“You believe the rumors about a plot by the Shadian royal family to seize my crown?” When Adelei tilted her head in the servants’ direction, King Leon clapped his hands once. The servants and pages withdrew and shut the doors behind them.
“I’ve already told you what Lady Millicent disclosed to me. I find it much more likely that she is correct. Why else the need to stop me? If all they wished was me dead, send enough assassins and even an Amaskan will get unlucky. Most of the time, the Amaskans and Tribor ignore each other. There’s nothing to be gained by starting a war between the two groups, but now I’m endangering their plans for Her Highness. If she doesn’t wed Prince Gamun, they have no way to continue their scheme. But something the Tribor let slip—he wasn’t after me.”
“Explain.”
“He had a picture of what I assumed was me, but he claimed it wasn’t. He seemed rather shocked when I held the picture up to my face and it matched.”
The chair creaked as Ida leaned forward. “Are ya sayin’ he’s after Her Highness? But that makes no sense with your theory.”
“They can’t want the wedding and want her dead. We’re missing something.” King Leon leaned his chin on the palm of his hand, his elbow burying itself in the cushion of his chair’s arm.
“I wish I knew what, but right now we’re all in danger,” said Adelei.
King Leon cleared his throat. “I wonder if they changed their minds. Maybe you were getting to close to something? Do you also believe what they say about Prince Gamun’s… proclivities?”
“I wish I could give you peace of mind and answer no, but I can’t. I believe it possible. Until I meet him, I can’t say it for fact.”
“I’ve heard the rumors as well, Your Majesty, but I’ve not seen any evidence of their truth,” said Ida. “But then, I’ve been in Sadai more than Alexander these days, so I may not be the best person to ask.”
The mask wavered, and the King returned. “Master Adelei, you will have that opportunity as I’m told the Prince should arrive here tomorrow. With the wedding in little more than a month, we have little time to gather evidence, not if we wish to cancel the treaty.”
“And if you’re to do so, you’ll need solid evidence to go before the Boahim Senate,” added Ida.
“Indeed.”
King Leon stood and walked over to where Adelei sat on the increasingly uncomfortable stool. He knelt before her, his hand brushing her cheek. “What a wise and strong daughter you have grown to be,” he whispered. “Can you find me the evidence I need and keep yourself safe? It’s not worth losing you again. Surely we can figure something out.”
His trust in her abilities was humbling. His love for her was crushing. Even as a killer, he’s found a way to love me. Not the daughter he envisioned, but me. Master Adelei of Amaska. Her mind still separated the father from the King—it had to. The King I can forgive, but the father I can’t. Marry the two, and where does that leave me? And yet here he is, having loved me anyway—doing what I cannot.
It chafed and ached at the same time. Adelei stumbled away from his touch, knocking over the stool. His pain drove her to stare at the floor as she bowed before him. “I will do my duty to the Kingdom of Alexander, as I have sworn to do. I will find the evidence Your Majesty requires. But I will find it, however I have to, and I’ll not have a care for anyone’s sensibilities or rank.”
The Captain stood stiffly and leaned between the King and Adelei, her hand on her blade’s hilt.
“Peace, old friend.” King Leon met Ida’s gaze. “She’s only reminding me of the folly of my own design. Having you fake an attack on Margaret it seems has brought a real threat to our door.”
Adelei said, “Wishes are fishes. Once caught—”
“—They are forever changed,” Captain Warhammer finished. “He only meant to bring ya home, but I understand your meanin’.”
“As do I, Master Adelei. Watch the Prince and get me the evidence I need. You are dismissed.” King Leon peered right through her then. The unfocused stare shifted around her, to settle on anything except the person before him.
She bowed slightly before retreating. How long could she maintain balance? Adelei barged into the sitting room she shared with Princess Margaret. Who was she kidding? She kicked a floor pillow as she passed on the way to her room.
Empty and cold, she huddled beneath the blankets on her bed. She allowed herself that moment to finally respond to the chaos, and like a breached dam, the emotions poured forth.
She wanted to cry, then stab something until it died. Adelei propped up a pillow and casually tossed a throwing knife at its center. Once upon a time, there lived a princess. The next throw was not so casual, and a pillow exploded with a mass of goose feathers.
The princess was loved, until she was whisked away to a faraway land. She was loved and taught the way of things by her new family—the balance of life and self. Until she was abandoned again.
Adelei tossed another knife at yet another pillow, though this one resisted her assassination attempt with aplomb. Lost, she stumbled around in a maze made of uneven ground and waterfalls. Her balance destroyed, she hid herself away in her rooms to assassinate pillows. Damn you all.
Equal parts frustration and self-loathing, she leaned her head against the wall and cried.
“Ida—a moment if you will.”
Leon scribbled bits of nothing
