Page 34

Thatbroke my already-crumbling composure. A wild burst of laughter burst from my chest and bounced off the walls of thevast hall. It may have been the most joyful sound this room ever held. “Oh, dear Haron. There’s never a dull moment with you, is there?”

“Not unless you’re a stick-in-the-mud like your general.” She nodded in Beolf’s direction. Behar took the opportunity to give her a barrage of licks across half of her face. Haron scrunched her nose playfully and leaned back, trying to avoid his loving attacks. “Despite the enticing idea of rubbing Beolf the wrong way, I actually come with some information regarding my… investigation.”

Haron’s head tilted toward the hallway leading to my study, her thick copper-toned braid sliding off the opposite shoulder. The silent message was clear enough. This was a conversation for a private setting.

I glanced toward the high windows to check the time of day. From the dimming sunlight that gave way to the deeper reds and purples, it was already halfway through the evening transition. The double moons were barely visible at this angle—they promised a well-lit night with the full phase.

Two attendants appeared from behind the platform, likely signaled by Beolf that we were leaving. They bowed low at the waist and waited for orders. “Please bring two sets of dinner to my chambers.”

Haron scoffed. “Unlikely. I can eat my dinner in the study while we talk, if we must dine together for this meeting.”

“Then we can dine after we talk,” I fired back.

Haron rose from the floor slowly, eyes boring into mine as they narrowed to slits, as if that would magnify their intensity. I stared back with a challenge of my own. The attendants’ soft-soled shoes scuffed across the stone floor as they retreated to the kitchen. It was hard to tell how long our standoff lasted, but Beolf was the first to break the tense silence.

“Am I going to have to relieve you of your weapons, or are you going to play nice tonight?” Beolf was only half-teasing, I realized. He shifted from his casual lean, lightly resting a wrist on the sword pommel at his hip with an unspoken threat.

Finally, her gaze shifted to me. There was a cold gleam in them that promised some kind of retribution. “Fortunately for Irin, I still have use of him. But I’m sure he appreciates your loyalty, nonetheless.”

For anyone else, that kind of audacity would have them hauled off to the dungeon for some hard lessons in respect. How Haron managed to avoid the same treatment was a mystery to me, but part of it was self-preservation. It didn’t take a genius to realize Haron Val Toric was clearly a cut above the normal spellcaster. I was equal parts afraid and intensely attracted to that kind of power.

Also, Behar would likely never forgive me for taking away his favorite person. If I didn’t love the damn hound so much, I wouldn’t have cared. But I did. So Haron was safe for now.

“Leave her be, Beolf,” I waved him off and rose from the throne. It was nice to look down on Haron, for once. Even if the haughty angle of her chin didn’t feel like I gained much of a victory from the height. “Haron, after you.”

With a flick of her braid back over her shoulder, Haron threw Beolf one last scathing look before leading us down the hallway to my private study. Behar padded alongside her as if wholly unaware of the tense set of her shoulders.

“Am I going to be paying dearly for this information?” I asked her broad back. I wished I was joking, but there was always a price for something from Haron. Unfortunately, it was unlikely to be paid easily with drummons.

She tossed a particularly suspicious look over her shoulder. I didn’t like the bit of smirk on her lips. “To me? No. But HighlanPid may be belly-crawling his way over in the next few days. He may or may not think I’m working for you now.”

My feet halted in the middle of the hallway, shocked at her casual admission. Haron had opened the door and stepped through into the study without me. “Why does Pid think you’re acting on my behalf?” I asked.

If Pid thought Haron was acting on my behalf, rumors would spread like wildfire that I had a necromancer in my pocket. Meaning, curious eyes would be turned away from what seemed like inaction in investigating the supposed suicides of Father’s advisors. The council and nobles would assume I was using a necromancer in my own investigation.

My steps had slowed, lost in wonder at how well the recent turn of events played out. Then, Haron was no longer in sight. “Wait!”

She had already ducked into the study and went straight for the liquor bar, pouring goldtine into two glasses. The long coat she wore was tossed it over the coat rack by the door, and her figure cut a delicious shape beneath practical travel clothes—a simple white shirt beneath a stiff leather tunic cinched at the hips with her belt, paired with tight leather pants and scuffed riding boots. I made sure to close and lock the door behind me just in case someone decided to let themselves into our private conversation. Mainly, so Beolf wouldn’t barge in. I trusted the kitchen staff to deliver our food to my rooms as I ordered.

She turned and walked past me, still standing dumbly in the middle of the room even as she pressed the other glass to my chest for me to grasp, and took a seat on one of the two overstuffed lounge chairs by the unlit fireplace. Only after she'd taken the time to settle into the chair and bring the goldtine to her lips, finally, her eyes lifted to meet mine over the rim of her own tumbler. Damn this woman and her singular talent ofdriving me insane. I could tell she enjoyed keeping me on the edge of interest.

“Well,” she finally answered. Her head tilted to the side and those enchanting eyes slid away slyly. “I paid him a little visit regarding Trisne. And I asked about that Forol Hent man from the masquerade.” A dark look passed over her face then, narrowing her eyes and furrowing her brows. “Turns out, Jinon doesn’t know a Forol Hent at all. And he was adamant he doesn’t know who could have killed Trisne, despite her life being threatened via letters for several moonphases. Since she was a possible candidate the council offered as your wife, I may have led him to believe I was looking into her death at your request.”

Trying to keep the satisfaction off my face took all my concentration. Taking a sip of the drink gave me just enough time to compose myself. “You are a busy woman. Did you get what you were looking for, with your visit?"

"Not as much as I hoped. All my questions just lead to more questions, it seems."

"Why is her death so important to you?" The question rolled thoughtlessly from my mouth. As soon as I spoke the words I regretted it, watching Haron's scowl darken even more as she continued to stare into her goldtine. "Was Trisne… important to you?"

I remembered the woman Haron spoke to with familiarity at the tavern, the brown-haired beauty she teased so easily. It was undeniable she was charming to both men and women, but the thought of her having a relationship with Trisne did something painful to my chest. It seemed so easy for her to connect with people. As soon as she opened her mouth, people stopped to listen. I knew it was stupid to be jealous of a dead woman, one that was brutally murdered at that, but the question rattled in my head so loud I could barely hear over the noise.

"Trisne was…" Her voice trailed off, and Haron heaved a weary sigh and leaned back to rest her head against the chair to stare at the ceiling. My eyes locked on the graceful column of her throat as she swallowed before continuing. "Trisne reminded me of someone I loved very deeply. Someone who was also brutally murdered for petty reasons."

I waited, silently begging for more scraps Haron deemed to toss out about herself. She probably didn't realize how starved I was for any little bit of information. The hunger to know every part of her gnawed at my ribs. “Will you tell me about her, eventually?”

Haron knew I wasn't talking about Trisne. “Perhaps. I would not keep the truth from you if I could help it. There are just some things about me I… cannot share. Things you wouldn't understand.”

Thatwasthe truth. And I could feel the tension that had been building in my shoulders release all at once, like I had released a breath held too long. But something else reared its ugly head in the back of my mind. A feeling of possession that bordered on blind rage, threatening to take control of all rational thought and find a way to lock her in my chambers.