Chapter 49 Double-Cross
~ brEN ~
I sat across the table from the queen, sipping a cup of wine she’d thoughtlessly poured for me.
For the past hour, she’d barely spoken beyond asking questions—sometimes the same question phrased in a new way.
Sometimes a new question. She’d challenged, brushed off, identified assumptions…
but her eyes remained locked on me, and her jaw tightened with every passing minute until I was afraid her teeth might crack.
“What do you mean a second code?”
“Do you receive intelligence reports directly—I mean, original copies—or do they only come to you from the scribes?”
Her jaw rolled. “Both.”
“If you’ve ever seen the king’s, or have an opportunity to check his records, look for original messages out of Draeventhall for several months, and then Fyrehold in the past month.
You’ll find ink blots, crossouts, and small errors that look very minor or unimportant.
But if you compare the notes, you’ll find the same errors in multiple notes.
Inkblots with ink smeared in different directions.
Crossouts of specific words and in the same position on the page.
Errors in handwriting that aren’t consistent through the whole note.
They’re all symbols. They use the Shadowfang code, but they change its meaning by applying those symbols.
If you can find copies, I can show you.’
Her face paled. “This code… was it used by multiple Furyknights or… just one?”
“I don’t know. I know it was used by Ruin. And I know the king used it sending to him.”
“How do you know?”
“Because we found written orders in Ruin’s chambers—hidden. And Donavyn recognized the king’s handwriting.”
She blinked, then took a drink from her cup, then gestured for me to keep talking…
By the end, she was pacing the room, back and forth, muttering to herself—throwing questions to me, but only nodding when I answered, before asking more.
And it always came back to the same thing: Details she wanted to understand.
Things that had occurred around us in the lead up to our departure, and in Fyrehold.
I gathered she compared my knowledge and experiences with her own.
But she never told me what she thought, or gave me any insight into what she knew.
Still, it was clear the king’s conduct was not stacking up the way she’d wish. I grew steadily hopeful that she was convinced, but also more and more nervous.
With every passing hour, we drew closer to the moment when I could fly back and use Akhane to find Donavyn and Kgosi. I had to pray that Akhane’s pain and that empty feeling wasn’t anything but the painful separation we’d experienced from our mates.
Please, God, don’t let it be anything but the distance…
Now, for the past ten minutes, the queen had sat in her chair across from me, thinking. Her expression was drawn and tight, small lines appearing at the sides of her mouth. She hadn’t spoken. And the one time I’d tried to speak, she shushed me without even meeting my eyes.
So, I was on the edge of my seat, hands wringing, praying that she believed me. And that she had some recourse. Some way to intervene. That she wouldn’t just take it to the king and reveal what she now knew—
“I assume many witnessed your return to the Keep?” she asked quietly. As if we were in casual conversation.
I startled, but nodded. “Yes. Akhane was very weak, and I was too. I tried to make it look worse so I could call for Terra, but Akhane is truly suffering. She exhausted herself to get us here. To you.”
The queen’s throat bobbed. “You have to return to your duties. Very few know that you are here, but that number is not zero, and one of those in particular… if my husband has reason to secretly watch or listen to my chambers… he may already be aware that you’re here.”
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. “Your Majesty—”
“You must go back to your life as a Furyknight—a woman with minimal purpose, whose dragon has lost her mate, and is devastated. A woman unable to carry the burden of her dragon’s grief. Let them see you as what they believe you to be,” she said flatly.
I wanted to stand in defense of my brothers, who saw me as much more than just a female in a man's shadow, but I understood what she meant. “Your Majesty, when I arrived, I told my brother that I had to speak to Terra, and Terra told anyone who would listen that I was sick and needed resources only available here in your wing. No one in my sphere knows I’m here with you.”
Her gaze sharpened. “Are you not listening, Bren? Do you really believe Terra just walks alone to my door and requests an audience?”
“No, but—”
“So, please, listen this time: You. Must. Go. Back.”
I swallowed. “Back to Fyrehold?”
She shook her head. “Back to the Academy. Back to training as a Furyknight. Back to…” she looked away, then dropped her voice. “Those who serve as you serve.” She gave me a pointed look.
The Shadowfang. I nodded, but chose my words carefully. “That… that was the plan.”
“Continue as you are. Speak of nothing about which you’ve spoken to me. Leave this to me.”
I frowned. “But—”
The queen shot to her feet and swept towards the door. “You have been a good and faithful servant, and I will commend you for it when this is done. But now you must leave the rest of this to me. Until I have gotten to the bottom of this, you give no indication of the truth.”
“But I have to go back to Donavyn!” I stammered. “I have to make sure he’s made it. That they’re safe!”
The queen whirled on me. “You will do no such thing. You will ensure everyone in this palace and the surrounding Keep knows that Donavyn is dead, along with his dragon. That was your plan, was it not?”
“Yes, but that was to get here. That was to get in front of you—”
“That is a good plan, and you’ll keep it. That is, if you still serve the crown?”
I stared at her. “I will not do anything that might make it easier for that… that… evil man to succeed in this venture.”
The queen’s lips turned up on one side in a menacing smile that made my blood run cold.
“Then we are in alignment, and you will listen: My husband is no fool. He will already know that you have returned, though by some grace of God he may not know you’re with me.
Regardless, it is imperative that the news he hears is the loss of Donavyn.
I need to speak to him, you understand. I need to…
hear what he has to say about this devastating blow to the kingdom. ”
Of course she did. I hadn’t thought of that. I swallowed hard. “But you must be careful too. The message we intercepted said that no one was to share this with you. That means he’s working around you, or—”
“Trust me, Bren. I am well aware of what that means. Which is why you are returning to the Keep to maintain this facade, and leaving the king to me. You will take orders from me, and no one else in the castle. Should my husband, or any man other than your leader among the brotherhood in the shadows give you instruction, you say, yes sir, then you come to me personally. I will receive you. You understand? But until then, you give no hint that we have spoken, or if that is revealed, you were falling apart and unable to talk about your mate because you have hidden that from the Furyknights, hence why you asked for me. If anyone indicates they know you’ve visited me, that is what I will tell them—and you must do the same. Do you understand?”
I nodded reluctantly.
“Good. Then get out there. Be weak. Be emotional. Be useless. Make them believe they are dealing with a broken woman and her broken dragon, until you hear from me. And do not fear, Bren. My husband is no fool—and neither am I. Apparently, there are traitors in this palace. But your instincts were correct, I am not one of them.”
Then she opened the door so that I couldn’t speak again in case someone else heard, and she gestured towards the door for me to leave.
Unsettled, and anxious about Donavyn, I walked slowly out of the room, moving as if I struggled to keep my feet, holding my stomach and grimacing.
The queen snippily ordered one of the guards to usher me back to the Keep where those creatures would take care of me. Then she slammed the door at my back.
All I could do was pray that she hadn’t deceived me.
I asked the guard to take me to Terra, knowing she could help me get back to the dragons, and the guard was relieved not to have to leave the Palace.
It wasn’t until I was walking arm-in-arm with the worried healer—because my shakiness on my feet wasn’t entirely faked—that I realized I’d left the blanket in the queen’s room—with my knife, and the vial I’d been carrying since I left.
Terra diverted us back to her physician's chambers where my other knives remained with my dirty leathers, and she gave me another vial. “Pray to God you don’t need it,” she whispered.
Then she handed me a waterskin too. “You need to drink. You’re dehydrated.
If you want to feel better, that’s the fastest way to heal.
Keep sipping at that until it’s gone, then refill it and start again. ”
I took it, and stood there, under her eyes, drinking a few swallows, until she nodded and I was allowed to tie it to my belt.
“Let’s go,” she said grimly.
It wasn’t until we were on the road between the palace and the Keep, that I remembered the complicating factor that most of my things were at Donavyn’s apartment, and Terra believed I still lived in Kgosi’s stable.
“I need to take another message to the Officers,” I said casually. “I’ll be fine if you just leave me at their building—”