Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
Fuck. Luka had let his beast get too close to Izabel, and now it was riding under his skin.
Pushing him to say things—do things—that he’d held back from all these years.
He’d nearly wrapped her in his arms in her room and let himself drown in her.
And now… God of Chaos. Now the entire castle thought he’d spent the night with her.
Thank the Mother, his beast preened smugly.
He’d thought that, as soon as they were in the castle, he could hide her in Shane’s office.
But she’d announced that she would go with him to see the queen, and he couldn’t very well stop her, not moments after he’d told the guards she was a personal friend of the royal family.
Not after she’d claimed him and he had claimed her back.
He was completely helpless to stop them hurtling down this path. It was like jumping off the high rocks into the sea. The cold water was rushing toward him, but there was nothing he could do about it.
The guards at the gate had tried to hide their expressions, but they were both shocked. Even the messenger they sent ahead to the queen’s rooms had blinked a few times, and the messengers were trained to be utterly discreet.
Luka could only imagine the gossip to come. He never brought women to the castle. Ever. He didn’t even bring them to his room. And now, here Izzy was, striding beside him, his hand gripped firmly in hers, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Her skin is so warm. Gods of fire. What would her palm feel like on—
Luka coughed, narrowly missing stepping on Izzy’s foot.
He couldn’t think like that. Not now, almost at the queen’s personal reception room.
Not ever. Just because she’d wanted him once, long ago, didn’t mean she wanted him now, and that was for the best. That was what he’d wanted to achieve.
And, fuck, he clearly had achieved it. She’d been seconds away from telling the world she was sleeping with Shane.
A flood of scales thickened over his shoulders and back.
Just the thought of them together made him want to punch the prince. Repeatedly.
Good idea. His beast chuckled. Shane had pissed him off too many times over the last few hours.
Luka shoved his beast’s advice to the back of his head and tried to concentrate. Gods, he was a mess. While Izzy seemed just as calm and capable as ever.
If we could just taste her a little, his beast suggested, we’d be much calmer. And she might want us again. In fact, I think she still—
Luka growled at his beast and ignored the way Izabel raised her eyebrows in response. They’d arrived. He let go of her hand to knock on the silver-inlaid door leading to the small, guarded antechamber that they would pass through to reach the reception room.
Captain Ryland of the night guard opened the door with a bow and a polite greeting. “Knight Commander, sir. Mistress Izabel.”
Izzy gave him a warm look. “Hello, Ryland, it’s good to see you.”
Ryland stood a little straighter and offered her a charming smile that did nothing to settle Luka’s beast. He dropped his hand to her back and guided her forward, scales flickering at his wrists.
Ryland’s eyes darted between them. Once Izzy had passed, he lowered his voice to speak only to Luka. “So it’s true. I’ll be honest, I never—”
Luka glared at him, and Ryland shut up, thankfully. Luka liked him, respected him even, but they weren’t friends. Ryland reported to Luka at the end of the day. And, honestly, Luka had done his best to avoid friendships after Rayan died.
We’re never going to be friends if he keeps looking at Izzy like he’d forgotten how pretty she is, his beast muttered.
Luka shifted his weight to shield her as much as possible from Ryland’s candid appraisal and the interested gazes of the other two guards flanking the main door. “Are you coming in?” he asked Ryland.
“No, sir. I gave my report already.”
Luka leaned closer. “Anything I should know?”
Ryland’s expression turned somber as he lowered his voice even further.
“Lady Narya is dead, but none of it makes sense. The Kwanam maid swears she never saw Narya return to her room, but then how did she get back? And the front of her dress is muddy and damp, as if she lay down outside somewhere. I couldn’t see any kind of wound, and there was no weapon or anything untoward in her room, other than an open balcony door…
but we did find rope and a blanket on her balcony.
It looks as if someone had planned to kidnap her. ”
Luka held his gaze as he asked, “What about the guards on the battlements? Surely they saw something?”
Ryland grimaced. “Nothing. One of the older guards swears he saw a black cloud that could have been a drake, but….”
Luka held in the relief that wanted to leak onto his face. “A black cloud is hardly evidence.”
“Exactly, and he only realized it could have been a dragon after the archthane started asking the question.” Ryland scratched his cheek with his thumb.
“Something feels off. Why were the Kwanam guards checking on the lady-in-waiting anyway? What did they know? And how does any of this implicate the prince, like the rumors are suggesting?” Ryland frowned.
“It seems to me that everyone is jumping to conclusions… and all just in time to disrupt tomorrow’s treaty signing. ”
“Convenient,” Luka muttered.
Yes, but for whom?
Ryland stepped back with a grimace. “I don’t envy you, sir.”
Luka grunted his agreement. “Thank you, Captain. Please select your two most loyal guards to go back to Narya’s room and make sure no one gets in until we have a chance to look it over.
I’d like you to oversee checking with all the castle staff—not only guards—to find out everything Narya did last night.
Messengers, cleaners… someone might have seen something.
Concentrate on whoever found the body, we need to know everything they know. ”
“Yes, sir.” Ryland saluted smartly before dipping his chin toward Izzy and striding from the anteroom.
The remaining guards waved them toward the reception room, and Luka waited for Izzy to take a breath before knocking. He wished he hadn’t dropped her hand. Now he couldn’t take it back, and he missed it, which was madness.
Or maybe, for the first time, you’re actually making sense.
The doors opened, admitting them to the queen’s opulent receiving room and cutting off any debate with his beast. The room was even more luxurious than Shane’s office.
An ornate fireplace held a large blaze that added warmth and light to the array of lamps and beeswax candles spread around the room.
The rugs were thick enough to sink into, and the silk hangings on the walls shimmered in the flickering light.
A massive desk was set beneath the window—currently swathed in thick drapes to block out the night—with two further desks for secretaries set closer to a wall of towering bookcases.
Nearby, silk cushions in shades of bronze and honey covered a set of ornately carved, dark-stained mhoba wood couches.
The queen stood beside her desk, wearing a formal midnight blue gown without any jewels or ornamentation.
Her rose-gold hair was tied in a soft bun that suggested she’d dressed for speed rather than glamor.
Although her posture was as regal as always and her expression was calm and neutral, garnet scales formed a solid band of armor at her throat.
Two guards stood at attention on either side of her.
Prince Shane and Princess Iona sat stiffly on the couches, wearing elegant court robes and matching expressions of outrage, while Cori, Aiden, and Kai lined the wall behind them.
Melo, the queen’s personal healer and the physik general for the castle, stood behind the couches, close to the queen.
Her back was ramrod straight, and she wore a formfitting, heavily embroidered, burgundy tunic that brought out the gold in her short blonde hair.
Senior Healer Sarwin stood at her side, his thick brown hair tousled and fine lines of stress bracketing his eyes.
Directly in front of the queen, Archthane Batlok crossed his arms over his large belly, glowering belligerently.
Kwanam Brigadier General Declan—the man they’d heard in Narya’s room—guarded his side, and two more soldiers stood warily at his back.
The room was overcrowded and the air thrummed with tension.
Queen Danikha waved Luka and Izzy inside and introduced them formally.
Luka strode forward and bowed politely, brain churning, trying to predict anything he might be asked.
It was too late to sacrifice himself. Izzy had told the world she was with him, and she would be blamed alongside him.
Now, his best hope was to find the murderer as quickly as possible.
“My sincere condolences, Archthane Batlok,” he said, choosing his words carefully.
“I was so sorry to hear about the loss of one of your party.”
“Are you the man responsible?” Batlok demanded.
Luka blinked. “Responsible, sir?”
“Are you not the commander of the guard?”
Luka bowed. “Yes, sir, I am the knight commander. And we—”
“Who is this?” Batlok turned to Izzy, his eyes hard. “Is she also a commander of the guard?” he asked with a pointed sneer. Batlok was well known for his belief that women should never be allowed anywhere near military command.
“She’s—” Luka choked. What was she? How could he possibly explain?
Izabel stepped forward and gave another deep bow.
“I’m a physik, Your Eminence. I know the castle and its people well.
I was a physik here for a number of years, following on from my father before me, and I was also a military healer, a lieutenant.
” She dipped her chin toward Melo. “Physik General Melo was in command of my unit.”
“Mistress Izabel was briefly under my command,” Melo agreed coldly.