the day more times than anyone but Berith knew.
That still didn’t make him right about Ramiel’s spy, but even if it did, they didn’t need to sneak around in the darkness to find the person working against Berith. They could face Ramiel and take him down, then deal with whoever was left behind.
“Not at the moment,” Dimri said. “But I’ve already started looking into it. I’ll have answers for you soon.”
“Not soon enough,” Roque pointed out. “If we want to use whatever information you find against Ramiel, we need it yesterday.”
Dimri looked calm, but Roque was sure he could see emotion lurking in the demon’s eyes. He wanted to continue poking at him to see more of it, even though it wouldn’t be professional.
“Do you think my job is easy?” Dimri asked in a cool tone that sent shivers down Roque’s spine.
Dimri was dangerous, but right now, he wished they were alone in the office.
“I never said that,” he answered. “But you have to see that waiting is the worst option we have right now. I’m not saying you’re wrong and that there’s no one in the palace spying on Berith, but is it really that important? Haven’t they been spying on Berith this entire time?”
“Probably, which is why we need to find out who it is before they can do more damage.”
“They didn’t do much until now. Both Berith and Lucifer are safe and healthy. A little girl managed to protect herself from the people sent to kill her. Honestly, I feel pretty good about where we’re at right now.”
“Only fools would feel that way,” Dimri said.
“Then maybe I’m a fool.”
“I think that you are, yes.”
Dimri turned back to Berith, who was watching them with a glint in his eyes. Roque didn’t like it, but there was nothing he could do about it. He could tell that Berith was plotting something, but the prince would only tell him what was on his mind if he wanted to.
“I’ll continue looking into it,” Dimri said as he got to his feet. “And I’ll let you know as soon as I find something. In the meantime, I believe it would be safer for everyone to focus on securing the palace and hiring new soldiers. We lost too many people when Jessamyn attacked.”
“We’re already working on it,” Berith said with a nod. “And don’t take too long to report to me. We can’t ignore Ramiel forever. He won’t let us.”
Dimri nodded curtly. “I’ll work as fast as I can. I’ll contact my people and see what they have to say about this.”
Roque wanted to ask about the spy Dimri had in Ramiel’s palace, but he didn’t have the time to do so.
Dimri left the room in a hurry, not once looking back.
What he thought of Roque was clear from his behavior, which should’ve been annoying, but instead, it made Roque want to tease him even harder to see what he’d do.
That definitely wasn’t a good idea. Even if Dimri couldn’t fight—and there was no doubt in Roque’s mind that he could—he could probably find a hundred ways to kill Roque if he annoyed him too badly. It wasn’t something Roque wanted to find out.
“I thought we’d finally do something about this,” Lucifer said as he flopped back into his seat. “And now your spymaster is telling me to shut up and wait.”
Berith seemed amused. “I realize it’s not something you normally do, but Dimri knows what he’s talking about. He saved my life more times than I can count.”
“Fine. I guess I’ll do something productive and reach out to our allies. We are going to need more soldiers.”
Roque knew that Berith would hate to sacrifice people, but they didn’t have a choice. If they wanted to survive, they’d need to fight, and they couldn’t do that on their own. They needed soldiers.
Maybe Dimri wasn’t wrong, and they should wait a little while longer, if anything, to recruit more people and train them. Ramiel wouldn’t have infinite patience, though, and neither would Roque. His job was to protect Berith, and he’d do everything in his power to do just that.
Even if that meant going against the spymaster’s wishes.