Kambry pulled her hand from under his. “Whydon’t we work our way around, closing each one off?”
He stared at her, his expression curious.“Did I overstep just now?”
“No.” She moved away, twisting the ringaround her thumb. “Could Felip’s goals have changed?”
“Changed how?” His look was both curious andconcerned.
“What if his intentions no longer run totaking the kingship from you?”
He snorted and tipped his head. “What makesyou think he would change plans he has pursued for years?”
“Maybe….” She tried to convey her suspicionsthat Felip might have resigned himself to not being king. No, thatwasn’t it. It was more like the cost of being king no longerappealed. Or he understood the cost better now. He might havedecided what he’d wanted no longer was rightfully his. She rolledher eyes. Was she wishing he was a better man than he was? Heseemed different the last two times they had spoken. Was there moretruth than lies to his statements regarding keeping her safe?
She should tell Russal that Felip was in thetunnels? Sybil had said to keep them apart. How would she know whenthe time was right?
“Kambry?” Russal’s tapped her shoulder, andshe faced him. He looked down at her, his head slanted and his gazeworried. “You didn’t say exactly what you and Felip talked aboutwhen he attacked you in the drawing room.”
“He didn’t attack me.”
“What...” He took a breath. “Did you twoconverse amicably?”
“We have talked.”
“And.”
“He stated he’d had opportunities to killyou. More than enough to have changed the course of who was king ofKavin. He said he had let me get away when I escaped thefarmhouse.” She was twisting the truth. Felip had told her all ofthat when she had found him in her parents’ assigned chambers. Shetrusted Russal, but she had to keep them apart.
“Felip helped you escape?”
She organized her thoughts. “He didn’t soundthe alarm when he saw that I had. I know he tried to track mehimself.”
Russal circled the pedestal, his handsclasped behind his back. He stopped, placing his palms on eitherside of the lantern. The light glinted in his eyes and cast agolden glow on his face. He looked quite handsome, and she kept herexpression flat. She’d sidetrack him if she let him know she foundhim quite attractive standing there.
“You know he twists the truth to suithimself,” he said.
And apparently, she did, too. “But this time,I felt I was talking to Felip, your uncle, not someone desperate tobe king.”
“So he said he hasn’t made a decent try atkilling me. That does not mean he won’t.”
Something about him was different, and shecouldn’t explain it to Russal, not yet anyway. In the meantime,they needed to close off the passages, but not trap Felip if shecould help it. He might be their means of ferreting out the otherswho wished to bring down the monarchy. She closed her eyes, drawinga conclusion about Russal’s original plans when he allowed her toenter Kavin Wood on the Cut that only opened to those in need ofsanctuary. It worked out for Russal having her come to KavinCastle. Maybe it would work out letting Felip run free a bitlonger.
“Felip’s mother. Is she a tall woman?” sheasked, recalling the height of the individual standing with Felipin the servants’ hidden corridors.
“I don’t know. Lord and Lady Laurents couldsay or others who were here when she was at my grandfather’sside.”
She may have distracted him from thepossibility that Felip was just waiting for the best opportunity tobring Russal down, but she needed to find out who this woman was.Especially if she was the one who would betray her. “Mrs. Kauperwould have been here then.”
“All the older servants and citizens wouldremember her.” He came around the pedestal. “Do you think you’veseen her?”
“I just want some idea of whom I’m watchingout for.”
“My grandfather was quite tall. I supposethat’s were Felip gets his height. It’s not unreasonable MaizalynNuss could be tall as well. Brilliant red hair. That was thefeature most people referred to.”
Kambry’s fingers itched to return to thecarved line showing where Felip was currently. Could she drive himto an exit? She pressed her palm to the wall. Kavin. She puttogether an image of the walls pressing together, forcing Felip andthe woman to proceed until they reached an exit. Before Kavin couldput into action her request, she rescinded it. They shouldn’treveal how much they could manipulate the very stones of thecastle.
“Let’s seal off the entrances and leave oneopen,” she said. Kambry raised her chin when Russal gazed at her,nonplussed by her unwillingness to trap the traitors.
He stared at the wall, his lips pressedtogether. “If we trap them, we can catch them. You could ask Kavinto show us where they are.”
So his ring didn’t allow Russal to trackothers. She felt cold, realizing that she’d only been able to findthose she cared most about. But she had no trouble finding Felip.“We’re not trapping them. If you want to place a squad of guards atthe one open access to take them when they exit, do so. But I won’thave people tortured by the fear of being trapped in stone wallslike rats in a maze.” If he didn’t act soon, they would remainapart. Felip would remain free to do what he wished. She didn’tknow what that was. Keep them apart.
“As you wish, Kambry.” His voice tinted withworry, he added, “Don’t go getting a soft spot for Felip.”
She averted her gaze from his. “Let’s starthere.” She lay her hand by the passage that ran along the geographyroom.
“Which access will we leave open?” heasked.
“The door into the Queen’s Salon.”
He pressed his finger to the carved line thatshowed the door behind the tapestry. “That’s a servant access.”
“You said they run along the interiorpassageways. We’ll leave the nearest interior exit open to thatservant hall.”
Russal’s voice was soft, barely discernablewhen he gave his assent, and she faced him in time to see him alterhis expression of concern to agreement, as his gaze met hers.
Did he believe she was being protective ofFelip Covey? Keeping them apart would protect them both, shesupposed. “So how do we do this?”
“Use the map. Place your hand there and showKavin what you want. The magic
