Chapter 43 #2
Mistel looked too, biting back a grin at Cole, standing alone. Oh, but she loved a bit of drama. While she never wanted to return to the Veil, she wished she could see Achan right now.
“His Highness is in the Veil, Master Amal,” Cole said.
Verdot’s lips parted, but no sound came out.
His gaze darted wildly around Cole, and as the weight of Cole’s words settled, the color drained from his face.
The scrolls he held slipped. He struggled to keep hold of them, but several tumbled to the floor.
He stepped back, using one foot to keep them from rolling, and bumped into Zanna. He jumped.
Mistel had to press her lips together to keep from laughing. Verdot Amal looked every inch the guilty villain.
Kurtz popped to his feet in one swift motion, hauling Rilla upright, one hand still clamped over her mouth. “I caught the arsonist,” he said. “Shall we have her thrown in prison? It’s just a quick dogsled ride away.”
Verdot straightened his coat, sweat glistening on his brow. “Oh. Yes. Yes, of course.” His gaze flicked from Rilla to the half-burnt scrolls and back again. Then the hunx turned on his partner in crime. “Woman, what are you doing in my office?”
Rilla wrenched free of Kurtz’s hand. “Helping you destroy evidence, you fool. And don’t think for a moment you’ll pin all this on me. I know everything, and I’m happy to sell my secrets to the highest bidder.”
From just outside the door, Cole chuckled. “The king has offered one rutah. Anyone care challenge him?”
Zanna crossed her arms.
Mistel tapped her chin. “I’d bid, but I left my coin purse with my other cloak.”
“You won’t get a penny out of me,” Kurtz said flatly.
Cole shrugged. “Looks like the king wins. He says he’s listening, Miss Vandy.”
Verdot took a step toward the door, but Zanna blocked him, blade gleaming. “You’d best stay put.”
Mistel caught the flicker of panic in his eyes just before Rilla latched onto her last weapon—her voice.
“You want the truth?” she spat at Kurtz. “You broke my heart when you ran off to join the Kingsguard, so when I saw you were back, I thought you’d come for me. But no. You rejected me again.”
“I’m sorry,” Kurtz said.
Rilla’s voice cracked. “I wanted to hurt you back, so I listened. Learned what I could. And when I realized you were sniffing around Verdot, I went to the man himself.” Her smile turned brittle. “For a fee.”
“She tried to extort me,” Verdot said. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“You lying snake,” Rilla said. “When I found out Kurtz wanted to help Master West escape, I told Verdot, and we made a plan to capture them so he could sell them to the Ebens.”
Mistel’s stomach twisted. Sell them. To giants. She shot a quick glance at Cole. His jaw was tight.
“Shut up, fool woman!” Verdot yelled, his face blotchy. “You’re digging both our graves.”
Kurtz released Rilla and stepped around the desk. “What did Lord Nathak promise you?” he asked Verdot. “To get your help in the plot against King Axel.”
Verdot’s chin jerked up. “I don’t have to tell you anything. In fact, you all need to leave my office immediately.”
Cole lunged over the threshold and dragged Verdot outside the door.
“Unhand me! You have no authorityyy ee-ahh!” Verdot crumpled to his knees, dropping the remaining scrolls as he clutched his head and whimpered.
“His Highness would like a word.” Cole’s voice came calm and steady from outside the doorway. “He says he has authority here.”
Verdot rocked on his knees and let out a choked whimper.
“Yes, yes, of course, Your Highness,” he said.
“I-I only wanted a title. A title that should have been mine when my brother died with no male heirs. But the queen…she and Nitsa were friends. And the queen convinced the king to let women inherit and rule. If it had only been Nitsa, I could have waited. But the woman had five daughters. Five. I knew I would never get what was rightfully mine.”
“The king demands to know your role in the assassination of his parents,” Cole said.
Verdot let out a pitiful whine. “I forged letters,” he admitted. “To Lord Agros. From Lord Agros. Between Kurtz and Eagan.”
Kurtz sucked in a sharp breath. “I knew it, I did.”
“What else?” Cole said.
Verdot wrung his hands. “Once the queen bloodvoiced the word stray, Nathak saw his opportunity to frame Eagan and Kurtz. He asked me to forge the letters. And once everything was set, I was to wake Gavin and pretend to help.”
Kurtz’s voice turned to iron. “Which is why you really refused to testify at the hearing.”
Verdot nodded, shoulders sagging. “The bloodvoice mediators would have caught me otherwise. Nathak told me to pretend to be a coward. And I didn’t mind.
Not if it got me what I wanted. But it didn’t.
Nathak said since Duchess Amal was on the Council of Seven, we had to wait.
He had me appointed warden here—temporarily—until he could get me placed over Carmine.
But he lied. Repeatedly. I heard about his marriage proposals to the duchess and later to Lady Averella.
He wanted Carm for himself. He was never going to give me what was mine. ”
“Then why continue helping him?” Zanna asked.
Verdot let out a hollow laugh. “I didn’t. I helped myself. I helped the new king. I helped you and Eagan get out of Ice Island. I made up for my sins.”
What a hunx. “Yet made a host of new ones, by the sound of it,” Mistel said.
Kurtz crossed his arms. “Who else helped Nathak kill the king?”
Verdot’s eyes darted around as if searching for an escape. “Kenton and his guards. And the Hadad. He spoke to us all.”
“What about Careeanne?” Kurtz asked. “What about Falkson?”
Verdot shook his head frantically. “I don’t know who else helped. I swear to you. Nathak kept most of his supporters separate back then. Said it was safer that way in case we were questioned.”
Cole’s gaze flicked to the brazier, where bits of charred parchment still curled in the embers. “Why were you burning documents?”
“Rilla said Thusk was captured. I had to destroy anything that tied me to him.”
Kurtz turned to Rilla. “And how did you know Thusk was captured?”
Rilla smirked. “I paid a man to follow you.”
Mistel clicked her tongue. “Well, you should have demanded a refund, because Thusk’s men were caught, but he wasn’t.”
“Yet,” Kurtz murmured.
“In the name of King Gidon Hadar, you are both under arrest,” Cole said, voice ringing firm from outside the door. “You will be held on Ice Island as you await your trial.”
Verdot whimpered again, but Rilla just glared at Kurtz.
“This is your fault,” she said.
“No,” he said. “I’m done taking the blame for someone else’s crimes.”
“We’ll put them in the Cliffwatch dungeon for tonight,” Zanna said.
“I’ll help.” Kurtz grabbed Rilla’s arm and dragged her toward the door. “We’ll need Lord Livna to appoint a new warden first thing tomorrow.”
“The king says he’ll speak to Lord Livna,” Cole said. “He thanks us for our service.”
Mistel brushed ash from her sleeve and curtsied. “The pleasure was entirely ours.”
“While we’re gone,” Kurtz said, “see what evidence you can salvage from that brazier.”
As Kurtz and Zanna led Verdot and Rilla out of the office, Mistel’s heart swelled. It was over. Truly over. They’d completed their mission.
She threw her arms around Cole and pressed a kiss to his jaw. “We did it! The pieces of this twisted puzzle are finally falling into place.”
He smiled, gaze warm and steady on hers. He slid his hands around her waist and pulled her close. “Wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.” He brushed a kiss to her lips. “I love you, Mistel Wepp.”
She pulled back just enough to see the sincerity in his hazel eyes. “I love you too.”
The words came so easily, it startled her, but the truth of them hummed through her bones like a chord.
For so long, she’d chased adventure like it was the only thing that made her feel alive.
But Cole, he was an adventure she’d never seen coming.
The kind that anchored her instead of pulling her apart.
He loved her. And she loved him back. His wit and worry, his thoughtfulness and courage. And oh, that voice. She could listen to him sing forever.
“I suppose that makes the whole ‘pretend cousin’ thing a little awkward,” she said, grinning up at him.
Cole laughed and kissed her again, this time slower, sweeter.
For once, Mistel didn’t care what came next. The kingdom could wait. The world could wait. She had everything she needed, right here in his arms.