Chapter 14 #2
Jade crossed her arms again. She wasn’t in a class, and this was no quiz. “I don’t like being patronized.”
“It’s a simple answer, Jade.” The timbre of his voice deepened, and Jade’s posture slackened. The authority in his voice was impossible to ignore.
“The military is loyal to the rightful line of succession pertaining to the conflict. We work to see the true heir ascend the throne following the passing of the king.”
“And what is the military’s role regarding the other contenders, if you could call them that?”
“To remove any real or perceived threats to the crown by investigating for evidence of wrongdoing and then stripping them of their titles.”
Nicolas didn’t speak immediately, allowing silence to settle over them with Jade’s words still hanging in the air. He uncrossed his legs and brought his elbows to his knees, clasping his hands between them and leaning forward. “That is exactly what you will be doing for me.”
Jade noticed the “will” rather than “would,” as if it was already decided but chose not to say anything. “It’s still treason.”
“Is it?” Nicolas cocked his head to the side, drawing his dark eyebrows together.
“The military moves slowly, ineffectively, having to ‘follow protocol’ with everything they do. You know as well as I that their procedure for receiving, confirming, and distributing information is a prolonged, painstaking process. So much more could have been done in these six months had everything not been stringently filtered through the chain of command. They won’t stop these people who have absolutely no claim to the throne without adequate physical evidence of breaking the law, which is only allowing them time to plan and prepare something drastic. ”
Jade pressed her lips tightly together and briefly clenched her jaw.
Nicolas wasn’t wrong. She’d been struggling with her own frustrations about the military’s unrelenting philosophy of following protocol rather than jumping on leads and trying to get ahead of the game.
Jade always felt two steps behind the person involved in these murders, and in six months’ time, the military was no closer to removing the contenders for the throne than they had been at the start.
If her informant could help speed the process along and ensure the preservation of the line of succession, was it really that bad to go along with working for him?
Nicolas continued, as if sensing Jade’s decreasing hostility.
“You will still be doing the exact same work but without the regulations and restrictions of the military. By reporting everything you learn directly to me, we will be able to take next steps faster. You already know I am able to learn more about the movements of these people than the military can. We will put the claimants in their place and see the true heir on the throne.”
Nicolas sat back, resuming his more relaxed position in the chair, his eyes never leaving hers.
Jade chewed on her lip. His argument made sense.
Was it truly punishable if she was doing the same things, working toward the same goal?
Nicolas was on her side. He wanted to help the prince and prevent a coup.
Jade was already following all of Nicolas’s leads.
How different would it be for her to work more closely with him?
Did it matter how they arrived at goal as long as it was achieved?
But not reporting to Matherson, to others above him in the military . . . she couldn’t do that.
“How can you do that?” she asked, genuine curiosity in her voice. “Do anything about the other contenders? The military has actual power over anything that threatens the reign of the king and those in the line of succession. You’re one man. What can you do?”
If Nicolas was offended by the question, he didn’t show it. Instead, one-half of his mouth quirked in a grin and he crossed his arms, tapping his fingers on his biceps. “I’m not at liberty to expose my methods. Let’s just say, I have a contact.”
Back to the keeping secrets game. Jade narrowed her eyes, unsatisfied but unwilling to push the matter, knowing it would go nowhere. “Why are you so invested in the conflict, anyway? What’s in it for you?”
A sad smile pulled at Nicolas’s lips, and his posture relaxed. “Redemption.”
Jade waited for a moment before waving her hand in front of her body in a circular motion. “Are you going to expound on that?”
Something like a low chuckle sounded in Nicolas’s throat. “Before the conflict began, I was a private guard to the king. But—”
“That’s impossible.” Jade sat forward, her eyebrows crinkling in disbelief. “If you were that high in the military, I would have heard of you.”
“Ah, but I’m not in the military. I said private, didn’t I?” Nicolas’s mouth lifted in a cocky half-smile. “I was a private hire by the king. It was in my job description to remain unnoticed, much like yourself.”
Jade said nothing, slamming back against the couch.
“But I failed the king shortly before he fell ill, and I was dismissed from service. Even though I no longer work in the castle, I still consider it my duty to see the line secured and the true heir on the throne.”
Jade wetted her lips, considering Nicolas’s claim. She’d never heard of the king having private hires for guards. The military had more than enough strength to protect the royal family. Still eyeing him, Jade asked, “What happened to cause a full dismissal?”
Nicolas angled his head toward her, his gaze now coming from underneath his hooded brow. “I’ll be keeping that to myself, I’m afraid.”
She wouldn’t get an answer out of him. She could tell. So she ground her teeth and asked, “How would this even work, if I agreed to it?”
“Keep doing the work your commander gives you. Provide the information you glean from that,” Nicolas answered smoothly. “You’ll still be doing your job, so you won’t give them any reason to suspect you’re withholding anything. But you’ve been doing that anyway, haven’t you?”
Jade’s mouth went dry. He was right. She’d been doing her informant’s work without telling Matherson or anyone else. The only difference was that she’d reported everything she learned, even if she didn’t reveal the information’s source.
But how did Nicolas know that she’d kept him and his tips a secret? Just how closely had he been watching her? Fear prickled the back of her mind.
Nicolas didn’t wait for Jade to answer his question before he spoke again, the richness of his voice almost reverberating off the stone bunker.
“I’m not saying you can never tell them the things you know or how you know them.
Once we bring an end to this conflict and put the rightful heir on the throne, they will be much more forgiving. ”
The corners of Nicolas’s mouth raised in a smile, and a calming comfort overwhelmed Jade. She didn’t quite understand why. He put her at such ease, as if she’d known him for years. He’d never given her a reason not to trust him. A small smile of her own touched her lips.
Nicolas leaned forward again, angling his head to the side, an almost pleading expression on his face. “I’ll protect you, Jade. I have connections that I can use to ensure you don’t come to any harm or lose your position. As long as you’re with me, nothing will happen to you.”
The melody of his voice touched her being, and Jade believed he spoke the truth.
If working with him meant she would help bring about the end of this conflict quickly and without violence, she would do it, even if she would have to keep her involvement with him a secret.
The Conflict of Succession would end, Prince Reynauld would peacefully take the throne after the king died, and Jade would be the reason why.
“Don’t you trust me?” With his entreaty, his voice became light—a wisp of smoke, barely there one second and gone the next. His forehead wrinkled with concern over his raised brows as he maintained eye contact.
Yes, her mind answered. How could she say anything else to him? She couldn’t explain the sense of peace and security filling her here in his presence, but neither could she deny it. Admitting it to him, though, was an entirely different matter.
His pleading eyes never left her, compelling her to answer him. Finally, she nodded slowly, and Nicolas sat back in the chair once more with a curve to his lips.
“So,” she began, clasping her hands together in her lap and wringing them together. “What do you want me to do first?”
Nicolas rose, walked over to a cabinet, and pulled at a drawer. “You will be attending a dinner party at the Duke of Evenshold’s home this week, correct?”
Jade readjusted her seat on the sofa to turn toward Nicolas and pressed her hands on her thighs, trying to decide whether she should stand. “I’m waiting on a call about the details, but yes, I’m supposed to be.”
Nicolas rifled through some papers in the drawer, his back to her. “Your mission with the military is to scope out anything you can about the contenders in this conflict, specifically if they are behind the deaths that have been happening to people associated with them.”
How did he know that?
“Yes.” Now didn’t seem like the time to ask the burning question in her mind.
“As I said, you will still perform the work required of your job, but you will also have objectives from me.” He selected a paper and returned to her, standing in front of her where she sat on the sofa.
“Lord Grannam has been in contact with a black-market dealer about purchasing poison.” Nicolas held the paper—a letter, it appeared—out to Jade, and she took it.
“I need proof of it, if he has received any.”