CHAPTER 34 #2
“If he does, my people will take care of it. Besides, with the Conquerors breathing down his neck, he will be highly unlikely to send more killers. Too risky.” Solentine picked up a box from my shelf, looked into it, and pulled a bar of soap out. “Is this the soap you gave to the Garden?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll need a big box. At least twenty-five bars.”
“What in the void are you going to do with that much soap?” Everard demanded. He sounded irritated. His Grace really didn’t want to leave me unsupervised.
“I’m going to send it to her mother.”
“Why?”
“Because when a woman makes soap, perfume, embroidery, or any other home-related craft, she will gift it to her mother first. If someone comes to Demarr to confirm her identity, the soap will seal the deal.”
“You can have that box,” I told him. “It’s our sampler.”
Solentine picked up the box. “I will pick you up tonight, Ramond.”
Everard waved him off.
Solentine gave me a long look.
Right. “Let me see you off,” I said.
I got up and we walked together down the stairs and across the yard.
We were almost to the front door when he said, “Under no circumstances must you allow him to get you onto a drezmur. No matter what he says, do not go near it, or you will wake up tomorrow in Selva.”
“Understood.”
“Good. Ramond isn’t the only one who has to leave the capital. I’ve received orders to escort my father to the joedurar in person.”
“Why?”
“I have no idea.”
“Did you do something to alarm Sauven?”
“I’ve done absolutely nothing. I don’t know what he is scheming, but I will have to make a public exit tomorrow.
That means that neither Ramond nor I will be here for almost three weeks.
You will have the protection of my people, but without my presence, you will be vulnerable. Do you want to make the trip with me?”
“I can’t. I have to stay here and finish what I started.”
He nodded. “I thought as much. I will respect your wishes. We will talk more tonight, after he leaves.”
He knew I’d seen him shaking his head when Everard asked me about a drezmur.
I’d ignored him, but he didn’t chide me.
He didn’t criticize, he just moved on to mitigate the damage.
That’s how he handled his siblings’ messes.
He’d explained it in the books once. He saw no point in berating his brother and sister for their mistakes.
He trusted that they were smart enough to realize when they blundered. Only fixing it mattered.
In this moment Solentine was treating me the way he did family. It was . . . touching.
“I promise not to get onto the drezmur.”
“If you do, I won’t be able to get you off it.”
“I understand.”
I opened the door for him. “One last thing, before you go. Who did Sauven send as the messenger to the Selva Dukedom?”
Solentine grimaced. “Joris. His new favorite dog.”
Oh no.
I locked the door behind him and hurried across the yard. I ran up the stairs, crossed the hallway, and rushed into the room.
Everard had remained in his chair. I caught a glimpse of his expression as I came through the doorway. His face was harsh and cold, as if carved from ice with a razor-sharp sword.
“The messenger is Joris.”
“What about it?”
“He will poison you. He will use omaran, the same poison that killed your father, and blame the Crimson Empire for it.”
A spark of brilliant green flashed in Everard’s eyes. “Will he, now?”
That’s what happened in the books. The joedurar was called after the assassination of the Sun Margrave, which should’ve happened months from now, but I’d sent the timeline to hell in a handbasket.
In the old timeline Sauven dispatched Joris to fetch Everard with orders to poison him.
Joris had done exactly that, and Everard barely survived that attempt.
It took him months to recover. He couldn’t even attend the joedurar, which was why Sauven demanded his presence at the Winter Hunt.
He was still sick at the Hunt. And then Kiel was murdered, and Kair Toren went off the rails.
“Joris will do it on the way to Kair Toren. The poisoning will be severe enough that you will return to Selva instead of pushing on.”
Everard didn’t seem concerned.
“Listen to me.”
I strode to his chair, leaned my arms on the armrests, and stared straight into his eyes.
“When you meet Joris, don’t touch anything he offers you.
If he brings you a gift of wine, don’t taste it.
If he offers you a beautiful dagger, don’t hold it.
If he gives you a dog as a gift, don’t pet it.
If you smell strong perfume, find a way to exit the room.
Don’t eat with him, don’t drink with him, don’t share any items. Touch nothing his hands have touched. ”
His eyes widened.
“Joris is very good at what he does, and omaran has no antidote. If you feel sick, don’t take the extract of wodon flower.
It will make things worse. Drink a glass of water and make yourself vomit, and then do it again, and again.
Your only hope is to dilute and purge the poison before your body digests it. Promise me.”
He stared.
“Ramond, promise me!”
“I promise.”
“You swear?”
“I do.” He nodded. “I’ll be careful. Trust me, Maggie.”
I realized I was still clutching his chair and let go.
“Thank you for warning me,” he said.
“Don’t thank me.” I dropped into my chair. “Just don’t die.”
We fell silent. Everard stood up and looked at the window, thinking about something. He looked very regal right now, elegant and focused, his face severe and unforgiving.
I didn’t want him to die.
He was leaving the house, which played right into my hands.
I needed to do things, and his presence would make them impossible.
He would never let me rescue Isadau. More, this was my chance to escape his grasp.
When he came back, he would arrive in public.
The Accords he’d signed limited his movement in the capital and he would be closely watched.
This was our last chance to spend time together.
It felt like someone had stabbed me in the heart and twisted the knife.
I would miss him. No, that was nowhere near adequate.
Not having him hear would feel like a hole had been torn in my life.
He was at once a threat and my safety net, and he took up so much room.
As long as he was in this house, no intruder would make it past him, but that’s not what I would miss the most. I would miss his wit, his sharp mind, his rare smiles, the way he looked at me, his body, his voice . . . Him, I would miss him.
Oh, I’d fallen really hard. If there was any doubt before, it was all gone now, because when I thought about Joris, panic punched me right in the heart. I was terrified Ramond would die.
Damn it.
“How did he do it in your future?” he asked.
“He gifted you a dagger.”
“Was the blade poisoned?”
“The sheath. He soaked the leather in a solution of powdered omaran, and the sheath felt slightly sticky. Once you handled it, you washed your hands, and the water activated the poison. Then you rubbed your face, getting it into your eyes and mouth.” I took a deep breath.
“You bled from your eyes for three days, Ramond.”
“Killing me puts the entire northern border at risk,” Everard said. “I don’t have an heir, so the Dukedom would pass to my cousin. Her Fatefire is only a shadow of mine, and she is barely fourteen. That daft prick would risk his kingdom and his throne to kill me.”
“Sauven is afraid for his crown prince,” I said. “Every time he builds a coalition around his son, Kiel does something to fracture it. Sauven sees you as a threat that can end his line. He fears you more than he fears the Crimson Empire. And he hates you.”
“Because I look like my father? Because I refuse to tolerate his inane nonsense?”
“Because you are everything Kiel Savaric is not. You inspire people. They devote themselves to you. Kiel has his magic, his sword, and his glib charm, but his arrogance and rage keep him from truly understanding human emotions. He doesn’t form bonds of loyalty; he manipulates, intimidates, and uses people, and they recognize it.
He hasn’t built a foundation for his throne, and he never will.
Sauven knows it. It keeps him up at night. ”
He walked around the desk and leaned his back against it, leaving me no room to get up off my chair. There was barely any space between us.
“Come with me to Selva.”
It was almost a plea.
“You know I can’t.”
“I don’t want to leave you here without my protection.”
“I have the Magnars and the Shears.”
“Come with me. I swear on the memory of my father I will bring you back to Kair Toren in twenty days.”
“I can’t. There are things I must do here. The future—”
“Fuck the future. If I come back here and find you gone, I will level this damn city. If you care for Kair Toren, come with me.”
I had to put some distance between us. I stood up. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close, and rested his forehead against mine. “Maggie . . .”
Oh, no. My whole body sang when he touched me.
“Don’t leave me alone. Let me take you to Selva.”
I had to break free of him, and not just because I couldn’t trust him or because he would use me.
I needed to know if I could survive in Kair Toren without him.
I’d been leaning on him like a crutch, first when he was Reynald and then again when he was the Sleepless Duke sleeping under the same roof.
I had to find out if I could make it on my own.
“Let me go, Your Grace.” Against all odds, my voice sounded calm.
He raised his arms and took a step back. It almost hurt to be let go.
I was on the right track. It was time to stand on my own two feet.
“I can’t leave any more than you can stay. Let’s not talk about it anymore.”
Everard wasn’t used to hearing no. He had to be frustrated, but none of it reflected on his face. His control was ridiculous. It would’ve been so much easier if he was an open book.