“Perhaps you could marry instead and give me all the intel you extract.”
Verity gave a small smile. “I would if I could. But no one useful wants the poor little charity case.”
This was, unfortunately, true.
Verity’s mother had hated witches so deeply, she’d outed her eldest daughters to the Blood Guard, resulting in their deaths. Because of this, Verity had cut all ties with her parents, and in doing so, cut herself off from their monetary support. Rune suspected the story was even darker than her friend let on, from the way Verity went icy quiet when people brought it up, her eyes blackening like thunderclouds.
Verity’s position at the university was now dependent on scholarships. Scholarships she could keep only if she attained top grades. Otherwise, she’d be stripped of her room and board and forced out onto the street.
Rising from the desk, Rune crossed to the window of the an nex and looked out. Her grandmother’s garden labyrinth sprawled out below, illuminated by the waxing moon. The sea was a black mirror in the distance.
She didn’t feel ready to marry. It wasn’t a matter of not being in love with any of her suitors; Rune had never expected love. In fact, in her grandmother’s absence, sometimes Rune felt half-alive. Like her heart was a withered thing in her chest.
Rune was no longer capable of love, nor did she need it. What she needed was to make the most strategic choice.
It was more the finality of yoking herself to someone for the rest of her life that made her balk, especially when that someone could never know who she really was.
But Verity’s right: it’s time.
For a plan like this to be most effective, the person would have to be someone with intimate knowledge of the Blood Guard’s secrets. Maybe she was being too picky, but when Rune looked at the list of suitors Verity had drawn up for her, when she considered the ones who were the most well connected, she suspected she could do better.
That she must do better.
Like there was a name missing from her list.
“Noah Creed is a good choice. They say his father is grooming him to become the next Good Commander. But he’s clever,” said Verity, still skimming the spells in the book on Rune’s desk. “Bartholomew Wentholt is a better option. He’s not that bright, and his mother is a celebrated witch hunter.”
“Bart is obsessed with himself,” said Rune, still staring out the window.
“Yes, but that could benefit you. He can’t pay much attention to your comings and goings if he’s checking his reflection every ten minutes.”
Rune sighed and walked back to the desk, where Verity had the book open to two spells Rune had been trying to master for weeks now: Deadbolt and Picklock. They were for locking and unlocking cell doors.
“Fine,” said Rune, pressing her fists to her hips. “Here’s the plan. I’ll woo Bart. Invite him to my room. Ply him with wine.” She glanced at the cup, now enchanted with Truth Teller. “If the information he gives me is valuable, I’ll choose him. If not, I’ll try again with Noah.”
If a suitor didn’t have access to good information, or wasn’t capable of retaining that information, he wasn’t worth her time.
A knock interrupted them. Rune’s blood spiked at the sound. The false wall of her bedroom hid this room, and she always shut it when she came here—she didn’t want the servants catching her red-handed in her grandmother’s casting room.
“Miss Winters?” called a muffled voice.
Rune blew out a breath through her lips. It was only Lizbeth.
After Nan’s arrest, the staff of Wintersea House all fled in the night, not wanting to serve in the house of a known witch. Or not wanting to serve in the house of an informer. Possibly both.
Only Lizbeth had stayed.
“Your guests are arriving.”
“Thank you. We’ll be right down.”
Rune lifted the enchanted cup from the desk. She would leave it in the kitchen for Lizbeth, who would fill it with wine and await Rune’s summons. They’d done this so often, with so many suitors, it was rote.
Rune glanced over to find Verity shrugging. “Noah or Bart—either will get you what you want, I think. And while you’re making your decision tonight, Alex and I will find out where they’re keeping Seraphine.”
She jumped down off the desk.
Rune opened the latch in the false wall and pushed it open. She waited for Verity to exit the casting room before stepping out after her.
“I was thinking yesterday, while feeding Henry …”