Chapter 40 #2
“I have taken them under my protection,” he said firmly.
Zachary got to his feet, slapping his hand against his thigh.
“Give me their name.”
“Zachary,” Drake murmured, not moving, but Zachary ignored him.
Matthew shook his head.
“Then it shall be pistols at dawn.”
Matthew sucked in a breath, his heart feeling like lead in his chest as Zachary challenged him to the duel. They were illegal, but they still happened often enough that there was no mistaking what he was saying. His stomach turned over.
He did not want to duel Zachery.
One of them could easily be killed.
Surely, there had already been enough death and loss.
But looking into Zachary’s red-rimmed eyes, his emotions burning in his gaze, Matthew could see that his friend did not feel the same.
Brushing his fingers over his pocket, he found it empty. He felt frozen in place, unsure of what to do. Sebastian had said he must make decisions, then deal with the consequences, just like everyone else, but this… what was he supposed to make of this?
He did not want a duel. He had promised Johanna he would protect her mother.
And it seemed like that oath of protection was going to include protecting her against his very own friends.
“Zachary,” Nathanial chided, aghast.
“What?” Zachary turned in place, his fists clenched at his side. “He is protecting a murderer.”
“No, he is protecting someone who sold sleeping potions to a murderer,” Gregory corrected, rubbing his fingers across his brow. His usual smile had been wiped from his lips. “It is not the same thing.”
“They still need to be punished.” Zachary slammed his fist into his palm, looking around the circle at the rest of them in disbelief that no one was jumping to agree with him.
He looked at Drake, who was still sitting back in his chair with his eyes closed, the rise and fall of his chest so even with long, deep breaths that he might have been sleeping, but they all knew he was not. “Drake… you loved your father…”
“I did,” Drake confirmed.
“You cannot just arbitrarily punish everyone,” Christian interrupted, with surprising heat. He glared at Zachary. “This plot seems to go wider and deeper than we realized, and—”
“Easy for you to say. Everyone knows your father thought you were a disappointment and your mother is dead, so you do not have to explain to her why you’re unwilling to punish those involved.” Zachary snapped out the words.
Everyone leaned back in their seats, and Drake’s eyes flew open. Gregory hissed under his breath as Christian’s face went stark white.
Zachary closed his eyes and shook his head. “I’m sorry… I… I’m sorry. I did not mean… but I stand by what I said. Someone needs to pay for what was done to our fathers.”
“The right people need to pay,” Drake said firmly, staring at Zachary. His expression had hardened to stone. “I do not want dupes and scapegoats; I want the person behind it all.”
Zachary looked down at the floor, his shoulders tight with tension.
He did not respond to Drake’s remark as he sank back into his chair.
Matthew got the feeling that Zachary would happily have everyone hang, even those who did not know what they had gotten themselves into. Johanna had been right to be fearful.
He brushed his fingers over his pocket again.
He did not know if he should keep going.
But he did not know if he could just stop now, either. He had already started to tell them.
“Someone has to pay,” Zachary repeated, but now he sounded more forlorn than angry.
Sebastian leaned over and put his hand on Zachary’s shoulder.
“They will,” Sebastian said gently. He was pale, too.
Like Zachary, he’d had a good relationship with his father.
Matthew was thankful that he was not rushing into anger in the same way.
“But Drake is right, we want the person behind the plot.” He looked up at Matthew.
“This person, did they know what the sleeping potions were to be used for?”
“No, of course not.”
“They should have asked,” Zachary replied bitterly, sitting up and shaking Sebastian’s hand off his shoulder.
“Ah, yes,” Christian quipped dryly. He was still pale but had rallied. What Zachary had said to him was cruel. “I’m sure that if they had asked Montblanc, he would have told them it was to assist him in murdering a bunch of nobility. He certainly would not have lied about that.”
Zachary looked down at the floor again, shaking his head, but he did not say anything. He likely did not want to say anything else so harsh to Christian, not after his first outburst.
“We do not even know if he knew how many of our fathers were targeted,” Gregory said. “Since the note he left said that he did not realize what he’d gotten himself into. How can a… well, anyone, selling sleeping potions think that they would be used in such an outrageous manner?”
“That is also not the important part,” Matthew interjected.
His fingers came up empty again, but it did not matter.
Regardless of what Zachary, or any of the others, thought about him protecting Johanna’s mother, he was going to do it, and he was going to focus them on the most important part.
The actual new clue. Hopefully, it would be enough to divert Zachary’s attention, though he would have to tell Johanna not to trust Zachary in the future.
The thought made his chest ache, but Zachary’s rage was too hot to be logical.
“The important part is that the steward sent a man to pick up some of the potions, and I recognized his description.”
“Another dupe?” Zachary asked sarcastically.
“And what does that matter that there is now another person we have to chase down, who was not directly connected to our fathers’ deaths?
Or are you saying that you believe this man might be the leader of the plot?
” His voice dripped with disdain, obviously still unhappy that he was not getting what he wanted.
Matthew shook his head and leaned forward.
“Because, unlike the person who came to me with the information, who had no connection to any of our fathers, this man had good reason to want my father dead.”