Chapter 51
Belle
I put my plan into action at dawn.
When Loreli’s replacement arrived with my breakfast, I told her I was feeling unwell and wished to sleep for the rest of the day without being disturbed.
As soon as she left, I threw on the uniform Loreli had left, stashed my bow, riding leathers, and bag of supplies, then snuck out through the secret passage and into the servants’ halls. Anyone would recognize my lavender eyes up close, but I was hoping that I might go unnoticed from afar.
I emerged a few dozen paces from my first target: the king’s study.
The immortals all slept during the day, didn’t they? Hopefully, the bastard was wrapped in a woman’s arms and unconscious with drink. The unbidden thought was bitter in my mouth.
I put it out of my mind and checked the halls one last time. All clear. Holding my breath, I crept down the corridor to the study door and pressed my ear against it, waiting as long as I dared. Silence from within. So far, so good.
Magic flowed through my fingers and into the handle, and several locks clicked. The door cracked an inch. I swung it open and sighed with relief. Empty.
Shutting the door behind me, I began rifling through papers. There had to be evidence of what he was planning. Letters littered the king’s desk, and more were tucked haphazardly on the shelves.
After minutes of fruitless searching, I slapped a stack of papers down. I was going about this all wrong.
Praying the trick that had led me to the secret door would work again, I snatched a quill from the king’s desk and gently channeled my magic into it. “I’m looking for letters between the king and General Sarkis. Anything you can find.”
The quill lifted and floated in the air, then after a moment, shot forward to the shelf, tapping on a folded letter.
Triumph joined the nervous energy flowing through me.
I pulled it free and flipped it open, quickly scanning the contents: a request from Sarkis for plans of Castle Silverthorn, as well as maps of the Bloodvale and a description of the mountain pass.
Invasion plans.
It was what I expected, but a part of me prayed that I was wrong. A foolish, lovesick, deluded part.
The quill tapped on another letter, and as soon as I extracted it, the pen flipped around and darted to the king’s desk, where it tapped on the top drawer. I tested it, but it was locked.
I cut off the trickle of magic flowing to the quill and redirected it to unlock the drawer. Inside were stacks of paper weighted down by the tusk of a bloodgolt.
I ran my fingers over the ring of runes that had been carved around the base. Had Valen been planning to give this to me?
Cruel memories of the hunt came flowing back, but I pushed them away.
The lying bastard. He was planning to send a legion of bloodthirsty mercenaries to invade my homeland.
To overthrow my sister. The king was dead to me.
His kindness only a deception, his interest and desire feigned.
He was trying to distract me, to keep me docile, a pet to be ransomed or a puppet to be toyed with.
I set the tusk down. At least I got something out of the asshole.
Digging through the drawer, I discovered a folded parchment that had once been sealed with red wax.
I opened it and held my breath. It was Valen’s copy of his contract with the Crimson Host. My finger drifted down the page until it came to rest on his signature, just above that of General Sarkis, and a splattering of blood.
The corners of my eyes stung. The contract spelled out everything, listing the exact price Valen had agreed to pay Sarkis to sack our kingdom.
I’ll kill them both.
My eyes moved to the date and I paused. It had been signed two years ago, but the general’s officers had claimed that they’d only been on the march for two months—which meant that they’d left shortly after Cassius had been crowned king.
The implications sank in. The invasion plans had been years in the making, but Valen had only pulled the trigger after Cassius had taken the throne.
Apparently, the monster had been willing to tolerate his brother as a prince, just not as king.
I gathered up the contract and letters, then shoved them into my satchel along with the tusk. In a thousand years, I would never raise a finger to harm Ella, yet here was all the evidence I needed to prove Valen was plotting against his own brother. The brute.
I’d kissed him. And I would’ve given him more.
My heart twisted beneath the lies and betrayal, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
Then I heard his voice.
“I don’t want to argue about this anymore! It’s past dawn, and I want to be free of this nightmare for a few solitary hours.”
I went still, my eyes locked on the door.
“You can’t put Sarkis off any longer. He expects a new contract.”
Locke. They weren’t in the hallway, but in the enclosed courtyard below. I rushed to the window but didn’t dare look.
“I have half a mind to leave his corpse in a ditch,” Valen snapped.
I drew in a sharp breath. Was he trying to get rid of the general? Everything I’d learned tilted in my mind, realigning itself. Could he have told me the truth after all?
“Then he won’t be able to take the Bloodvale for you, will he?”
It was a blade, twisting in my heart, and I pressed my fist to my mouth to cut off the scream of rage.
“There’s another way. I will find it.”
“There isn’t. Either—” Locke’s voice cut off.
“What is it?” Valen asked.
I held my breath. Could the high magister have heard me? Impossible if Valen hadn’t.
When Locke began speaking again, his voice had changed, low and on edge, though still within hearing. “If you do not implement this plan, then there is only one other option.”
Silence extended between them, and when Valen spoke at last, his voice was haunted. “I must kill my brother.”
“Your brother,” Locke said. “And his bride.”