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His spine went rigid at the thought, and anger coursed through him. He’d helped the mage countless times in the palace gardens, and she’d betrayed him? Joined some assassin? His thoughts went back to the accident with the light globes. She’d appeared to help him, but perhaps she’d attempted to harm him, instead. She might have known the assassin.

Suddenly, his senses screamed a warning as the people inside moved. But despite being exposed here, he wasn’t defenseless. Ber lifted his dagger into a defensive position and gathered his remaining energy as the door swung open. They wouldn’t catch him unprepared.

As expected, Araxa stepped out. “Your Highness? You can—”

She froze, her gaze locked on the blade he held. Ber gave her a humorless smile. “You’re an interesting person to find at my personal estate in Llyalia.”

“This isn’t what you clearly think,” she said in a rush.

“Curious,” Ber replied. “Because it greatly resembles betrayal.”

Araxa shook her head frantically. “No. No, no, no, Your Highness.”

As he studied her face, his anger wavered. Her obvious fear lacked the sly edge that often exposed deception, and there was open pleading in the eyes that finally met his. But what couldotherwise be the reason for her presence here? She must have been sent by King Ryenil to even find it.

“I can explain, Your Highness,” another voice interjected. Then Halueth eased up beside Araxa. “Please grant me that.”

His bodyguard at the Centoi palace? What was going on? “I recommend you do so quickly.”

Halueth’s arm slid around the mage’s waist. “Araxa and I formed an attachment after the accident in the gardens. So when I told her I needed to intercept an assassin, she volunteered to accompany me to help.”

“Intercept…” Ber had the sudden urge to rub at his temples, but he dared not relax his guard. Not yet. “Perhaps you should explain that part first.”

“Although I worked with you, to the king I am nothing but a faceless bodyguard.” Halueth’s lips thinned. “The fool. I was standing guard when he ordered a pair of assassins to this estate in case you fled here. They were to murder everyone except your child, including Princess Etessa. There had already been discontented murmurs spreading through the guard, but that shattered any remaining hint of loyalty.”

Ber frowned. “Did those who witnessed Ryenil choking his daughter not spread the tale?”

“Oh, they did, but there was some speculation that she’d been an imposter,” the guard explained. “However, the king wouldn’t have needed to order her killed if she wasn’t alive. When I requested leave, no one questioned where I was going.”

It made sense, though Ber hesitated to trust. This could be as much of a lie as anything. Still, he’d already decided to trust Halueth in the globemaker’s shop, and the man hadn’t betrayed him after. It would be best to remain vigilant, if not quite so guarded.

He lowered the dagger to his side. “The body outside?”

“The second assassin.” Halueth smiled grimly. “The first was waiting beside the portal gate. He’s buried in the woods beyond the gardens. I left the other where he fell as a warning.”

Once again, it was all logical. And yet… “Why didn’t you connect mentally with me after my scan, Araxa?”

“I…” She rubbed her lips together as though they’d gone dry. “You scared me, Your Highness. With that much magic, I wasn’t sure it was really you. But the brush of your energy against the door…thatI recognized.”

His cheeks warmed. Of course. No one would believe he could wield that much power, because by himself, he couldn’t. His spells were probably still tinged with hints of Toren’s energy, though Ber had been the one to shape them. He’d never asked others what such spells felt like before.

“There’s a story to that, but I’m afraid I can’t tell it,” he replied.

Araxa gave him a tentative smile. “I understand, my prince.”

They fell into an awkward silence, one Ber wasn’t sure how to break. What was he to do now? Leave the pair at his estate? Take them with him? If Halueth had told the truth, they’d come here to save him from an assassination attempt. That deserved a better reward than to be left in an abandoned house with only whatever supplies they’d brought.

Yet bringing them with him to Llyalia would be a risk. If he’d judged wrong, he could be bringing the true assassins straight into the heart of his brother’s palace. It was a heavy decision to have to make.

“Berrett Eyamiri!”

A new fear coursed through him as the shout echoed down the corridor.

His wife was here—and she was furious.

Tes barely waitedfor the bodyguards to flank her before she marched down the hallway toward the three at the end. She made note of the guard, Halueth—he’d protected the royal family for some time—and the mage beside him, one who often worked in the Centoi palace gardens, but she barely heeded when they fell to their knees. Her focus was on Ber, who’d frozen like the prey he currently was.

His guilty flush said it all, didn’t it?