“Yes, Your Highness.” Mika bows in response like Corrin has been trying to teach him, but with the exaggerated flourish of a court jester and the balance of a newborn foal.
With a chuckle, the king strolls away.
I watch his back until he’s gone, in a daze over this morning’s turn of events.
“Look what I found, Mama!” Mika whispers excitedly, stuffing a hand deep into his pocket.
“It had better not be another mouse.” He’s always bringing things back from his adventures. A feather, a rock. That day’s live loot was an unpleasant find.
“Do you think it’s a magic potion?” He peers up at me, holding out his hand. Inside his sweaty palm is a tiny glass vial with a dark liquid in it.
I gasp, snatching it from him. Doing a cursory glance around us to make sure no one is watching, I whisper, “Where did you find this?” It’s so small. I can see now why they were searching everyone so thoroughly.
Mika points behind him, his eyes wide at my reaction.
“Here, in the library?”
His head bobs. “Is it a magic potion?”
“No. Tell me exactly where you found it and do not dare lie to me.”
He’s not used to hearing my sharp tongue, despite the many times he’s earned the right to it. His bottom lip starts wobbling. “I heard someone comin’ so I hid. The lady put it behind the shiny books.”
The shiny books?
“Show me.” My stomach spasms with dread as he leads me down an aisle to the very far end, through an archway, to a smaller section where the tomes are all bound and encased in gold.
The books on the royal family.
The gold book in Lady Saoirse’s possession was exactly like these.
“What did this lady look like?”
Mika shrugs, studying his feet.
“You must tell me, son. The truth. It’s very important.”
“She had black hair.”
“Down to here?” I gesture to my shoulders.
Mika bobs his head.
“Dear fates.” I squeeze my eyes against the truth. “She did not see you hiding, did she?”
He shakes his head. “I was over there.” He points to the coat of arms standing sentry.
The vial burns within my palm. If I get caught with this in my possession, it’s an instant execution. The smart thing to do would be to set it back where Mika found it and mind my own business. There must be a reason for the future queen to have a vial of this poison in her possession.
But in the back of my mind, the answer is there. Her reason is to hurt people. That is the only reason.
What if she uses it to harm the king?
To kill him?
My fist clamps around it. “Come, Mika, we must go now. And you are never to speak of this again.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ROMERIA
“The desire for blood is gone?” Kienen asks, doubtful.
“Within Ulysede, yes. There is no urge. Not even an ability,” Elisaf explains, as if this is a normal conversation between two old friends and not mortal enemies standing across a map in the castle war room.
“But once you step outside the walls, past the gates …” Kienen’s focus shifts to Jarek, who has played my shadow since we came back inside, no more than two feet from my side, his attention homed in on the Ybarisan. From this proximity, it’s impossible to miss his dark mood. It radiates from his massive frame as he waits for Kienen to react to my admitting I’m no longer loyal to Neilina.
He’s looking for an excuse to sever the Ybarisan’s head from his body.
But so far, Kienen has hidden his views behind a masterful poker face. He must know his life depends on every word that comes out of his mouth.
“Romeria should not have come to me like that.” Jarek’s molars clench. “Tainted or not, her Ybarisan blood was impossible to resist.”
“Because you have not built up an endurance outside,” Abarrane scolds.
“I have been busy inside the walls.”
Kienen’s head bobs back and forth between the two as they bicker. “But in here, right now, you have no desire at all.”
“I have desires.” Abarrane circles around the Ybarisan, one hand toying with a braid while the other plays with the dagger at her hip. “The desire to kill my enemies is still very strong.”
Kienen watches her for a moment, before deciding something—likely that she’s all noise, at least for now—and shifts his attention back to Jarek. “You lunged for Her Highness but sailed through the air as if thrown by an invisible hand. Was that—”