Chapter 20
Chapter
Twenty
Elowen had made no further progress when she was called to lunch a short time later.
She had no appetite and could hardly bear to sit idle while the few courtiers present chatted about the tournament as though nothing was amiss.
None of them knew about Theo’s situation. And none of them cared about Simeon.
She watched without much interest as a servant brought wine to her father for his approval. But as his brow furrowed and his gaze slid to her, she straightened, wincing internally.
Sure enough, as soon as the servant was gone, the king called her to his side.
“Elowen,” he said with a warning note in his voice. “Why did the kitchen send this wine specifically to oblige you? Why do the kitchen staff have the impression that you have a particular interest in the wine used in the betrothal ceremony last night?”
“I just asked some questions, Father,” Elowen said. “Trying to figure out how someone might have put poi—”
“That’s quite enough,” the king cut her off, with a sterner tone than she was used to from him. “Elowen, this is not a game. You absolutely cannot spread these unfounded rumors about foul play.”
“They’re not unfounded,” Elowen insisted earnestly. “Father, I truly believe Theo was poisoned last night. We have to figure out how and with what!”
“Elowen.” The sharp command pulled her up.
“You’ve expressed your suspicion, and you’ve been taken seriously.
A thorough assessment was undertaken by our most experienced physician.
If there was any sign of poison, I would not hesitate to initiate a proper investigation.
But there isn’t. And you poking around asking questions will achieve nothing but gossip. ”
“But what if the physician is wrong?” Elowen said desperately. “What if it’s a type we haven’t encountered before, and he missed it?”
“The prince is ill, Elowen,” the king said. “It’s not a catastrophe. And incidentally, even that information should be kept private. You don’t seem to understand how serious it is for you to throw around these accusations while Prince Xavier is here. Wars have been started on less provocation.”
“Prince Xavier doesn’t want war,” Elowen said impatiently. “He wants his brother to be safe, which is the same thing I want.”
“Prince Theodore is perfectly safe in the infirmary, and will continue to receive excellent medical care until he’s fully recovered,” the king said calmly. “In the meantime, I absolutely forbid you to question the servants or say anything to anyone that might lead to unhelpful suspicions.”
Elowen wasn’t finished, but her retort died on her lips as she saw who’d just arrived to join the luncheon.
Sophia!
The other girl looked pale, her brow still lined, but something had changed since they’d last spoken. Elowen could tell. Sophia was accompanied by a few others, one of them the last person Elowen wanted to see.
“I’m surprised to see Bertrand and Sophia here,” she said, her eyes flicking to her father.
The king sent a dignified look toward the door. “The duke returned to his lands this morning to conduct his own investigations,” he said. “I believe his children chose to stay in the capital.”
Returned to his lands was a nice way to say that the duke had been exiled in disgrace, Elowen reflected.
The mortification of their servant’s supposed treason would be crushing for the family, and it was no surprise to her that the duke was absent.
Sophia wouldn’t leave while Simeon was in trouble, she knew.
But Bertrand…the identity of the servant in the dungeons had inevitably spread, and Bertrand was holding his head surprisingly high for how closely Simeon was connected with him.
Elowen’s eyes were narrowed as she watched him take a seat beside his sister, far too close to her own chair for her liking.
It hadn’t been lost on her that no one had a bigger grudge against Theo than Bertrand.
Would he really dare to attack a foreign prince?
She knew he hated Theo, but would he risk war?
Elowen returned to her seat, her thoughts swirling.
If she told her father about Bertrand’s behavior toward her, and the conflict between him and Theo before their fight in the tournament, would he take her fears more seriously?
She knew the answer. Any hunch or suspicion of hers would never weigh against the medical evidence of the physician.
“What’s happened?” she asked Sophia in an undertone.
Her friend just shook her head.
Frustration rose in Elowen, but she didn’t have the chance to press. Bertrand was speaking to the man next to him, his strained voice carrying.
“Yes, of course I’m shocked, can’t you think of a more intelligent question than the one ten others have asked before you?”
“You kept him so close, My Lord,” the other nobleman said, not succeeding in hiding his glee at Bertrand’s embarrassment. “It’s incredible that he was able to cause such mischief without you knowing of it.”
“I understand now why he had become increasingly unreliable,” Bertrand said, his gruff voice full of resentment. “But I confess I never imagined him capable of this.”
Elowen searched his face, her eyes narrowed. Was his outrage manufactured? The anger seemed real enough. He was discomposed in a way she’d rarely seen before, his usual smooth manner gone.
“Just as I never thought he’d steal from me. Apparently loyalty means nothing anymore.” The last words were uttered in a lower voice, something dark behind Bertrand’s eyes.
“Let it rest, Bertrand,” Sophia said wearily. “He’s in the dungeons, what more do you want?”
“Steal from you?” Elowen repeated, her eyes flying between the siblings.
Sophia gave her head another small shake, but Bertrand transferred his attention to Elowen.
“Yes, Your Highness, the servant I foolishly trusted with a position far beyond his merits wasn’t satisfied with harming both my affairs and my reputation.
Since he was taken by the royal guard, I’ve discovered that he ransacked my belongings without me noticing.
I can only assume he intended to find enough of value to run away before his misdeeds came to light. Fortunately, he didn’t manage that.”
He glanced up the table, his face twisting into a look of polite derision that made his manner much more familiar.
“I don’t see any sign of our noble victor.”
“He’s resting after the exertions of the tournament,” Elowen said shortly, watching him for his reaction.
One eyebrow curved artfully upward. “He has a delicate constitution, it seems. Was he really overpowered by his efforts in the tournament? Or is it that, having secured what he needed and formalized the betrothal, he no longer feels any need to court our favor and pander to our ways by continuing his public duties?”
“Of course that’s not the case,” Elowen snapped, annoyed to see that many of the courtiers within hearing range were murmuring disapprovingly to one another. Of course they were glad of any reason to think poorly of the Siqualian.
“I hope not, my dear Princess.” Bertrand leaned forward. “I would hate to see you with the kind of man who loses interest once he’s gotten what he wants from you. Women as beautiful as you do sometimes have that problem, I’m told.”
Elowen felt her cheeks heat, as much from anger as from his insinuations.
She longed to hurl accusations at him, but she knew she had to hold her tongue.
She had no proof that he’d done anything untoward.
Even his brazen appearance at lunch seemed to mock her suspicions.
And she didn’t know if she could trust her suspicions in the first place.
She had no impartial argument against him, only her own scathing dislike.
She contented herself with glaring at the few others who were still muttering about Theo’s absence. None of them seemed to even notice.
Prince Xavier had been right. Theo didn’t deserve the suspicion and poor treatment he’d received.
Theo. She was itching to get back to him.
She cast another look over the assembled members of the court, searching for hidden enemies.
She hated to suspect her own people, but if someone had attacked Theo, it must have been someone Torrenese.
There was no other explanation. If he had even been attacked, she amended, her certainty wavering.
The physician had said that exposure to poison would likely have killed him by now.
Would Theo be dead already if he’d drained the whole goblet as he was supposed to do?
She’d hoped to wait Bertrand out, but he showed every sign of settling in for a long meal. Unwilling to delay, Elowen lowered her voice as soon as he was distracted with his food.
“Sophia, tell me. You found something out.”
Sophia moved a thin sliver of ham around her plate with her fork. She didn’t seem to have much appetite.
“I spoke to Simeon,” she said, her words barely above a whisper.
“They let you see him?”
Sophia shook her head. “They refused. But I…found a way.”
Elowen frowned in confusion but stayed on the main point. “And?”
“I…he didn’t say much. I mean, there’s not much to tell,” Sophia said lamely.
“What are you talking about?” Elowen hissed. “He must have said something.”
Sophia shrugged, the fact that she was hiding something written as clearly across her face as if she’d used ink.
“He did. He said that I should stay out of it.”
Bertrand claimed their attention again, and Elowen let the matter drop.
She wasn’t done, but she couldn’t focus much on Simeon’s plight with Theo’s situation still so uncertain.
As soon as politeness allowed, she rose from the table and made her way toward the infirmary.
She swept past the guards on the door, stopping in the doorway of Theo’s room.
“What’s amiss?” she asked, alarmed to see Prince Xavier on his feet, with an air of departure.