Chapter 34

CHAPTER 34

I t's been storming outside for days, and the frozen rain hammers against the leaded glass windows in my room.

Talan hasn't returned to my chambers this week. Without him or Nivene, I've been mostly on my own with only my worries for company.

I keep wondering if there's a way to misdirect Talan away from his discovery of a spy on the High Council. Maybe—if I could get out of here—I could plant evidence pointing at a different noble? It might be a good idea, but not without its risks.

The ideal candidate would be Lord Draven, rumored to have an impure bloodline, his great-grandmother a bastard demi-Fey. But I'd be condemning him to death. I'd rather choose an Auberon-loving fanatic to take out. There were enough of those.

Thunder shakes the windowpanes, and I pour myself a little wine and pace across the flagstones.

Questions swirl in my skull. Is Nivene all right? What's going on in the war in Scotland? And what about the dragon attack? I have no idea if the human forces managed to stop it.

My instructions have me feeling trapped: Lie low. Maintain your cover .

Do nothing.

The longer the days drag on, the more worries start to poison my thoughts.

I pivot, stalking across the room again. I find myself hoping that the dark prince will show up. At least I'd have someone to talk to.

But I did the right thing turning him down. Unless sex serves my purposes as a spy, it can't be on the menu.

There's a rustle of paper, and a note slides under my door. I pick up the envelope and see my name written in an elegant script. I open the door, peering into the hall, and spot a servant hustling away.

I turn over the envelope. Talan's wax seal is imprinted on the back, a dragon eating its tail.

Inside is a short letter in black ink written in Talan's swooping handwriting.

I have been searching for your would-be assassins. I've found nothing except that two soldiers are missing—and so is Arwenna. I believe she has been conspiring to kill you and is now in hiding. But you already knew that, didn't you?

Stay in your room until you hear from me. I'm sending soldiers to guard your door.

I crumple up the note and throw it into the fire.

When I pull my door open again, I find two soldiers marching toward me.

I'm more a prisoner here than ever.