CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
INK-STAINED LIES
The Vale household is in shambles. Decurio peel through furniture, flip over tables, and rip paintings from walls.
This is my fault, so part of me wants to tell them they don’t have to destroy the house; they just need to look under the bed in Kaidren’s room.
Of course, I can’t tell them this, because then I’d have to explain that I planted it for them to find.
Or rather, that I had Sef do it, right at the start of the ball, so we could be certain Kaidren wouldn’t find and dispose of the evidence ahead of time.
So, I say nothing. Just keep my head down and wait with Luc in the entryway.
“Sir.” A decurio rushes down the stairs. “We found something in Honorate Vale’s room.” He holds two things: a vial of poison and a rusted silver compass.
Kaidren’s eyes shoot to me. He knew to expect the poison, but I think he’s surprised by the compass. He must recognize it—it’s identical to his aunt Jules’s. So similar, he likely assumes it’s the same one.
Kaidren might’ve planned to deny the poison was his, but he’ll be reluctant to contest the compass—he won’t want them to dig into his aunt and cause any penalty to her.
Luc catches the look Kaidren sends my way. His brows draw. “What did you do, Mira?” he murmurs lowly, so no one overhears.
“What I promised your parents.” I can’t keep the venom from lacing my words. “I ensured your victory. Congratulations on a second term, Praeceptor Kyler.”
Luc’s eyes widen, and he looks at me as though he’s never seen me before.
“I hate your brother because he doesn’t see you.”
Maybe Luc never has.
General Fain is clearly agitated. “You claim you’re innocent, Honorate Vale, but this is kishori—the same poison used to kill your father. And this false magical object is outlawed. If you’re innocent, how did these come to be in your possession? And how—”
“I’m not denying it.” Kaidren speaks woodenly as he interrupts the General. “Those are mine.”
“You admit to poisoning your own father?”
Kaidren wavers. “I admit the poison and contraband are mine. Do with that information whatever you will.”
The General motions to the decurio around him. “Then, Honorate Vale, I have no choice but to put you under arrest for the murder of your father.”
I thought this would make me feel in control again, but by the time I return to my chamber, all I am is tired and consumed by prickly, persistent guilt.
Why the hell did he have kishori hidden under his bed if he didn’t poison his father? I don’t know. Guess I never will. Can’t imagine he’ll be inclined to explain himself to me after this.
I kick off my shoes with a groan. All I want is to fall into bed and hunt for sleep, but I’m laced into a ball gown and my hair is extravagantly done. I should at the very least wrap up my hair for the night.
I sit at my vanity and start to remove the sparrow hair clips when I’m interrupted by a sharp knock.
I thought I was done being shocked tonight, but when I open the door, General Fain, four members of the decurio, and Luc stand before me.
“Remira Kyler,” General Fain says sternly.
My eyes flit over his shoulder, meeting Luc’s gaze. What the hell is going on? I try to silently communicate my question with my eyes, but all I get from him is blind panic. Which isn’t helpful.
I force a smile at General Fain. “Is something wrong?”
“This was waiting for me when I returned to my office.” He holds up a letter. His name is scrawled across the envelope in indigo ink. It’s from my imposter.
My stomach drops. “What does it say?”
“It’s from the Shadow Queen. She accuses you of colluding with Kaidren Vale in murdering his father and conspiring to put Kaidren on the throne.”
It’s as if all the air has been knocked from my lungs and my legs are bolted to the floor. I can’t breathe, can’t move, can’t force the cogs of my brain to come up with a coherent response. At long last, my brilliant reply is “What?”
“The Shadow Queen is accusing you of aiding the murder of Arliss Vale. According to her, we’ll find the poison used to kill Arliss Vale in this room.”
“You just found that in Kaidren Vale’s room.”
“This letter claims there was a second vial.”
Someone is framing me—the same someone who killed Arliss and blackmailed Selva. Someone who isn’t Kaidren. I have no doubt the decurio will find what they’re looking for. “I didn’t kill anyone.”
“Murder or not, kishori is a poison. Simply having it in your possession is a crime. If you’re innocent, surely we can search your room to verify?”
There’s no use protesting. I move aside and let them look. My room is too small for all of them, so the General searches alone, while the others wait in the hall, watching me as I try not to let my nerves show.
It’s a quick search. He finds a vial of kishori beneath my mattress. It’s almost comical. It’s exactly where I had Sef hide the poison in Kaidren’s room.
I try to look shocked.
“Remira, can you explain this?” General Fain asks.
“Someone must’ve planted it.” It’s a paltry defense and I know it.
Luc puts a hand on my shoulder. “General, with all due respect, this is absurd. My sister didn’t kill anyone. Mira, just tell them where you were when Arliss was killed. If we confirm what she was doing, she’s no longer a suspect, right?”
Reluctantly, General Fain nods. “Yes, sir. We determined that whoever poisoned Honorate Vale did so the night of the opening ceremony for the Tournament of Thrones. Where were you that night, Remira?”
I sift through my memory, to the night before I visited the Vale household and found him dead. That night, I . . .
Oh no.
I remember exactly where I was that night—but it’s not something I can share.
I swallow. “Um—I’m not sure.” A weak excuse. It’s better than the truth.
General Fain addresses Luc. “Honored Praeceptor, did you see her that night?”
Luc opens his mouth to answer, but stops himself, frowning. “Sir?” the General prompts.
Luc blinks slowly at General Fain, then at me. “Clear the room.”
The soldiers give Luc identical looks of shock. Allowing him to speak privately with a suspect in the middle of an investigation goes against every protocol, but no one wants to defy the Praeceptor. With swift glances at one another, they obediently retreat into the hall.
Luc drops his voice once we’re alone. “I remember that night. You told me you wanted to be alone. I came to your room with a snack later, but you weren’t here.”
“Maybe I was in the library,” I say.
“You weren’t. You weren’t in the dining room either. I checked. And Sef left early that night.”
Luc and Sef are the only people who would be willing to lie for me and say I was here, in Widow’s Hall, the night of the murder.
But Luc has selectmen with him at all times.
They know he wasn’t with me. And there are at least ten members of the staff who will attest they saw Sef leave—she always makes the rounds, saying her goodbyes before heading home.
Fear clogs my throat. I say nothing.
“Mira, I know you. You’re not a killer.”
“You’re right. I’m not.”
“Then tell me where you were. I’m trying to protect you. I can’t do that if I don’t know what I’m protecting you from.”
I shake my head. “I can’t.”
“You can’t tell me?” Luc’s eyes shine with hurt. “I’m your brother. We tell each other everything.”
Not everything. I purse my lips.
“What happened to ‘every lie I’ll ever tell’? Or was that just for me? I trust you without reservation, and you keep something from me?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“What secret could be so bad that not even I would understand? If this is something to do with the Shadow Queen—”
“It isn’t.”
He waits for me to say more. I don’t.
Slowly, he shakes his head. “I can’t lie for you. My guards know I wasn’t with you that night. Surely, you wouldn’t risk going to prison just to avoid telling me the truth?”
“The only truth that matters is I didn’t kill Arliss Vale.”
Luc looks so, so hurt. “I want to believe you, but I don’t have your gift. If you don’t give me something, they’re going to arrest you.”
“I know.”
“I can’t protect you from this, Mira.”
It’s not like he ever has anyway. “I know that too.”
Luc’s shoulders sag, and his expression is weary as he reopens the door.
General Fain looks first to Luc. “Sir? Has she revealed where she was on the night in question?”
Luc gives me a last, desperate look. Silently pleading with me to confide in him.
I have to look away. This is a truth he would never understand.
With a resigned sigh, Luc ducks his head. I think he’s holding in tears. “No.”
The world moves in slow motion as a decurio secures my arms behind my back with rope. “Remira Kyler, you are under arrest for the murder of Honorate Arliss Vale.”