Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAY
The King has generously donated a sum of ten thousand gold pieces to further research into security spells.
While you’re figuring out the Mindlocks, though, make sure no one gets too much information.
We don’t need anyone leaping to conclusions.
—in a letter from High Magelord, Bearer of All, Gautier the First, to the First Guidelord, Luis
La’Angi Keep
I sat in front of the hearth, staring at the blackened stones.
The tiny piles of ash that remained even after it’d been thoroughly swept out.
Whoever had laid it hadn’t thought it would sit for so long, of that I was sure.
They’d’ve taken more time, made the pile of logs and kindling prettier.
They’d’ve hidden those pieces of coal nestled in there, and put scented pine rather than the plain, dried wood.
Behind me, they were talking about the faire. Luca approved the contracts for sale she’d sent out, the discounts she’d offered. Something about contract dates coinciding with the next faire. Maximizing profit, minimizing work.
She was pacing. Her eyes were bright. The ideas that tumbled from her lips sometimes got jumbled in her excitement. One of her candles had already drowned in its own wax, it had burned so low.
He met her energy. Clapping at her genius, making noises of admiration I’d never heard from him: raw, half-shocked, half-amazed groans of joy and quick, short expulsions of laughter.
Isolde had retired. Thomas had, too. They hated him. They didn’t respect him. Not as a threat to Audrey’s safety.
I’d told her.
I had to trust the information was rolling about in her mind, as it seemed like everything did. Except me.
“I think you might be the best thing that’s happened to this town,” I heard him say, wonder in his words.
“It’s a city,” she responded. Then, “Oh, Luca, I’m sorry—that was a metaphor, wasn’t it?”
His laugh was friendly. “It was, and it was unfair of me to use it when the candles burn low and we’re deep in this plan. I do like how you’ve got food vendors grouped together with seats nearby. Are you sure one central location is best, though? Not two or three hubs?”
The wood in my hand was closer to a spearhead than a chess piece. The shavings littered my thighs.
She’d straddled me, here, in this chair. Looped her hands behind my neck and pressed her belly against mine. Her lips had been warm and hungry.
She’d laughed with me, here, in this room. Looked at me like I was the cliff her keep was built upon. Her ideas had been shared generously.
I’d tried to figure out Luca’s play, but the only thing I was sure of was that Audrey still held the key to the east and the nation’s military.
Unfortunately, Luca now saw how much more she was, too.
“…the steward.” Her sigh drew my attention. “Otherwise, I’d sneak you in to look at the reports yourself.”
“That’s fine,” Luca said. “The information you’ve got is quite enough, though of course I wouldn’t say no to more.”
“I’d love to get you to look at the plan for the tourney grounds,” she said, around a yawn. “I’m worried about waste disposal. I’d rather not be remembered for having a shitty faire.”
He laughed at her joke. The knife in my hand slipped, carving off a large chunk.
“Tell you what,” he said, his tone low and intimate. “How about I come back tomorrow, about midafternoon? You can show me then.”
“Not tomorrow night?,” she asked, and I heard the frown in her voice. “When you’re less likely to be recognized?”
“I’m busy,” he said, with regret. “To be honest, I’ve got an old friend who’d been managing my business interests here, but I think they’ve fed some information to a competitor. I’m not really sure what to do except to let them buy me out.”
“Who?” she asked. “I won’t say anything,” she added, quickly. “But knowing who does business like that is important.”
“Everyone does business like that, Audrey,” he said, laughing. “No, I won’t tell you. Not tonight. After it’s settled, then I will.” He paused. “Actually—it’s Dominique La Combe ve Frenz.”
“The elder?” she asked, shocked. “He isn’t wealthy enough for extensive business interests.”
“They aren’t extensive,” Luca said. “Sorry, Audrey. I’m…not accustomed to being able to share those sorts of details, I suppose.”
Beneath my hands the knife bit deep into the wood. I closed my eyes and drew in a breath. They were quiet.
Don’t trust him. But I’d had my chance to convince her. Somehow I’d managed to ruin it. When I thought of how she’d collapsed in on herself, how she’d smiled, how she’d soothed…
Perhaps it was better she didn’t trust those of us who knew how to bring her unravelled.
“Tomorrow, when the watch cries two?” she asked. “Or would the day after be better?”
“Tomorrow works. I can’t stay overlong.” Papers rustled. “I wish I could.”
The note of longing in his voice didn’t seem faked.
Mayhap he and I weren’t so different, after all.
“Well, we’ll make the most of what we’ve got,” she said. There were echoes of the tone she used when she was dealing with official La’Angi business.
Mayhap my warnings hadn’t been entirely dismissed.
I stood, tossing the shavings into the fireplace. They both started when they saw me.
I was so forgettable.
Getting him out the door was a simple matter. The biggest barrier were the stars in his eyes. I didn’t try to speak to him. I didn’t have the voice.
After she’d gone to bed, I lay awake for hours, seriously considering what I could put into a message to send to Kadan.
She needed help. She wouldn’t accept it from me, but mayhap he’d be able to get her to see reason.
Why was such a smart woman acting so foolish?
I was tired and slow the next morning. She stood beside me, shoulders back and chest open, blade in one hand while a shield tilted down off her hips. Her expression fixed in a neutral mask as she waited for me to organize my thoughts.
Mirroring her stance, I took the easy route and copied her movements, showing her the next part of the sequence.
“You can’t trust him.”
The words escaped before I’d even thought about them.
She made a noise of annoyance. “Yes, Chay, I’m aware that I can’t trust men. Thank you for furthering my education on this topic.”
The barb went home, but along with the sting of her words I felt the painful burn of hope. Irritation was better than indifference.
“This isn’t about us,” I told her, letting my sword dip. “I’m not jealous of Luca, Audrey. I’m telling you this as your guard.” Her expression hardened, but I didn’t care. If that’s what I was, then so be it. “He’s got no good reason to be here.”
“He’s got business interests in the city and in the faire,” she said briskly.
“He’s a major sponsor. I’ve no doubt that’s because he’s pledged his loyalty to me.
I know marrying me would be a step up the social ladder for him, as it would for almost anyone.
” She sheathed the weapon in a smooth, practiced motion.
“We all of us have goals, Chay. I know what Luca’s goals are, and I know what yours are.
I trust you know mine, too. I’ve a meeting with Bernadette in the kitchens.
I’m going to get an early start on that. ”
She’d turned her back on me, putting down her weapons. She hadn’t even worked up a sweat. What are you doing, Chay?
We had limited time until the Butcher arrived. She needed to be as prepared as I could make her.
Instead, I asked, “What are my goals?”
“As you said, to protect me,” she said, the words tired. “Same as everyone else.”
The weight of that accusation was crushing. If it was a weight she carried, I couldn’t tell. Her steps were light as she walked down the stairs, her head up. “I’m skipping out early this morning on training,” I heard her say.
“Are you?” Isolde asked, unimpressed.
“We could ride, after we break our fast. Go straight from…”
I let her words her words drift away. The rise and fall of her voice remained, comfortingly indistinct.
I could taste the cider on my tongue. I could hear Kaelson’s voice, in my head, rising and falling, the way his words would become more formal the darker the situation got. The way the tears would glitter on Thomas’ cheeks as he sat, silent.
If I was the same as everyone else, then she had no idea how much we were sacrificing for her. The thought brought me a bittersweet comfort.