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Whatever confidence Irin had walked into this room with seemed to have left him now. “I was hoping to negotiate an agreement for retainage.”

My brows shot up like they were trying to join my hairline.This was a surprise.

I raised my eyes from the paper I was prepared to write on, scanning the prince’s freckled face for any sign of duplicity. He was nervous, sure, but he seemed sincere. “Retainage? As in, serving on your staff? Being on call for your needs, essentially?”

His eyes shifted to the side, not meeting mine directly. “It’s… a bit more complicated than that. There’s quite a bit of…” Irin glanced around the room, as if he was going to find the right words to use in here. “Mystery involving the late king’s death. And on top of that, some of his most trusted advisors died shortly after his body was found. I need a skilled necromancer to call on if any other staff members… suffer a similar fate.”

There was something about his stilted speech, the awkward pauses and general unease that made me suspicious. “Certainly.” I put the pen down and leaned back in my chair, pushing the front two legs off the ground until it creaked in protest. My elbows found the armrests and I steepled my fingers to press them against my lips thoughtfully. “You do realize I am capable of raising the dead to determine the cause of death, don’t you? This mystery” — I didn’t think it was much of a mystery, sitting in front of the only person who would benefitfrom King Henton dying— “could be easily solved if I had access to the graves of the victims. You wouldn’t need to keep me on retainage for that.”

The change was immediate. If I hadn’t been staring so intently at his face, I would have easily missed the slip in control he held on his expression. Alarm widened his eyes and pressed his lips together tightly before it settled again.

Interesting.

“I’m sure you could,” Irin answered, voice smooth and unbothered. “But I have others who are already looking into the advisors’ deaths, although their bodies have yet to be found so the deaths are assumed. And Father’s death was ruled as an unexpected heart failure. I’d like to reserve your services for future cases, if there happen to be any, and if needed, go back and reevaluate those who are missing.”

“Mmhmm,” I hummed noncommittally. I’m sure my suspicion was plain on my face, but he made no effort to dissuade it. This whole effort of trying to have me held on retainage seemed like a farce, something he was just going through the steps on. Why else would he not want me to investigate the people who’d died recently?

My curiosity was eating me alive.

“Ok, I’ll go on retainage. But I have conditions of my own.”

I’m sure if I hadn’t been watching him so intently, Irin would be sagging in relief. As it was, he expressed his eagerness by planting both booted feet on the ground and leaning forward, hands gripping his thighs as if to contain himself. “I’m open to negotiations.”

Sure he was.

My eyes never left his face, but I set the legs of my chair down and reached for the pen still laid across the almost-blank paper, pressing the end to my bottom lip in thought. I was going to takefull advantage of the boon I’d been given in Prince Irin’s obvious desperation.

“First, my rate will be five drummons per moon phase. Four of them will be sent directly to the orphanage. And you will indicate it is from me, not a donation from the sudden conscience the royal family has developed.”

Irin nodded, not batting an eye at the amount. That wasn’t even a drop in the bucket for the royal treasury. But that would be a huge break for the orphanage.

“Secondly, I have the right to deny services and terminate my contract if I find anything that indicates some nefarious plan you’re dragging me into.”

He was more hesitant to agree to that condition. “What would you describe as ‘nefarious?’”

“Well, it doesn’t really help your case to ask that kind of question, for starters.”

A heavy sigh left Irin’s nose, and he leaned back to pinch the bridge of it in frustration. He was practically vibrating with the tension coiled in his body. It wasn’t his body language that interested me, however.

It was hisaura.

His magic was all over the place, arches of earthy brown tones leaping from him as if his own magic was trying to escape his body. I’m not sure even he realized how erratic his energy appeared. It wasn’t uncommon to see people’s energies spike under emotional stress, but this was wholly different. It was like he couldn’tcontainthat terramancy magic.

Like it wasn’t really his to begin with.

“Terramancy is not your affinity, is it?”

Irin’s head snapped down and his face was a mixture of shock and offended. “Excuse me?”

“Your magic is all bent out of shape.” I gestured at him vaguely with the pen. “I’ve only seen that with practitioners who do notpractice in their natural affinities. Or in children who have not practiced their affinity control very much. So, tell me, are you a child?”

Muscles in his jaw fluttered so prettily in his outrage. Irin’s hands balled into fists on his thighs, and he leaned heavily on them, like he was trying to hold himself back from jumping off the couch. “No offense, but that’s pretty fucking rude,” he spat through gritted teeth. Actually, he looked about two seconds from snarling like a dog.

“Ah,there’sthe real Irin!” I threw the pen down on the desk hard enough to make it skitter across the wood. “We aren’t standing on formalities here, and quite frankly, I’m not fond of dancing around the truth. So, back to your original question. Bynefarious, I mean whatever you’re plotting with regard to those deaths you claim were unknown or assumed, as someone who would benefit directly from them. So, since we’re being frank with each other, I’m telling you upfront that if I find out you’re using me to cover up what actually happened, I will void my contract and come after you myself. Do I make myself clear,Your Highness?”

Irin’s face was flushed red, his breaths loud as they were forced through his nose flared in real anger. His jaw shifted side to side, like he was chewing on his answer before finally spitting out, “Fine. Anything else,necromancer?”

I smirked at the title. He almost growled. “Just one last term. This one will be mild in comparison.”