Page 51 of A Kingdom Threatened (The Vazula Chronicles 3)

“Not much,” Heath admitted. “Nothing that King Matlock doesn’t know, little as he might accept its meaning.” He told her about the guard uniforms, then hesitated. “There’s an aspect of it I haven’t told Lachlan. I didn’t want to include him in this part of the investigation. But maybe you can help me.”

“What’s that?” she asked, clearly intrigued.

Heath heard a door open in the adjoining suite, which belonged to his grandfather. He hesitated for a moment, then shook off his concerns. His grandfather wasn’t quite the natural confidant his grandmother was, but Heath trusted him equally. There was no harm in him hearing what was coming.

“I didn’t get a good look at any of the men who attacked Percival,” he said. “But I felt something. It was fleeting, because they were all fleeing as fast as their mounts could take them. But I felt it.”

“What did you feel?” his grandmother pressed.

“Power,” said Heath simply.

“Are you sure?” she asked, her eyes widening in alarm.

Heath nodded. “Like I said, it was only for the briefest moment. But it was familiar enough to be unmistakable.” He hesitated, his voice full of meaning. “Just not so familiar that it could have been anyone in my family.”

His companion stilled as she took his meaning. But before she could speak, they heard another door open through the wall. Heath assumed his grandfather was leaving his suite, but a soft knock sounded on the adjoining door a moment later.

“Enter,” called the elderly princess.

The door opened, and the familiar form of Heath’s grandfather appeared.

“Hello, my dear. Hello, Heath,” Prince Kincaid said cheerfully. He stooped to kiss his wife’s cheek. “I thought you must have company when I saw the maid hesitating at the doorway.”

“Maid?” Heath asked, unspecified alarm sweeping through him.

He shifted in his chair to peer through the still-open doorway, and saw a girl walking briskly from the adjoining suite, her arms full of linen. Hastily, Heath tried to pull on his magic the way Reka had told him. He felt it there, and struggled clumsily to grasp it, to accept it as under his control. When he threw it out from him, in the direction of the retreating servant, he caught a glimpse of something that increased his unease. Divided loyalty? No, hidden loyalty.

But he could see no more. The maid had passed out of his sight, and apparently out of his range.

“Who was that?” he asked hastily. “That servant?”

“I’m not sure of her name,” his grandfather admitted. “She’s one of the regular servants, though. She’s been part of the rotation on our suites for, I don’t know, the last year at least.”

Heath bit his lip, not entirely reassured.

“What just happened, Heath?” his grandmother asked, watching him closely. “I just felt power reach out from you, in a way I can’t remember sensing before.”

“Ah!” Heath’s grandfather lowered himself into a chair, snagging a pastry from the tray in front of them all as he surveyed Heath knowingly. “Been holding out on us all, have you, Heath? Well, that’s an interesting turn of events.”

“I was trying to…” Heath struggled for the words to explain it. “Trying to see anything not visible with normal sight. And I thought I did. Although I have no idea what it means. It was only a glimpse.”

His grandmother frowned. “I’ll have Kincaid point out which servant it was, and keep an eye on her,” she assured Heath.

“I suppose that’s all we can do,” said Heath anxiously. “Do you think she overheard our conversation?”

“I don’t know,” said Princess Jocelyn. “The servants are generally well-trained not to eavesdrop.”

Heath said nothing, and his grandmother fixed him with a look.

“I haven’t forgotten what you were saying, you know. Are you suggesting the men who attacked Percival were Kyonan power-wielders?”

“What?” Prince Kincaid sat up straighter. “Surely not!”

“I don’t want to believe it any more than you do,” Heath said. “But I felt something, and I don’t know all the Kyonan power-wielders well enough to discount the possibility altogether.”

His grandmother looked very troubled. “We know them all. And I’d hate to believe it of any of them. What would Kyona have to gain from such an attack? Percival was popular there.”

“The fact that they were disguised as Valorian royal guards suggests that the attack wasn’t so much about getting rid of Percival as about causing strife between him and the crown,” Heath pointed out.