Chapter 9

Avera had to tell Gustav what they’d learned, despite knowing Gustav would be angry they’d gone into the passageway. Didn’t have a choice since he entered her office as they emerged from the secret door. As predicted, he didn’t react well.

“What are you doing?” he bellowed.

“Exploring?” Avera offered with a shrug.

“Without any guards? After what happened? What if there’d been assassins inside those tunnels?”

“There weren’t, but we did hear a disturbing conversation.” It didn’t take long to relay what they’d overheard.

A simmering Gustav paced. “I should have known the duke wasn’t conniving enough to engineer the plot to overthrow the throne.”

Josslyn sat in a chair sipping on some tea, the picture of relaxation if one ignored the slight shake of her hands. “In your defense, you’ve never had to deal with this level of deceit.”

“I’ll have Venne arrested immediately.”

“Is that wise?” his sister countered.

“He’s guilty of treason. He must be punished!” Gustav insisted.

“I think what Josslyn means is, if we arrest him then we might never find the others. Keep in mind we never saw the second man’s face.”

“Venne will talk,” was Gustav’s grim promise.

“And if he doesn’t?” Avera countered. “What if, like the duke, he dies before he can be questioned? We’ll have lost our advantage of surprise.”

“He’s planning to have you killed,” Gustav reminded.

“But because we are aware, we can take measures to counter their plan.” Avera tucked her hands behind her back as she paced. “We must figure out who Venne was speaking to.”

“You said their voice was familiar,” Josslyn replied. “Meaning they’re most likely someone who is often at the palace.”

“Hundreds of people come in and out daily,” Gustav reminded.

“But most wouldn’t have the status to even think of taking the throne,” Avera softly murmured. “It narrows down the scope of our search.”

“We don’t have much time to root them out. The coronation is in days, and they were speaking of murdering you before then. I’ll put a shadow on Venne, see where he goes, who he talks to. In the meantime, you don’t leave the palace and you go nowhere without me,” Gustav ordered.

Avera rolled her eyes. “Lovely.”

Even Josslyn found fault. “If you start clinging to her again, those plotting might notice.”

“I won’t leave her vulnerable,” was Gustav’s stony reply.

“What if the admiral was sent on a mission at sea?” Josslyn tapped her lower lip. “Remove him from Daerva entirely.”

“How does that flush out his partner in crime?” Avera asked, wondering at her suggestion.

“This person is counting on the admiral to help. But if Venne isn’t around, they’ll be forced to act on their own.”

“I doubt they’ll do the deed themselves,” Gustav countered.

“What if instead we tried to spring their trap?” Avera suggested. “They spoke of causing an accident. What if I put myself out there, looking vulnerable, and?—”

“Use you as bait?” Gustav arched a brow. “Do you want to die?”

“No but hear me out. I go out riding alone. Make myself a target.”

“A queen doesn’t ride alone,” Gustav interrupted.

“I could go with her. A queen with her duchess, out taking some air,” Josslyn offered.

“Without guards?” Gustav kept poking holes in Avera’s idea.

It led to Avera waving her hands. “Of course not as then they’d know it was a trap. I’d go out with a pair of rooks kept at a distance, but in sight. You and more soldiers would shadow us from afar to see who follows.”

“That would be fine if they meant to attack, but they spoke of an accident. Given your love of riding, it would be simple to plant a hazard meant to throw you from your horse.”

“I’m not so clumsy and neither is Luna,” Avera huffed. She’d been riding since a child, and her steed never balked when it came to jumping.

“It’s too dangerous.” Gustav shook his head.

“Would you feel better if she took to standing on the ramparts, waiting to see if someone shoved her off?” Josslyn crossed her arms. “Or perhaps slipped and drowned in her tub, or were you planning to watch her bathe to ensure no one is there to hold her under?”

A red-cheeked Gustav blustered, “I’d check the chamber first, and no standing in high places.”

“Forever?” Avera countered.

“You’re assuming whoever will try and cause an accident will be one of the traitors. More likely it will be a hired hand, someone dispensable, which won’t bring us any closer to finding out who is behind the coup.”

Gustav’s point couldn’t be ignored. Avera sighed. “Perhaps you are right, and we should arrest Venne. Question him until he gives up a name.”

The grizzled rook pursed his lips. “You also have a point when you say he might not talk or make it to the dungeon alive.”

“So, what do we do?” Avera exclaimed. “I am tempted to walk away and let them have it.”

“Give up the throne?” Gustav ogled her in shock.

“I never wanted it,” was Avera’s sulky reply.

“Perhaps not, however, if you were to simply give it up, they win. Those who murdered your family, who betrayed Daerva, will have succeeded.” Josslyn spoke softly but passionately.

Avera sighed. “Very well, I won’t resign, but I wish I knew what to do. Every solution has a flaw.”

“Sleep on it,” Josslyn advised.

Advice Avera took, but a suggestion that failed. She woke with no clear idea of what to do next, and then word came to the palace.

Admiral Venne, their main suspect, had died, slipping and cracking his head after he left a tavern.

Plausible, but Avera knew the truth. He’d been killed, most likely because the other traitor found out he’d been compromised. The question being, how did they know? Someone must have spied on her, but who?

She and Gustav retreated to her office to discuss the situation in private.

“With Venne gone, we have no leads,” Avera stated without preamble. “I think we must revisit using me to lure them out of hiding.”

“And I still say it’s too dangerous,” a grumpy Gustav declared. The man was more loyal than her steed.

“We must act before they do,” Avera interjected. “If they’re planning an accident, then who knows when it will happen. There are so many scenarios we can’t necessarily prepare for. A runaway carriage that tramples me. Something falling from above and smashing my head. A slip and fall down some stairs. Wouldn’t it be better to control the narrative?”

“There is no guarantee they’d fall into a trap,” Gustav cautioned, rubbing his freshly shaven chin.

“No, but at least we’d be doing something.” Avera couldn’t live like this, always wondering if death lurked around every corner.

“We can’t do it in the city. There are too many places to watch.”

“It’s been ages since I’ve gone for a ride, and it wouldn’t look suspicious,” she suggested. Avera and her steed usually went for daily rides. Poor Luna, stuck in the stable since the murders. With the number of apples she’d been sneaking her horse, she’d soon get fat.

“That could work,” Gustav replied slowly. “Especially if we don’t give them much time to plan. We order your horse saddled and have you riding out shortly thereafter, forcing them to move hastily. You’ll take a pair of rooks with you.”

“Only rooks? What of you?”

“As you suggested before, I’ll be ahead, watching from the woods. Anyone familiar with you knows you always take Field Road. The farmers just cropped the fields, making it impossible for someone to hide. The road is paved and flat, making tripping unlikely. If anything happens, it will be in the concealment of the forest.”

“Do you think I’ll be attacked?”

“I don’t know what to expect,” he grumbled. “This whole scheme is foolhardy.”

“But better than waiting for something to happen,” Avera countered. “I’ll be armed.”

“Good, but I plan to bring enough men to counter any possible attack. You should pay more attention to low-hanging branches, possible rope strung across the road meant to tangle a steed’s legs. If you see a pile of leaves across a section, avoid it as it could be a pit.”

Her eyes widened because she’d never have thought of any of those things. “Surely they wouldn’t have time to do something so elaborate?”

“At this point, I wouldn’t put anything past the traitor.”

“What if nothing happens?” she asked. “Then what?”

“I don’t know.” Gustav sighed. “But you are right. We need to act before they do. Perhaps we’ll get lucky and the traitor behind it all will show up. After all, a simple fall might not kill you, meaning they’ll have a contingency to ensure you don’t return alive.”

A sobering reminder that the consequences of guessing wrong could get her killed, but a queen couldn’t be a coward. “Have my horse readied.”

“At once, Your Majesty.”

As Gustav left to prepare, Avera paced, wringing her hands. Was she being foolish dangling herself as bait? So many things could go wrong. She spun and paused, her eye caught by something in the bookcase. She frowned at the little figurine of a bird sitting on a shelf. Odd. She didn’t recall seeing it before.

It made her think of the clay snake in her armoire. The bird wasn’t as rudimentary, the carving quite lovely, the colors of its plumage vivid, its jeweled eye sparkling.

Still, she felt much better once she’d smashed it on the floor.

Hopefully she could smash the conspiracy to murder her just as easily.