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“You should have something,” Charon said, without looking up.

Yves sat down on the couch next to him. Silence stretched between them, broken only by the scratching of a pen in Laurent’s office.

“Someone killed him,” Yves said at last. “And I’m going to bicker with my family, arrange a hedge maze party, and flirt with rich men like it never happened.”

Charon was silent for a minute. When he spoke, his voice was low and soft. “Laurent said it happened early this morning.”

“Do you think whoever did it saw us leave the guard house?” Yves felt a ripple of fear course through him as he thought of the boy’s killer simply walking into the cells. “They didn’t kill the guards. That means they were rich enough to bribe them.”

“He mentioned a noble,” Charon said. “Sabre is already making inquiries. He’ll be discreet, and he’ll have the weight of the crown behind him.”

“What happened to the boy?” Yves asked. “What if he has a family?” He tried to think about how his siblings would react if it had been the House of Onyx that burned, and a hard lump formed in his throat.

“In cases like this, they often don’t have families powerful enough to search for them. But he has Sabre, now.”

“And us,” Yves said. Charon gave him a curious look.

“I have an idea, Charon. I was going to invite only a few nobles to the maze and the ball, but what if I opened the guest list up a little? The more nobles there are in one place, the easier it’ll be for Sabre.

They’re allowed to refuse the crown entry on their own lands.

You can’t refuse at a garden party or a ball. ”

Charon eyed him warily. “That could be dangerous. If they did see us at the guard house, they could try to corner you.”

“Not if I’m careful. Not if we’re careful.” Yves grabbed Charon’s hand. “Come with me. You’re good at reading people. We both are. Maybe we’ll see something.”

“You’re serious about this,” Charon said, looking down at him.

“I don’t like thinking that he died alone down there,” Yves said. “At least we can make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

Something bright glinted in Charon’s eyes, and he squeezed Yves’ hand. “I’ll be there, Yves. We’ll find the person who did this, and we’ll set it right.”

The Swan Maze was one of the wonders of Staria, but most of the locals in Duciel considered it an eyesore.

King Adrien’s grandmother had commissioned an architect to build it for one of her submissives over fifty years before, as an homage to her “complex mind.” She’d also torn down two city streets and displaced almost a hundred people to do it, but as Laurent had told Charon one night over a bottle of wine, no one ever said she was a benevolent queen.

Charon wasn’t sure what to think of it. The maze had survived King Emile’s reign because a trust had been put aside for it, and Charon suspected the only reason Yves could requisition it for his personal use was because King Adrien was about as interested in hedge mazes as his father.

Pieces of the maze were made with brick, iron, or marble, and glass panels appeared at random throughout, possibly for a symbolic reason that had been lost to time.

A pond for the former queen’s swans lay in the center, and visitors to the maze usually fled in terror the moment the resident swans hissed at them.

It wouldn’t have been Charon’s first choice for a contest, but he could see why Yves would be drawn to the chaos.

“I assure you,” Laurent said, standing at the entrance with his hands raised, “everyone will have a fair chance to enter the maze.”

The suitors and nobles grumbled amongst themselves.

There were more curious spectators than Charon expected, since Yves’ updated guest list had been rushed out to noble houses in Duciel only a few days before.

More people arrived by the minute as word spread of Yves’ next contest for a husband.

Even Laurent’s sister, who was busy working on a new play, had appeared to lean against one of the hedges and grin as Laurent tried to keep order.

Yves was nowhere to be found, but he’d given Charon a map of the maze the day before, with key locations he would try to stay near if Charon needed him.

“The rules are as follows,” Laurent said, and the crowd erupted into sporadic hissing as people tried to hush each other into silence.

“The suitors Yves has chosen for this task are to enter the maze first, and our other invited guests are to enter last. If you find Yves, you are permitted one kiss—” Laurent paused to sigh, “on any part of his body that you wish. This will also secure your position at the next contest. You must release Yves to run after you catch him. Anyone who does not will be eliminated. Anyone who falls prey to distraction will be eliminated.”

“What does that mean?” A tall, blonde woman in a checkered dress stood a few feet away, hands on her hips.

She had a solid, strong build, with muscular arms and a square, freckled face.

Her hair was braided under a short veil, a tradition for unmarried adults in rural Staria.

“Distractions? People get distracted all the time. That’s human nature. ”

“Other courtesans entered the maze an hour ago,” Charon said. “They’ll try to seduce the suitors away.”

The woman raised her brows. “That’s no good. Yves needs someone loyal.”

Charon took in her open, freckled face, cornsilk hair, and green eyes. “You know him.”

“I’m his cousin.” She smiled, but it wasn’t Yves’ cheeky grin. “Harriet.”

“Most of his family don’t call him Yves,” Charon said.

He took a step back, quietly urging Harriet to follow him away from the closest knot of onlookers.

Yves hadn’t talked much about Harriet, but from what he remembered of Yves’ enormous family, she had practically lived with them since she was five.

She’d been folded in with the rest of the siblings, and Charon wondered if Yves had also been charged with taking care of her while his parents ran the farm.

“It’s his name,” Harriet said. She shrugged. “Even Pearl calls him Yves when his parents aren’t around. They’re upset because changing his name feels like distancing himself from them. Which he is, but I get it. Our family can be… intense.” She turned to look at Charon. “How do you know him?”

“We live in the same house,” Charon said, and Harriet’s face lit with sudden delight.

“Oh, let me guess. You’re not Laurent—he’s the fancy boy with the hat.

Charon?” Charon nodded, and she took his hand in a firm grip.

She had an easy, bustling air of dominance in her voice, the kind that made several submissives in the area look her way expectantly.

“Yves wrote to me about you. All good things. Too many good things, actually, suspiciously good.” She tried to glare at Charon, but broke into a laugh.

“Oh, you’re probably fine. Does Yves like any of these men, do you think? ”

“He might favor a few,” Charon said.

“Very diplomatic of you.” Harriet said. “His mother and sister sent me here in case someone tries to set the maze on fire. All that nasty business with the Pleasure District scared her. But I’m really here because I’d kick myself if I missed all this. Yves running a husband competition? I love it.”

Charon watched the first group of suitors practically run over each other to enter the maze. Raul stumbled a few paces behind, looking terrified. “You don’t share his mother’s opinion, then.”

“Cousins don’t have to follow the same rules as everyone else.

” Harriet giggled as a noble pushed another suitor into the hedges at the entrance.

“If Yves weren’t the black sheep, it would have been me.

But I love the country, so I get away with being a dom who can’t find a nice submissive to settle down with. ”

“Did Yves always want to get away?” Charon asked.

Harriet shrugged. “Wouldn’t you? The whole place fell apart when he left.

He’d been in charge of everyone’s meals, the work schedules, lessons for the young ones, cleaning, stopping fights, fetching healers…

It was a mess for a while. They tried to make me do it all, but I acted like I was going to run off after him instead, so they hired a few more farmhands and figured it out.

Imagine that. Four people had to be hired to do all the work Yves was doing.

I wouldn’t be an oldest Cooper kid if you paid me. ”

Charon thought of Yves as he’d been when he first came to the House of Onyx.

He’d finished his chores during his probationary period so quickly that Laurent had thought he’d paid someone else to do it, and then he’d spent the rest of his time scouring the city for theaters, cafés, and gardens.

He’d thrilled at the thought of being a man of leisure, and had quickly set himself up as the resident spoiled brat of the House of Onyx.

Charon wondered if Yves had ever had a moment when he could truly be a child.

It was, he realized with an unpleasant jolt, something they had in common.

Harriet clapped her hands, startling Charon out of his reverie.

“I know. I’ll find Yves myself. It’ll scare the shit out of him.

Do you want to come?” When she winked at Charon, he could see Yves in the wicked twinkle in her eyes.

“Give me a hand over the hedge, in any case. We’ll go around the side. ”

“It may not be safe,” Charon said. Harriet didn’t act like someone trying to gather news of Yves for her aunt.

She seemed to be exactly who she was—a rare, unguarded person who genuinely liked Yves.

He wasn’t sure it would be wise to let her slip into a maze full of nobles, particularly when one could be responsible for a young boy’s murder.

“It’s a public maze, so there may be pickpockets waiting to take advantage. ”