33. Chapter 33 #2
“There will be no further talk of this.” I let some warmth and humor enter my tone. “My own performance this morning was lackluster. Tomorrow, I will do better. I expect the same of you all.” I nodded decisively. “Dismissed. Wash up and report to the hall for noon-meal. You’ve earned it.”
Relief rippled through them. They saluted and dispersed. Only when they were out of earshot did I unclench my fists.
Camrick exhaled beside me. “You had me worried,” he murmured, “but that was almost normal Owain.”
I glanced at him. His posture hadn’t changed, but a faint shimmer of magic still clung to his fingers. Ready to bind. To shove. To shield.
“You were prepared to tackle me,” I said.
He pretended to ponder deeply, a furrow in his brow. “I was actually thinking of taking care of two problems with one blunt ice spike. A good whack would probably shut you up and break a bone. That way you’d be forced to see Lunette and calm the fuck down.”
A corner of my mouth twitched despite the storm still brewing inside me.
“The only people who could’ve started this rumor were the men on corridor guard rotation for Berian,” I said, my focus sharpening.
Camrick sobered instantly. “Let’s send out the summons now. I’d prefer to expedite whatever insane interrogation you have planned. I’m hungry!”
Camrick didn’t wait for my agreement before bellowing for a runner. Then we headed for our rooms. A quick wash was in order for both of us. The delay would have the added benefit of making the men sweat, which was exactly what I wanted.
The guards stationed on Berian’s door this morning were fidgeting when we arrived—four of them standing before Camrick’s desk, dread written into every line of their bodies. I took my time settling into the chair across from them.
I let the silence do its work before I spoke, my hushed tone becoming a threat in itself. “Have I ever asked you to cover up a dalliance?”
They looked shocked at my bluntness, but each shook their head.
“Have I ever beaten a child, a servant, a woman, or even a subordinate and asked you to cover it up?”
All denial.
“Have I ever asked you to cover up anything for the royal family?”
The same.
“Then why,” I asked, slamming my fist on the heavy table hard enough for it to rattle the entire frame. All five men in the room jumped. “Why? The one time we asked that a god-sent healer be kept a secret, did word leave your mouths?”
My shadows whipped out and grabbed each man by the neck—not tight, but tight enough that the threat was more than clear.
Before Camrick could move to stop me, I raised a single, steady hand in the air.
I continued. “To work in the family wing requires discretion. At least one of you has failed in that regard.”
I could feel the pulses of each man through my conjurations. All were racing, but one was the most erratic. It stuttered against my magic like a bird battering itself against cage bars.
My gaze snapped to the third man from the left. Michen. Broad-shouldered. Steady on a pike line. Not known for nerves, but he was sweating now.
His forehead beaded with it, rivulets tracing paths down his temples and disappearing into the collar of his tunic. His chest rose in quick bellows, and his eyes refused to settle. The others were afraid, but he was unraveling.
I released the conjurations, dropping the other three men. Gasping with relief, they staggered backward, hands instinctively going to their throats.
I leaned toward Michen until only inches separated us, thickening the ropes of shadow. The pulse beneath my magic went wild when I ordered, very quietly, “Talk.”
A swallow. “I didn’t—”
The noose constricted with promise. “Your heart is betraying you.”
His eyes darted to the others then to Camrick then back to me. “I only mentioned her to my cousin,” he choked. “He serves in the lower Tir. I thought—it was just talk. Just that she was special.”
“You thought,” I repeated. “You thought a rumor about your king’s private healer was acceptable tavern chatter.”
“I didn’t know it would spread—”
“Not thinking,” I cut in, my voice sharpening to steel, “is precisely the problem.”
Silence rang in the chamber.
This was not stupidity. This was negligence at best. At worst, it was treason, because he’d given confidential information over to a hostile organization. The problem was that we couldn’t openly acknowledge their aggression so I couldn’t treat it as such.
“You endanger the Crown with idle curiosity,” I said, each word deliberate. “You swore an oath.”
For a fleeting, terrible second, I considered how easy it would be to end him. No one in this room could prevent it, and I’d walk away without consequences. I was Regent.
But then I thought of her face. She still looked at me like I was someone worth being angry at rather than someone worth being afraid of. The difference between those two things mattered to me in a way I never wanted to lose.
I’d seen enough of the dark side of the world to know that power would corrupt anyone who allowed it to dictate their actions. No blood, I promised myself as I exhaled through my nose.
“Remove him,” I said to Camrick without looking away from Michen. “Dungeon. Isolated cell.”
Michen’s face drained of what little color remained. “Your Highness… Please—”
“I could execute you for treason instead,” I said coldly.
He shook his head once. With his knees buckling, my shadows were all that prevented the guard’s collapse.
“Your demotion is immediate. Once released, you are forbidden from entering the castle grounds.”
I didn’t wait for a response because I didn’t care. Such was my agitation that when I tried to dismiss my shadows, they appeared as ropes of smoke, twisting and curling unwillingly back into my skin.
Camrick clasped the unresisting Michen by the arm and hauled him toward the door. It shut behind them with a final, echoing thud. The remaining guards stood frozen.
“You will speak of this to no one,” I said to them. “Not the arrest. Not the reason. Nor the rumor. If word of specifics spread further, I will assume your complicity.”
They swallowed in unison. “Yes, Your Highness.”
“Dismissed.”
They fled.
Only when the chamber emptied did the tremor hit my hands.