Chapter 27
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
I fucking hate you.
Luka growled back at his beast, but he couldn’t even argue because he hated himself too.
You ruined the best thing that ever happened to us.
That was true. He knew it. He’d panicked, and he’d run. They could have spent the night at the springs, lost in each other. Instead, he’d left Izzy sitting in his room looking vulnerable and sad, and he’d fled to the one place he felt in control.
He’d had his guards out of their beds and on the parade ground before the sun was even up.
He joined them in running drills—leopard crawling, grappling, stone lifting, sword forms, knife fighting—until he was sweating and aching as much as anyone…
more even. But it didn’t help. It didn’t clear Izzy from his mind or erase the memory of the look on her face.
And there was nothing he could do about the throbbing pain in his hands from the vicious claws that would not retract.
Luka forced himself to focus on his guards and spent some time watching Dashiell.
The sergeant was as strong—if not stronger—than most of the guards, and he seemed to have a good relationship with several of them already.
He ran every drill with a smile, which was a good start, but Luka still hadn’t really worked with him.
He needed to speak to Cori about her observations of the man before she left.
When dawn broke, Luka sent the day watch to their posts, Dashiell among them. Then he found an empty washroom in the barracks, cleaned his face, polished his boots, and pulled on his silver-embossed leather tunic.
Once he looked respectable, he checked in with Ryland in the small office they shared. They caught up quickly as neither of them had any news, and he could tell the captain was ready to end his shift, find his breakfast, and crawl into bed.
Ryland stood up from his desk and belted on his sword.
Luka considered him as he continued adding several knives to sheaths around his arms and ankles.
Could he trust him? Ryland was in charge of the night guard.
If there was anyone who could have subdued and killed Narya silently and then slipped her body out of the castle, it was him.
I trust him, his beast muttered.
Luka had trusted Shane, and look where that got him.
His beast rolled its eyes. Shane is an idiot who I still think we should wallop a few times, but he wasn’t actually trying to hurt anyone. And we’ve worked beside Ryland for years now. We know him.
For so many years, Luka had kept everything to himself, but now he was realizing how much of a problem that was.
He couldn’t do everything himself—Cori, Aiden, and Kai were busy—and he needed help.
Izzy would leave as soon as her shift ended in the clinic, and he couldn’t bear the thought of her going back to her shop alone.
Who knew what might happen when Declan and Batlok started throwing accusations around?
Ultimately, he did trust Ryland. The captain was an excellent soldier. He also liked Izzy and would be kind to her.
“Captain, before you go, I have a task for you today.”
“Sir?” Ryland settled into a ready stance, already refocusing.
“Mistress Izabel is going back home later. Please go ahead of her and look around her shop. I don’t have a key, so you’ll have to pick the lock. Make sure everything is settled—nothing suspicious—and that she gets there safely. Wait for her there and stay until she’s secure.”
“You’re not going?” Ryland asked slowly.
Luka shook his head. “I have a meeting with the queen and the Kwanam delegation at the ninth bell.”
The meeting will almost certainly be over within an hour, his beast spat, but Luka forced it back down. He needed some time, a couple of hours to figure out what he was going to say to Izzy. As soon as he knew that, he could face her again.
Ryland watched him, his eyes far too knowing. “And you think I would be the best person to send?” the captain asked.
“I want to know she’s safe,” Luka admitted.
Ryland dipped his chin, his gaze full of intelligence. “Does this have something to do with Lady Narya’s death?”
“Yes, it’s…. The whole thing is complicated.”
Ryland barked out a laugh. “More complicated than the death of the archthane’s niece on the eve of the treaty signing?”
Luka chuckled ruefully with him. It was getting more complicated by the hour. He hadn’t given Ryland all the details of Shane’s investigation and their suspicions about Rayan’s death, but he shared them now.
“I will keep Izabel safe, I promise,” Ryland said sincerely when Luka finished. He lifted his hands into an Infinite Circle as he spoke, showing his solemn commitment. “I’ll stay with her until you get there.”
“Thank you.” Luka resisted the urge to rub his aching chest as Ryland checked his weapons and strode away.
We’re going before dark. No later. Or I’m taking control.
Luka rolled his shoulders back, trying to release some of the tension in his muscles. It didn’t help. Nothing did. His fingers throbbed around his claws; nothing helped that either.
He walked through the castle, observing his guards and checking defenses ahead of his meeting with the queen and the archthane. This time, he would have to face them all without Izzy at his side. At least she would be away from it all.
Yeah… because she’s alone with the physiks. Soooo much better, his beast grumbled.
She’s not alone. He would never leave her alone. There were physiks, patients, guards, messengers… an entire castle full of people.
Just like the night of the banquet, and the assassin is as good as invisible.
Luka grunted as he gripped the back of his neck where the muscles still ached, accidentally stabbing himself with his claws, and winced.
Who was invisible in the castle? Who could move around and never seem out of place?
Physiks. Guards. Messengers. Cleaners… dozens of people.
Gods, so many. But maybe that could help? Luka quickly made his way to the messenger room on the lower level near the kitchens. The master courier was writing at a small desk.
He greeted her with a bow. “Master Adina, I know you and your team already spoke to Captain Ryland. I understand that no one saw who Narya was with after she left the fountains on the night she died, and no one reported anything unusual in the days before her death either.”
Adina nodded. “That’s correct.”
“What about the days before? Did you notice anyone who wasn’t unusual. Anyone at all that she spent a lot of time with? I’m especially interested in any physiks.”
Adina considered his question for a moment. “I can’t think of anyone, but I’ll ask the other messengers.”
Luka thanked her as the ninth bell began to ring. He took his leave and jogged through the castle, senses on alert and his beast grumbling and rolling in his belly.
The queen had set this meeting to take place in the Burnished Hall.
It was the grandest of the castle meeting rooms, and only slightly smaller than the banquet hall.
Luka bowed to the guards before rapping sharply at the massive steel door with its embossed image of spread wings.
A voice called him to enter, and he let himself in and closed the door.
The hall showcased the wealth of Hugaeb.
Dark-stained mhoba wood panels alternated with vibrant floor-to-ceiling murals depicting an array of majestic scenes: the glory of Mount Nabas from the air as the first drakes would have seen it, the verdant coastal plains with their bountiful fields, the mines in the northern Nabasberg, and the red-hot glow of the furnaces as powerful smiths beat iron into steel.
Display cabinets held stunning shadow-wave swords, their fold-forged steel gleaming where the light caught their characteristic swirling patterns, while gold-inlaid arm cuffs, bracelets, rings, and brooches shone with diamonds, garnets, and tourmalines.
The queen stood on a small dais in front of a heavy steel throne inlaid with iridescent mother-of-pearl in the shape of fanned wings.
She wore formal robes of deep burgundy with an embroidered corset overlain by a heavy necklace of multiple golden strands designed to show glimpses of her gleaming garnet scales.
She was flanked by Prince Shane and Princess Iona, both resplendent in court robes of burning oranges and yellows, embroidered with gold.
Together they looked like flames, like a magnificent, unified force.
Thank Chaos our boots are polished.
By the angry red of his face, the archthane did not appreciate any of it. And Declan, to his side and one step behind him, looked equally unimpressed, although somewhat less enraged.
“I understand your concerns, Eminence Batlok,” Queen Danikha was saying, “and we want answers as much as you do.” Her expression pinched. “I assure you that I am not at all pleased by the idea of an assassin beneath my roof.”
Batlok folded his arms over his heavy chest. “Unless the assassin is, in fact, one of yours.” He turned to glare meaningfully at Luka.
“Our knight commander is not an assassin, and nor is Mistress Izabel. They are the very last people who would do this,” Danikha replied firmly as Luka moved to stand below the dais. “Neither of them would gain anything from it.”
“Wrong,” Batlok snarled, his eyes flicking to Luka and back. “My brigadier general has shown that they have much to gain.”
Queen Danikha did not back down. “Brigadier General Declan is repeating information that he got from the knight commander. Precisely because Luka is investigating this thoroughly.”
Batlok smiled smugly. “Not all the information. It was Declan who realized a drake had been in our rooms in the first place.”
Luka swung his gaze to Declan. Could Brigadier General Declan have had something to do with Narya’s death?
It would have been easy for him to lure her away.
Her death was the perfect way to end the treaty and disentangle Kaliska from a union she—they—clearly didn’t want… and yet, it didn’t feel right.