Brigitta shuddered. “When I think how close I came to marrying that monster…”
“Did you ever see his real face?” Silas asked.
Brigitta shook her head. “As far as I know, he can masquerade as any person or animal. And he’s vicious. He’s killed several people in Tourin and Eberon.”
“The spy he murdered was a royal secretary named Lord Romak,” Silas explained. “One of my men spotted Romak receiving gold from an Eberoni priest. So at first, I suspected Romak was being paid by Lord Morris.”
Leo nodded. “That would make sense. Morris has a network of priests all over the mainland, spying for him.”
Silas took a sip of wine. “But when the Chameleon murdered Romak, I thought Romak and the priest had to be working for him. I had the priest followed to see where he would go. We stopped him as he was crossing the border into Woodwyn.”
“Woodwyn?” Luciana exchanged a surprised look with her husband.
“I questioned the priest last night,” Silas continued. “He confirmed my theory about Gwennore’s father. And he said we would never defeat the Chameleon.”
Leo sat back. “It sounds like he is working for the Chameleon. But why was he going to Woodwyn?”
Brigitta gasped. “Could the Chameleon be an elf?”
“That possibility has occurred to me,” Silas admitted.
“He has many secrets.” With a grimace, Brigitta shuddered. “I could tell whenever he touched me.”
“Did the priest say anything else?” Leo asked.
“Not much.” Silas winced. “I was trying to frighten him into talking by telling him that the Chameleon would murder him because he’d been captured. The priest tried to poison himself, and when I stopped him, he grabbed my dagger and slit his own throat.”
Luciana and Brigitta sat back with shocked expressions.
Leo frowned. “That makes him sound like one of Morris’s priests. I’ve dealt with a few of them, myself. They’re fanatics. Once they’re caught, they always try to kill themselves.”
“Before he died, the priest said something strange,” Silas admitted. “He said the Circle of Five would conquer the world.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed. “Circle of Five?”
“Yes.” Silas eyed him carefully. “I was wondering if you knew anything.”
Leo shook his head. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“Neither have I,” Brigitta said.
“Does this mean there are five people who want to rule the world?” Luciana asked.
“The priest was carrying this on him.” Silas removed the rolled-up note from his pocket. “It’s in Elfish. I’ll ask Lady Gwennore to translate it when—”
“I can do it.” Luciana extended her hand across the table, and Silas placed the note in her palm. She unrolled the note and read it. “It says, ‘Princess Gwennore is at Draven Castle. Shall we capture her and deliver her to you?’”
“Damn,” Silas breathed. Gwen was in danger. “The priest referred to her as a pawn.”
“We have to protect her,” Luciana declared. “Can you send her back here?”
Leo shook his head. “Transporting her a long distance would make it easier for her to be captured.”
“I’ll protect her,” Silas insisted. “You have my word. I won’t let any harm come to her.”
Luciana and Brigitta exchanged a look.
“Are you taking responsibility for her?” Luciana asked.
“I would like to, yes.” Silas shifted in his chair. “If Gwen will accept me.”
“Gwen?” Brigitta asked. Her gaze drifted over his uniform. “Green and brown.”
Luciana’s eyes narrowed. “Exactly.”
Exactly what? Silas was confused. He motioned to the note in Luciana’s hand. “Is there more? Does it say who wants to capture Gwen?”
She read some more. “It says, ‘Plan for taking throne in jeopardy due to return of heir. Will assassinate him soon.’ It’s signed with an ‘R.’ For ‘Romak,’ I assume.” She looked up at Silas. “Did he try to kill you?”
Silas shrugged. “Obviously, things didn’t go the way he planned. Is there anything else?”
She turned the paper over, inspecting both sides. “There’s a sun drawn at the bottom here. Hardly surprising, since the priests are avid worshippers of the Light.”
Silas took the note to study the drawing. It did appear to be a sun with five rays radiating from a circle. “Damn, it’s more than a sun.” He pointed at it. “Five rays. Circle of Five.”
“Five people,” Leo murmured.
Luciana sighed. “I suppose one is the Chameleon.”
“And the second one could be Lord Morris,” Leo said.
“The third one could be an elf from Woodwyn,” Silas suggested. “The one who wants to capture Gwennore and use her as a pawn.”
“That still leaves two.” Brigitta sat back, shaking her head. “Somehow, I always thought the Chameleon was a loner.”
Leo flexed his gloved hands. “He’s doing the dirty work for the group, because he can move among us undetected.”
Silas swallowed hard. “These villains, whoever they may be, would be easier to defeat if they were loners. But they’ve formed a league. A secret league.”
Leo nodded slowly. “They’ve joined forces. That will make them harder to defeat.”
Silas looked around the table. “We need to join forces, too.”
Brigitta nodded. “You can count on Rupert and me.”
“Good.” Silas reached a hand toward Leo. “Are you with me?”
Leo hesitated. “There’s a chance, even with my glove, that I might hurt you.”
“I know.” Silas kept his hand extended. “I’ll trust you.”
Leo shook his hand, and when nothing happened, he smiled. “We’ll be stronger together.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“You expect me to believe something a tree said?” Petras gave Silas an incredulous look.
“They call themselves the Kings of the Forest,” Silas explained. “They’ve been here for centuries.”
“And Woodwyn has been our enemy for centuries,” Petras argued. “Why are you believing everything that elfin woman tells you?”
Silas sighed. After returning to Draven Castle, he’d gone straight to the royal office to tell his brother about the tainted crowns and jewelry. “All right, then. Forget about the redwoods and look at this logically. Every queen of Norveshka who survived childbirth eventually went mad. The kings didn’t fare much better. What one thing have all the kings and queens had in common?”
“The curse.”
“The crowns!” Silas gritted his teeth. “Just have some new crowns made. What do you have to lose?”
“Five hundred years of tradition.” Petras scowled at him. “We should send that elfin
