Chapter 25
R o had never been so happy to see a roofline in all her days. Willow Hall was in sight. She had a few things to take care of, some people to speak to, but as soon as possible, she was getting straight into the bath and staying there until she’d become a giant, unstressed prune.
She imagined most in her party had the same plans. Except for Valentyne, of course. He’d be escorted to the Willow Hall holding cells. One of the things Ro needed to take care of was letting Anyka know her tracker had failed and was in Ro’s custody. Ro’s hope was that Anyka would visit Valentyne in his cell and the man would be able to extract some information from the Malveaux queen.
That was the deal she’d made with him. If he got something worthwhile from Anyka, something actionable, Ro would spare him a trip to Tenebrae and keep him in the Summerton prison instead.
Unbeknownst to Valentyne, Gabriel would use his special abilities to hide near the holding cell, waiting and listening. That would ensure that they’d know the truth and if Valentyne lied.
Gabriel had confessed to Ro that he expected Anyka, or someone working for her, to attempt to kill Valentyne for his failure. Ro understood perfectly Gabriel’s need to protect his brother.
They might not be close, but he was still family, something that resonated with her. It made her appreciate Gabriel even more. It showed great depth of character to want to protect someone who had essentially betrayed you, all because of blood ties.
As if he knew she was thinking about him, he rode up alongside her. “Once I get Valentyne secured in a cell, I’ll let you know. When will you send word to Anyka?”
Ro nodded. “Immediately. I don’t want you stuck down there for ages.”
“Very good. Once she makes her visit, I’ll personally take Val through the portal to Summerton. I’ll get him to the prison, apprise the warden of his crimes, and I’ll be back here within a matter of hours. Until then, I’m assigning a guard to take my place.”
“That’s fine, but it’s unlikely I’ll leave the apartment until you return. I plan on spending most of that time soaking in the bath.”
He smiled. “Be that as it may, I would feel better giving you another guard. If anything were to happen to you in my absence, I would never forgive myself.”
“I know.”
He lowered his voice. “Perhaps this evening, once this is done, we could spend some time together?”
“I would like that very much.”
“Excellent, my lady.”
Trence was outside to greet them, along with a slew of stablehands, when they arrived. He bowed. “I pray you had an easy and worthwhile trip, your highness. Welcome back to Willow Hall.”
She dismounted and handed the reins off to one of the stablehands, but not before giving Indi’s muzzle a kiss. “Enjoy your rest and thank you for taking such good care of me.” She looked at Trence. “Thank you. It was definitely a worthwhile trip. A very interesting one, too. We need to make use of your holding cells. Minister Gabriel has a prisoner he needs to deal with.”
Trence didn’t miss a beat. “Absolutely. They are always ready.”
“Thank you. Did I miss anything while I was gone?” She trusted Trence to fill her in.
He made a little face. “Queen Anyka sent you a letter. I cannot speak to its contents, of course, but I believe you’ll find it in your quarters. It also seems that her Minister of Magic has taken ill. Otherwise, things have been about the same.” He smiled. “It goes without saying that your presence was missed.”
“That’s very kind of you.” Nazyr being sick deserved more attention, but so did the letter Anyka had sent. Ro could only imagine what that was about. “Could you have some food sent to my quarters, along with a pot of coffee and a pot of spiced cocoa?”
“Right away, your highness.”
“Thank you.”
Gabriel joined them, his hand gripping Valentyne’s arm, as his hands were bound behind his back.
She spoke to Gabriel. “I’ve let Trence know we need a holding cell.”
“Good,” Gabriel said.
Trence nodded. “I’ll take you there as soon as I send a footman to see to her majesty’s food order.”
Uldamar joined them. “Your highness, if you have no further need of me, I’ll be in my quarters.”
“I’ll walk with you. I’m headed to the royal apartment myself.” She nodded at Gabriel. “We’ll speak later?”
“As soon as I’m able.”
“Good.” She took Uldamar’s arm. “Let’s go.”
As soon as they were alone, he spoke. “Do you think Valentyne will be successful in this mission you’ve given him?”
“He will if he wants to avoid Tenebrae.”
Uldamar smiled. “You are more ruthless than I imagined. I mean that as a compliment, my lady. Because of your abundant kindness, you don’t appear to have that kind of determination in you. Perhaps that is why Anyka underestimates you. Whatever the reason, you are a formidable ruler. Every day I see more and more why Merediem chose you.”
“Thank you, Uldamar. I learned from Trence that Nazyr is ill. He didn’t elaborate but I wonder if that’s something you might be able to find out more about. I was thinking you might pay a visit to him, one wizard to another?”
“I can certainly try.”
“I know you’re tired. I am, too. I also know the only thing you really want to do is take a long, hot bath, because I’m right there with you. But if you can do this and at least get confirmation that Nazyr is alive—”
“You think he’s not?”
They stepped into the palace through one of the garden entrances. “This is Anyka we’re talking about. If she found out Nazyr is JT’s father…”
Uldamar’s brow furrowed. “That would be quite a reaction, even from her.”
“Maybe.” Ro kept the rest to herself. She had begun to think that when it came to Anyka, anything was possible. And the connection between Nazyr and JT wasn’t going to stay secret forever.
Uldamar responded as they made their way to the portal. “I will see what I can find out. At the very least, I should be able to cast a spell that will tell me if there is a heartbeat in his chambers. Then we’ll know if he’s alive or not.
“That would be better than nothing.”
They got into the portal. Ro looked down the long hall across from the portal, wondering if JT and Violet were out there somewhere or in the apartment. She was sure they’d have a lot to tell her.
“It’s good to be back,” Uldamar said as the doors closed.
He’d already set the dial for the second floor. Ro nodded. “You can say that again.”
“It’s good to be back.”
She smiled. The doors opened. They walked out. “Stay safe on your visit. Don’t do anything risky. I need you.”
“I will be safe, your highness. I swear it.”
They said goodbye at the door, in front of the guard, then she went in and he headed toward the Malveaux side of the palace.
Ro came through the foyer and looked around the empty sitting room. “JT? Aunt Violet? Wiggy? Benny? Anyone?”
A plaintive meow greeted her and Benny came running in. She scooped him up and kissed his face. “Hello, you sweet thing. Did you miss me? I missed you. Where’s Wiggy, huh? Did she find herself a rodent yet?”
Benny purred and made biscuits on her arm.
“I guess we’re alone.”
“Mom? You’re back!”
She turned to see JT coming out from the other room. “You’re here. Hi, sweetheart!”
He nodded. “I was having a nap. Raphaela and I have been training a lot lately. I guess it wore me out more than I realized, because I did not plan to sleep after I showered.”
“Is Raphaela here?”
“No. She went to get cleaned up. I told her to take her time and that I’d send for her if I was going to go anywhere.”
“Where’s Aunt Violet?”
“She and Posey are taking a floral arranging class today in one of the greenhouses. I don’t know how long she’s going to be.”
She set Benny on the couch and went to hug her son. “I missed you. All of you.”
“We missed you, too.” He held her tight a moment longer, then let her go. “Anyka sent you a letter, but we didn’t open it.” He shrugged. “It had your name on it.”
“You could have opened it. Wouldn’t have bothered me. You are the crown prince.”
“Yeah, well, still didn’t feel right. The other thing you need to know is that Anyka knows Nazyr is my biological father. She literally called me and Aunt Vi into a private room to tell me as much.”
Ro sighed. “I knew it would come out. Did she say how she knew?”
“No. Once she had me and Aunt Violet together, she basically just blurted it out. It surprised me, but I held it together and acted like it was no big deal. I don’t think that’s what she was expecting, because she got up, gave us both this killer look and walked out like she’d just had this mic-drop moment, which she definitely had not .”
“I don’t know if this is at all connected, but Nazyr is apparently unwell. Trence told me. I sent Uldamar to see if he could find out anything.”
JT’s eyes narrowed. “That makes sense. I mean, I don’t feel like I’ve seen him in a day or two. He’s either sick, gone back to Malveaux, or dead.”
Ro hadn’t considered that he’d gone back to Malveaux. “Hopefully, Uldamar will tell us soon.”
“How was your trip? You must be beat. What happened? Did you find Lady Cynzia? I’m guessing not, because I feel like you would have led with that.”
“I am exhausted. It was a good trip. Really interesting. About Lady Cynzia—”
She was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Ro’s brows lifted. “Maybe that’s Uldamar.”
“I’ll get it,” JT said as he went to answer it. “You relax.”
Ro picked Benny up and sat on the couch with him. JT returned with two footmen trailing him. “Your food has arrived.”
“Oh, good.” She’d hoped to be cleaned up by now, but that could wait.
The footmen filled the sideboard with a platter of small, triangular sandwich halves and an assortment of pickles, a large bowl of fruit, another of salad, a tray with a variety of cookies, chocolate bonbons, and tartlets, and finally, a pitcher each of coffee, spiced cocoa, and ice water, along with plates, cups, utensils, and napkins.
JT looked at it all. “Did you invite people over?”
She shook her head. “Just asked Trence to send some food up.”
JT snorted. “He errs on the side of too much. I kind of like that about the guy.”
She set Benny aside and got up to fix herself a plate. “He’s an overachiever, that’s for sure.”
She filled a plate with three sandwich halves, one that looked like egg salad on toasted white bread, one that was ham and cheese on brown bread, and another that was roast beef on seeded wheat. She added a few pickles and a small bunch of grapes. She fixed herself a cup of half coffee and half cocoa, then went back to her seat. “So, let me tell you about the trip.”
“Don’t you want to eat first?”
“I can eat and talk. Are you going to eat?”
He nodded, moving toward the food. “Did you meet the Wyvern? I’m dying to hear what they’re like.”
“We did,” she answered after she’d swallowed the bite she’d taken. “King Ehlzar and Queen Varyana. They are lovely people. The treaty agreement needs to be written up, but they’ve assured me it’s as good as done. I gave Queen Varyana one of my trillianite rings because she was admiring it and, unknown to me, the exchange of stones is a significant thing. It basically made us instant best friends.”
“Cool.” JT stuffed half a sandwich in his mouth.
Ro stuck out her wrist. “She gave me this crystal bracelet. They have a lot of crystal. It’s all over there.”
He swallowed, nodding. “I really want to visit. I want to meet them.”
“You’ll be able to soon. I’ve already invited them to Summerton and the treaty deal will include landing rights in Summerton for them and a portal in Hythe for us. Travel will be easy .”
“Way to go, Mom. You’re really nailing this ruling thing.”
She laughed. “Thanks.”
He grinned as he finished his second sandwich half. “Sounds awesome. What did you find out about Lady Cynzia? Was she there?”
“Not exactly. She was, years ago, but she died.” Ro smirked. “King Ehlzar gave us her ashes, which Uldamar has promised to use to create a protection spell against any nonsense Anyka might try. For them and for us.”
“Nice.”
“We also learned Lady Cynzia had a daughter. Her name was Tyssandra. She was apparently a decent, upstanding citizen until one day she just disappeared. They didn’t seem to know much more than that about her.”
“I guess that’s that.”
“Well, there was one more thing that happened.” She told him all about Valentyne, from him being hired by Anyka to being Gabriel’s brother to the sting operation they’d set up.
He blinked before answering. “Holy cow. That woman really has it out for you.”
“It’s not really me she wants. It’s power.” Ro took a long drink of her coffee-cocoa mixture. It was so good. “She’d be doing the same thing to whoever was in my place.”
“Yeah, no doubt.” He went back to the side table for dessert, filling another plate with cookies, chocolates, tartlets, and fruit.
“Hungry?”
He laughed. “Training with Raphaela is intense. You should try it sometime.”
“I think I’ll wait a bit on that. The only thing I’m going to do after I finish this food is take a long soak. Sleeping on the ground is not my favorite thing.”
“I bet. You could get a massage, you know. Trence will send someone up.”
The idea held merit. “I might. Tomorrow. As much as I’d like to take the rest of the day off, I don’t think that’s practical.” She looked around. “Where’s this letter Anyka sent?”
“I put it on your dresser.”
Ro nodded. “All right. I’ll read it when I go in.”
Someone knocked on the door. Again, JT set his plate down and went to get it. He returned with Uldamar. “Look who I found.”
She gestured toward the food. “Uldamar, get something to eat if you’re hungry.”
“Thank you, my lady.” He nodded and helped himself to a sandwich, a little fruit, and some water, then joined them.
“Did you find out anything about Nazyr?” Ro asked.
He chewed, swallowed, then had a drink before speaking. “I did. Nazyr is indeed unwell but it’s not an illness. He’s been possessed by a spirit from the afterlife. A spirit that might be Anyka’s late mother.”
Ro’s mouth gaped open. “What? How do you know?”
“I disguised myself to gain access to his quarters. I was only there briefly. Long enough to ascertain what was going on. He has a nursemaid caring for him and the presence of magic was very strong.”
JT laughed. “You disguised yourself? As what? A footman?”
Uldamar’s expression was serious. He shook his head. “As the only person who wouldn’t be questioned. Queen Anyka.”
Ro scratched under one of her braids. It was time for them to come out and her hair to be washed. “You? As Queen Anyka?”
He passed his hand through the air from his head toward the floor and sitting before them was the woman herself.
Ro gasped. JT just stared. Ro nodded. “I will never doubt you again.”
“Dude,” JT said softly.
Uldamar repeated the hand gesture to dispel the illusion and became himself again. “There’s one more thing. While we were gone, someone searched my quarters. As far as I can tell, nothing was taken, but that is most likely because they didn’t find what they were looking for.”
JT leaned forward. “How do you know someone was in there?”
“I set a few magical wards before we left, all of which were tripped. I also arranged a few more mundane traps.” He lifted his shoulders. “A single hair across the handle of drawer. A tiny feather perfectly positioned to be moved by the breeze of someone passing. All of them are gone or compromised.”
Ro felt a little ill. Things were escalating. “They were most likely searching for Lady Cynzia’s diary. But why would they think it was in your quarters and not in the Summerton vaults? Everyone saw that book disappear. Everyone should believe the book is back at Castle Clarion.”
“They should believe that,” Uldamar agreed, eyes narrowing. “Unless they have a reason not to.”