Chapter 18 #2
“Since I will be needed for these next steps, it’s important the king does not call on me that evening.
I will ensure Silas is aware I am feeling unwell during dinner and excuse myself early.
Perhaps it will even solidify my innocence if people think myself and the lady’s maid fell ill on the same evening of the queen’s murder. ”
I watched as the others took in Gia’s plan with bated breath, trying to assess if it would actually work. Could we pull it off? What risks were we not accounting for? The climax of her plan had to be executed flawlessly.
“The queen will return to her quarters, and the night guard will begin his watch shortly thereafter. I will take on her lady’s maid duties and carry the tray of her usual tonics and such handed off to me by Cress.
The guard will show no signs of concern upon my arrival, as this is the nightly routine. ”
“How long will it take?” Nori questioned, realizing as I had that this would all need to happen quickly.
Gia answered with precision, like a mastermind who’d been contemplating this for weeks—which, I supposed, technically, she had.
“Once I witness her drink the tainted tonic, I will exit the room and inform the guard the queen has asked for something additional and that I will return shortly. This should allow enough time for the queen to put herself to bed and fall into a deep slumber.”
“What’s my role in all this?” Cairis interjected.
“Patience!” Gia chided. “We’re getting there.
As the guard expects, I will return, and once inside, I’ll move the queen’s sleeping body underneath the bed.
During that time, we need Cress to create a distraction.
Across the hall, I need you to accidentally trip and spill everything in your arms to draw the guard’s attention. ”
“Then what?” Saryn inquired.
I was actually shocked to see how silent he had remained.
Had he and Gia already worked out some of this plan prior to our arrival, or was this all really from her own imagination?
It had the decisiveness and creativity of someone with a great deal of experience.
Had Artume already hardened her resolve that much?
“Enough time will have passed, allowing me to shift into the queen’s form and garments. In an unexpected series of actions, I will open my door and request the night guard enter my quarters. At first, he will insist against it—propriety and all. But who can deny a queen, and one with such beauty?”
“Won’t he ask where your lady’s maid is?” Cairis added.
“If he does, that only requires a simple insult of his duty: ‘Didn’t you see her exit a moment ago? You must not be very good at your job…’” Gia demonstrated her acting skills in a perfect imitation of the queen.
“I will offer my loyal night guard a drink of wine, which he will also refuse, but I will persist until he is nicely lubricated with a lack of inhibition, defenseless against my pursuits.”
Cairis smiled wide, flashing his teeth at her. “You’re positively wicked.”
“And, if Cress is any good at her job, that foolish male will be snoring before I even have to attempt a more formal seduction.”
Saryn gazed out the solitary window, noting the sun moving across the sky as time passed. “Gia, get to the point. We haven’t even discussed the prisoner yet.”
She scrunched her nose at his impatience, but spoke more quickly, still covering each detail thoroughly.
“I will move the queen’s sleeping body beside him into her bed. The night guard’s blade will make its way across the queen’s throat, delivering her demise. I will shift back into the maid and make my exit with no guards as witness.”
I held my breath, my pulse racing at how nonchalantly Gia implied she’d be the one to take the queen’s life. An innocent pawn in our games of espionage.
“In the morning, a Kingsguard will arrive for shift change at the same time a servant will be delivering breakfast. Concern will set in and, upon entering the room, they will find a slain queen and a night guard in her bed, covered in irrefutable evidence of an assault and struggle turned deadly.”
Cairis wasn’t the brightest amongst us, but when he interrupted her with almost the same thought as me, I knew he’d been keeping up.
“The guard is going to be in a state of confusion and complete denial! He will never admit to this crime.”
Gia cocked her head predatorily in Nori’s direction and pointed at her with one slender finger.
“That’s where you come into play. Our Dreamwalker’s first assignment is to visit the night guard during his drug-induced slumber and plant dreams, false memories of his interactions.
While he may awake confused, there will be no denying his own twisted memories—or should I say nightmares of a tryst with her majesty turned violent… ”
Nori’s sweet face contorted quickly into one of fear and concern.
She hadn’t yet attempted to plant false dreams or memories to my knowledge.
Asking her to do so, especially ones that consisted of sexual assault and murder, was a tall order for someone so chaste. Saryn wasted no time in pressuring her.
“Remember, Dreamwalker, the Imperi has no place for those who waste their gifts.”
Nori shot a defiant glare at him. “I’ll do it.”
A mischievous smile crept across Gia’s face as she watched the pieces of her plan fall into place. “Good, because if I’m going to murder her, the least you could do is take a night walk.”
Gia had definitely hardened. Maybe she hadn’t committed the same kinds of atrocities as Trace, but she’d spent so much time obsessing over the mission that it was clear her duty was beginning to outweigh her morality. I knew not to judge her. That would be all of us, soon enough.
She bridged the plan into act two by instructing Cairis to be with the Kingsguard on hand when they undoubtedly arrested the night guard. They would make every attempt to quell the scene and avoid further embarrassment for the king.
“You will be asked to escort the guard to a private cell until his punishment is determined. In doing so, we are hopeful you’ll get eyes on our target within the same prison.”
“How am I supposed to know it’s the target? I’ve never even seen Princess Embry!” Cairis complained.
Silence befell the room as we each thought on the truth of his statement, as none of us had seen the princess before.
“There can’t be that many females in the cells. She may look dirty, emaciated, but you should be able to recognize the beauty of High Fae royalty, regardless of her state. Or you could listen to see if anyone addresses her while you’re down there,” Trace tried to reason.
Suddenly, Saryn stood and went to a drawer in the kitchen, pulling out a very small but detailed painting, tossing it onto the table. “This is Princess Embry.”
Each of us looked abruptly at him with accusatory glances, all except for Cairis who began to study the image.
“How did you get that?” Gia demanded.
“You guys have your jobs, I have mine. Regardless, it doesn’t matter how or where I got it. But that’s what the target looks like. Got it, Cairis?”
Each of us accepted his explanation without question. Saryn was always up to his own mischievous behaviors, so the fact that he had somehow acquired a tiny painting of our intended target didn’t surprise me in the slightest. And if it helped the mission, then who were we to question it?
I’d not seen a single portrait of the royal family anywhere in Nasallus thus far, and I’m sure that was done intentionally to avoid any reminders of the Silent Eve.
Cairis quickly repeated the plan, like a young student trying to capture their instructor’s lesson. “…I am likely to be accompanied during this time by another Kingsguard, but at this point, all I have to do is get confirmation of our target being present?”
Gia let out a sarcastic laugh and replied, “Well, if you really wanted to be helpful, Cairis, you could report back to us about where you see her, how many prison guards are stationed there and their positions—you know, anything that might actually help us try to get to the target ourselves!” Gia rolled her eyes.
“You know, being a spy…the whole damn reason we’re in this Gods-forsaken sand pit. ”
Cairis and Gia were always playful with one another; sarcastic, direct, and even crass at times. Their relationship was that of good friends with thick tension that they may have once explored—had the whole being blood-sworn into the Imperi not happened.
“This is what I have to work with,” Saryn muttered to himself.
“What if they decide not to execute the guard, or Nori’s attempts fail?” I pondered to the group.
Gia laughed. “Oh, Cress, you haven’t been here long enough.
Zarif has a penchant for violence, and a trespass like this against the king would cause an embarrassment they’d never allow to spread.
There will be punishment. A grave one, I assure you.
And while that’s unfolding, we make our next move. ”
Over the course of the hour that followed, we worked out the details of exactly what that next move might look like, should we be successful. Trace mostly sat in silence, since none of these plans involved him directly.
When the planning concluded, various attendees needed to portal back according to different schedules based on when they’d be required at their specific stations.
Gia was the first to leave, as she was expected for dinner with the king.
With a knowing look, she said she could ready herself if I needed extra time here.
Nori hugged me and, giving her a squeeze, I whispered into her ear, “You can do this.”
She assured me everything was going well in her position and that she wasn’t seeing much action as an apprentice beyond some basic wound-mending.
Since the healers were kept mostly sequestered, her time was spent reading up on the art of salves, tonics, and other such relevant topics in between appointments.
She made no mention of accidentally slipping into anyone’s slumber—an improvement, granted.
Cairis quickly departed after Gia, and Trace made his way to the alley, with me following close behind.
Before exiting, I turned, looking over my shoulder at Saryn who was tossing Embry’s portrait back into a drawer.
Words hovered on my tongue—the desire to inquire about Varro.
But I wouldn’t give him any reason to question my particular interests in the Sea Fae.