Chapter Forty-Two
Analleia
Valeris was holding back from me. My mind sought the answers to fill in the blanks.
His brother’s murder meant the next oldest in line for the throne was Dionzella, but she was married.
The eldest left unmarried was Zandyr, not Ezrielle.
So why was she writing a coronation speech? Out of pure pride?
I retraced my steps through the room, seeking anything I might have missed before and digging underneath the mound of pillows lining her enormous bed.
My side and shoulder ached. Every day the wounds got better, but they weren’t healing as fast as I needed them to.
Which was why the thought of scaling the wall terrified me.
Whatever secrets the princess harbored, she didn’t stash them here.
“Val—”
A hand clamped over my mouth, arms pinning me back against a broad chest and dragging me into the dark of a closet. I moved to disengage my attacker, acting on instinct, but froze when Valeris’s hot breath hit my ear.
“Shh.” The hush was barely audible.
His heartbeat hammered at my back, his presence overwhelming with nothing but him and the clothes and the darkness pressing in on me.
I tried to quiet my own heart and breathing as I heard a pair of footsteps enter the main room, the door clicking closed behind them.
Valeris slowly lowered his hand from my mouth to my shoulder, his other still firmly clasped around my waist, holding me to him, his head tucked against mine.
Memories from being trapped in the tunnel with him came flooding back.
Something heavy dropped onto the floor, then the sound of shoes kicked across the room.
“Have a tray of tea brought up.”
The princess’s voice rang with authority, devoid of any polite request. Dread choked me.
She hadn’t returned just to get something and leave again.
I shifted to gauge Valeris’s reaction but it was too dark.
He let out a quiet, shuddering breath as if acknowledging the situation.
We couldn’t stay here all night, and she would hear us if we tried to escape after she fell asleep.
Not to mention if she needed something from this closet.
It was too risky. Valeris might be able to find a way around it, but I was a foreigner.
She could prosecute me for this. Our entire cover would be blown.
Valeris leaned closer, a shiver running through me as his lips brushed the shell of my ear, his words barely audible. “I can get out the main door. When she turns her back, leave through the balcony. You’ll have to watch, but wait until I engage her.”
He released me and slipped out of the closet. I followed a few steps behind, venturing as close to the doorway of the main room as I dared. My gaze locked on the doors leading to the balcony. They were closed. Sweat coated my palms. They could creak when I opened them and give me away.
“Back so soon?” All hint of fear was gone from Valeris’s voice as he stepped into the main room.
He ducked, and a knife embedded itself in the wall behind him.
I bit my cheek to hold in my gasp, eyes widening as I calculated how close he’d brushed hands with death.
“You’re lucky I missed. How did you get in here?” Ezrielle demanded.
His throat bobbed, the only indicator almost getting impaled had affected him. “If you didn’t know, there’s this cool invention called a door, which also has a handle, and you—”
“Shut up, Valeris, and get out before I call the guards on you,” she snapped.
“Fine by me.” Valeris walked out of sight, his shadow moving across the floor until he reached the balcony, opening one of the doors.
“You idiot, not that way. Why are you in here?”
I let out a ragged breath, staring at the knife stuck in the wall, replaying it flying over Valeris’s head. If he hadn’t been paying attention—
“I came to ask you a question. You weren’t here, so I thought I’d wait until you got back.”
Her shadow stepped in front of his, a beat of silence before her response. “You were hiding.”
“You really think I would risk being caught in here by someone other than you?” Words and explanations rolled off Valeris’s tongue without any hesitation.
“What was your question?”
I peeked around the corner, finding that the princess’s back was to me and the balcony. I eased out, creeping to the door, heart pounding within my chest as I widened the gap and slipped through the opening.
“What are you planning with the chancellor?” Valeris asked.
The door squeaked as it swung back into place.
“What was that?”
I scrambled over the railing, seeking out handholds and footholds in the stone, climbing without thinking.
“The wind,” Valeris said.
“Someone slipped through the door, Valeris. Who are you hiding?”
Footsteps marched toward the balcony, keeping in time with my own racing heart.
My side and shoulder burned with pain, muscles screaming as I surged upward.
I should have hidden below the balcony, but that was in better sight of the guards and had more chances of being seen.
Nor did I think I would be able to hold still on the wall for long.
The door squealed back open. I froze. My limbs turned to stone. The darkness and my cloak might be enough to conceal me if I remained still. Moving would give me away. My breath shuddered out of me, and I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to look down.
“You’re being paranoid, Ezrielle,” Valeris said. “Like I said, it was the wind. Come back inside. It’s freezing out here.”
“Where’s your faithful little bodyguard?”
Valeris laughed. “Sleeping.”
Several seconds ticked by. I couldn’t look. I could only imagine her scouring everything she could see for movement. I couldn’t hold this for long. I was going to fall to my death. My side screamed at the strain, sharp pain radiating from the cut on my shoulder.
Her steps receded back into the room. Once I heard the click of the door, I pushed upward again, not stopping until I reached Valeris’s balcony.
I rolled onto my back, my dress sticking to my skin as I gasped for breath.
Irritation roiled through me. I couldn’t do this anymore.
That was too close. I shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if his sister had seen me.
He had nearly jeopardized everything for me. And the knife nearly hitting him ...
I shouldn’t be running errands for him like this.
I was done. Whatever his sister was planning was his own problem.
I was here to get the ring from his uncle and kill the king.
That was all. I closed my eyes, the feeling of his arms wrapped around me in the closet and his voice whispering in my ear rushing back.
I slammed the sensations away, wanting to scream.
It meant nothing. He meant nothing, and I vowed to stay away from him.
He was my enemy—and I kept forgetting that.
He had proved it with his recklessness tonight.
I crawled to all fours, wincing when the movement pulled at my side. A light flicked on in Valeris’s room, which almost sent me climbing back over the balcony, but I wasn’t about to do that again. If he wanted my help, he would have to escort me out of his suite himself.
If I didn’t strangle him first.
I rose to my feet as his balcony doors swung open. He had anticipated my arrival, and I questioned changing my mind and shimmying up to the roof. Or throwing him off it.
I jabbed a finger into his chest, pushing him back into the room and kicking the door shut behind me. “You said she wouldn’t be there tonight.”
“She wasn’t supposed to—”
“Do you have any idea what kind of risk you put me in?” I hissed. “What would have happened to me if I had been caught?”
“I would’ve—”
“You wouldn’t have been able to do anything!
Do you have any idea how hard I have worked to get here, what I have had to do?
She’s a member of the royal family, for heaven’s sake.
Even if you managed to get me out of the dungeon she’d still know who I was and could destroy everything I came here for. ”
“But she didn’t see you.”
“She could have!”
Valeris raised his voice. “And I would have protected you, as I’ve done ever since we started this agreement.”
“You can’t protect me from your family!” I all but yelled. “And you nearly got yourself killed! I think I’ve given you enough of my time and help. I want out of our alliance.”
He stepped back as if I’d slapped him. “No. Not until it’s fulfilled.”
I invaded his space, my face within inches of his. “I think I’ve more than fulfilled my end. I spied for you. I assisted you at the puzzle ball. What else do you want from me?”
He searched my eyes, and I saw his throat bob, concern lining his brow.
“What happened?” His voice lowered.
I put space between us, staring at him in disbelief. “I just told you what—”
He shook his head, cutting me off as he eliminated the space between us again. “That’s not what I’m talking about. Something changed, and it has nothing to do with what went down with Ezrielle.”
I lifted my chin, seeing the knife again, the fear that gripped me at the thought of it hitting him. “The only thing that changed is I want out.”
I was all too aware of how close we stood, our ragged breaths from the ordeal in Ezrielle’s room, and the way he was now looking at me. The way he was making me feel. Everything I had just vowed to stay away from.
A blush crept up my neck, and I watched him take note of it.
He smirked. “Don’t tell me I’ve become too much for you to handle.”
I brushed past him, heading for the door and desperately needing distance.
“I wouldn’t leave yet,” Valeris followed me. “She suspected I had an accomplice, which means she’ll be watching.”
I ignored him, anxiety rising within me as sense fled my mind. I needed out of here. I reached for the door handle, barely getting the wood open an inch before Valeris was behind me, slamming it shut.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I’m leaving.”
“We’re not done here, Analleia.”
His voice was too close.