Chapter Twenty-One
Darragh looked up from the harbor expansion proposal when his office door opened. Finn stepped inside, closed the door behind him with deliberate care.
“Can we talk?”
Something in Finn’s voice - controlled but strained - made Darragh set down his quill immediately. “Of course.”
Finn crossed to the desk but didn’t sit. Stood with his hands clasped behind his back like a soldier preparing for inspection. The formal posture, the careful neutrality of his expression - it was all wrong, and it broke Darragh’s heart. This wasn’t the man Darragh had married.
“I need to tell you something. About the summit preparations.”
“All right.”
“There have been problems. Small ones at first, but they’ve been adding up.
” Finn’s voice remained steady, methodical.
“Wine delivered to the wrong entrance. Invitations sent with incorrect dates. Furniture specifications altered. My file on Queen Valdis disappeared from my desk and turned up in a storage closet I’ve never visited. ”
Darragh leaned back in his chair, frowning. “I knew about some of those. You said they were stress mistakes…”
“I thought they were. But last night I saw Thomas leaving the records room after midnight. When I checked, the master timeline for delegation arrivals was missing.” Finn met Darragh’s gaze directly. “I think Thomas has been sabotaging the summit preparations. Or sabotaging me specifically.”
The words hung in the air between them.
Darragh’s first instinct was denial. “Thomas? He’s been my adviser since I became king. He’s quiet and careful, but he’s loyal…”
“Is he?” Finn moved to the window, still maintaining that rigid control.
“Let me walk you through the incidents. The wine arrived at the east entrance instead of the west. The manifest showed amended instructions claiming I’d requested the change, but I hadn’t.
The handwriting wasn’t mine, but someone could claim it was similar enough. ”
“That could be an honest mistake…”
“Three delegations received invitations with the wrong summit dates. I checked my master copy - it had the correct date. Helena showed me the copies that were sent out. Different dates, but formatted exactly like my originals.”
Darragh started to speak, but Finn continued.
“Furniture arrived with completely wrong specifications. The furniture master showed me an amended work order with altered measurements, marked as my corrections. The handwriting was similar to mine, but it wasn’t mine. I would never make a mistake with measurements.”
Finn turned from the window. “My file on Queen Valdis - the most politically sensitive delegation attending - disappeared from my locked desk and turned up in a random storage closet.”
“Someone could have accidentally…”
“Thomas commented two weeks ago during a planning session. I’d suggested a different seating arrangement for the opening banquet, and he said something about merchants not understanding court protocols.
” Finn’s voice remained level, but his hands tightened behind his back.
“Helena told him to be constructive. Aldric changed the subject. I thought I’d imagined the insult, and that I was being too sensitive. ”
Darragh felt something cold settling in his stomach. He wanted to keep defending Thomas, wanted to believe in the adviser who’d served his father before him. But as Finn laid out the evidence - the timing, the pattern, Thomas’s proximity to each problem - denial became impossible.
“Why would Thomas do this?” The question sounded weak even as Darragh asked it.
Finn’s laugh was bitter. “Because he doesn’t think I’m good enough.
Because he’s a snob who thinks a carpenter has no business being king consort.
” He moved away from the window, that terrible formal control still locked in place.
“Maybe he thinks if I fail badly enough during the summit, I’ll leave.
Or you’ll realize you made a mistake, cut me off, and find someone ‘suitable’ instead. ”
The words cut deeper because they were probably true.
Darragh had seen the skepticism in Thomas’s eyes during that first council meeting when Finn confused import and export taxes - had watched Thomas’s lips thin when Finn suggested reorganizing the laundry schedule.
Had heard the careful politeness in Thomas’s voice when addressing Finn - the kind of courtesy that held contempt underneath.
He’d noticed all of it and dismissed it as Thomas being Thomas. Reserved, traditional, and slow to warm to change. Not as Thomas actively trying to destroy Finn’s credibility.
“I need proof,” Darragh said finally. “If I’m going to confront him and definitely dismiss him, I need something solid.”
“I know.” Finn’s voice was flat. “That’s why I’m telling you now instead of three weeks ago when the first incident happened. I needed to see the pattern.”
Darragh stood and moved around the desk. He wanted to pull Finn into his arms, but recognized the distance in his husband’s posture. “We should bring in Helena and Aldric. Create a plan…”
“A trap.”
“Evidence,” Darragh corrected. “We’ll create a situation where Thomas shows his hand.” He reached for Finn’s arm. “You were right to come to me.”
Finn’s smile was sharp and joyless. “I should have realized sooner. I’ve been so focused on not making mistakes that I didn’t see someone was making them for me.”
/~/~/~/~/
Helena’s face remained impassive as Darragh explained the situation, but her fingers drummed once on the council table, the only sign of her anger. Aldric’s face flushed red.
“That little snake,” Aldric muttered. “Begging your pardon, Your Majesty, but if this is true…”
“We need proof before we act,” Helena interrupted. “Thomas has served this kingdom for years. His father served your grandfather. If we dismiss him based on circumstantial evidence, we risk looking capricious.” She looked at Finn. “Or looking like we’re retaliating against legitimate criticism.”
Finn’s jaw tightened, but he nodded.
“We’ll create a test,” Darragh said. “Something Thomas would want to interfere with.”
Helena tapped the table thoughtfully. “What about the final guest list for the opening banquet? It’s politically sensitive.
You know how much seating arrangements matter.
If we plant a version with a significant error, one that Thomas would notice.
..” she paused. “He wouldn’t be able to resist ‘correcting’ it in a way that reflects poorly on Finn. ”
“We’ll need witnesses,” Aldric added. “Not just us. Someone neutral who can corroborate what happens.”
They spent the next hour crafting the trap.
A deliberately flawed seating chart that placed Queen Valdis below her proper rank - an insult significant enough that Thomas would feel obligated to act.
They’d leave it in Finn’s office with a note indicating Finn had finalized the arrangements. Then they’d watch.
“Gordon should be told,” Helena said. “He’s loyal to Finn and sharp enough to notice if Thomas attempts something.”
Finn spoke for the first time since the meeting began. “What happens if we’re wrong? If Thomas doesn’t take the bait?”
“Then we reevaluate,” Darragh said. “But I don’t think we’re wrong.”
The certainty in his own voice surprised him.
Thomas had been part of Darragh’s council since he’d taken the throne - quiet Thomas, who preferred research to negotiation, who always had statistics and historical precedents ready.
Loyal Thomas. Except Darragh was seeing now that loyalty to the kingdom and loyalty to its king weren’t the same thing.
And loyalty to tradition could make someone do terrible things to protect it.
/~/~/~/~/
Finn left immediately after the meeting ended, claiming he needed to review delegation schedules. Darragh let him go, recognizing that his husband needed space to process everything.
But when midnight came, and Finn still hadn’t appeared in their chambers, Darragh went looking.
He found Finn in his office, papers spread across the desk in organized stacks.
Not working frantically as he had been for weeks, but methodically creating backup systems, verification procedures, and redundancies that would make sabotage nearly impossible.
“Come to bed.”
Finn looked up, his face drawn with exhaustion. “I need to finish this.”
“Finn…”
“I should have realized sooner.” Finn’s hands stilled on the papers.
“All those mistakes, all those problems - I thought it was me. I thought I was failing because I wasn’t good enough, wasn’t smart enough, wasn’t suited for this position.
” His voice cracked slightly. “And maybe I’m not.
Maybe Thomas is right about that part. But I should have seen what he was doing. ”
Darragh moved around the desk and pulled the papers from Finn’s hands. “You saw it. You figured it out. That’s what matters.”
“I wasted weeks thinking I was incompetent…”
“You spent weeks trying to be perfect under impossible circumstances.” Darragh gripped Finn’s shoulders. “Thomas created those circumstances. He manipulated you into doubting yourself, into changing everything about who you are. That’s not your failure. That’s his.”
Finn’s eyes were red-rimmed, his face pale. “What if the trap doesn’t work? What if we can’t prove it?”
“Then we’ll find another way.” Darragh pulled Finn to his feet. “But tonight, you’re going to sleep. Actually, sleep, not pass out over your desk at three in the morning.”
He led Finn through the quiet castle to their chambers, helped him undress, and pushed him toward the bed. Finn climbed in mechanically, still wearing that terrible blank expression.
Darragh slid in beside him and pulled Finn close. It hurt that his husband’s body remained rigid and unyielding, but Darragh knew he deserved it.
“I married you for your authenticity,” Darragh murmured.
“Because you treat me like a man first, a monarch second. Because you bring laughter into my life and push back when I need it and give a damn about repairing what’s damaged.
” He pressed his face against Finn’s hair. “Thomas can’t change any of that.”
Finn didn’t respond. Eventually, his breathing evened out into sleep, but even unconscious, he remained tense, curled in on himself.
Darragh lay awake, fury building in his chest. He was struggling to believe all he’d learned, and yet now that he knew about it, it was impossible to ignore.
Thomas - quiet, loyal Thomas who’d served Darragh’s father. Who’d helped Darragh navigate his first year as king. Who’d apparently decided that a fifth son with no court training had no business wearing the consort’s crown.
And maybe Thomas wasn’t wrong about the court training. Maybe Finn did lack the polish and diplomatic experience that someone else might have brought to the position.
But Darragh had chosen Finn anyway and had seen past all the logical objections to the person underneath. He had believed that love and authenticity were enough.
It was me who was naive.
The court was brutal to outsiders. Darragh knew that.
He had watched it devour well-meaning people before.
He should have protected Finn better. Should have anticipated that someone would try to undermine him.
Should have built stronger defenses around his husband instead of just insisting that Finn be himself.
Being himself was never going to work for Finn if someone was actively sabotaging every act.
In the quiet of the night, listening to Finn’s quiet breathing, Darragh made a silent vow.
Things would change. He wouldn’t just be supportive anymore - wouldn’t just reassure Finn that everything would work out. He’d be a true partner. He would actively help Finn navigate their world rather than throwing him into it and expecting authenticity to carry him through.
No more letting his advisers question Finn’s competence. Darragh was determined to establish Finn’s authority so clearly that no one would dare undermine it.
Protect who I love instead of assuming love is protection enough.
Finn shifted in his sleep, a small sound escaping his throat. Darragh tightened his arms around him.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I should have seen this sooner. Should have protected you better.”
Darragh closed his eyes but didn’t sleep. He just held his husband and planned for the morning, when they’d bait the trap and wait to see if Thomas would damn himself.