“Fortunately, I was good at killing even then. I managed to gut one of them, but the other slaughtered my mother.”
I clutched at my throat.
“The neighbors heard the screaming and came to help before my brother and I could get murdered, too. And Queen Verena knighted me for saving her.”
My skin felt clammy beneath my dress, and I put a hand on the table to steady myself. I should have asked Amatien to explain instead of making Valen retell the tragedy. I never thought I’d feel compassion for the inhuman knight who’d coerced and trapped me, but here I was, a tight knot forming in my chest, making it difficult to draw a full breath. If something like that had happened tomymother…
“Now you know the story.” His voice cut like a knife, though he hadn’t turned from the window. “You can gossip with the other courtiers. Just don’t expect much sympathy. A good number of them would kill their own mothers if it meant getting a knighthood.”
“They’re soulless, shit-splattered cocks, then.”
He looked back at me, his face a blank mask. “It doesn’t matter. I saved the queen and was richly rewarded.”
“You saved yourself.” I swallowed but pressed on. “And if your mother’s anything like mine, she’d just be thankful you survived.”
His face twitched, but he smoothed out his features before I could read his expression.
He walked back to the table, shoulders straight and voice flat. “We’ve gotten distracted.”
He was ending the conversation. God and Goddess be praised. If we kept on sharing experiences and vulnerabilities, I was going to start caring about him. Then I’d be easy pickings, and he would use me and dump me just like Tullus had done to my mother.
“Right.” I looked back at the map. “Tell me about these other exits, then.”
Chapter 17
Emmeline
“This is dream dust,” Valen said, once we’d put the floor plans away.
He handed me a small silk pouch. It was unadorned, fastened by drawstrings, and deceptively light. I moved to open it.
“Careful,” he said. “Don’t drop even a single grain. It’s highly illegal to possess, and I might not be able to get more before the heist.”
I looked inside and saw silvery sand. “Why’s it illegal?”
“It’s made from sylvan citrine. The gemstone helps people sleep, but when ground into powder, it knocks out a person the instant they breathe it in.”
I quickly tugged the pouch shut. “So you want me to throw it in Princess Regula’s face?”
“Then the Selenian Jewel will be yours for the taking.”
I fingered the drawstrings on the pouch, considering. “She wears it as a necklace, right? I can steal it without her noticing. I’ve done it before.”
“The clasp is locked.”
“You’ve never seen me pick a lock before.”
“Absolutely not. Regula is a pompous, power-hungry egomaniac, but she’s a member of the royal family, which means her magic is…” He let out a hissing breath. “She could kill you in an instant. You won’t be giving her that chance.”
“All right.” I tried to keep my voice light and ignore the heavy weight in the pit of my stomach. “Dream dust to the face it is, then.”
“The key is to—”
A knock at the door interrupted him. I quickly changed shape from the princess-seducing pretty boy to Valen’s redheaded lover, slipping the pouch of dream dust to Valen behind our backs.
“Pardon me, Sir Valen.” Nin walked into the room. “Lunch is ready.”
His eyebrows rose. “A little early, isn’t it?”
