“Ha ha,” she muttered. “I think I stood up too fast.”
Isher released his hold, his eyes still on her, and she gave him a quick smile. “Tell Lerek I was here, and the wine is fine?”
“Aye, Little Changeling.”
Sonah nodded and turned to leave, then turned back and gave him another hug, her arms tight as she rested her head on his chest. Going up on her toes, she planted a kiss on his cheek. “I’ll miss you, but I’m glad you’ll be here when we get back. I’ll see you soon!”
Isher grabbed her face and dropped a kiss on her forehead, then stared into her eyes for a few seconds. Sonah frowned, but then he tweaked her nose and she jerked her head back.
“Ugh, stop!” she said, pulling away.
When she made it to the terrace doors, she glanced over her shoulder to look at him one last time and caught him still standing, his gaze sad as he watched her.
A chill went down her spine, and Sonah had the feeling she was missing something, something important. She shook it off and left, hurrying through the antechamber and out the door as if chased by ghosts.
Terena pacedthrough the Winter Garden, pausing now and then to sit on a stone bench, only to rise and pace again.
She glanced over at the doorway for the hundredth time, wondering where Lerek could be.
Only once had he failed to meet her: when his father had unexpectedly fallen ill, eating some spoiled fruit. The palace had been in an uproar; half the kitchen staff put to the sword before the Royal Physician had announced the fruit was bad, not poisoned. They executed the fruit vendor that afternoon.
Terena cursed and strode toward the exit, nodding as she passed two Imperial Guard and took the stairs down four flights and across the walkway, where another flight of stairs led up to the royal residences.
The upper gallery was silent. Terena stepped out into the hallway and listened. As she strode across the hall and down the corridor leading to Lerek’s rooms, she frowned.
There were no guards about.
Lerek’s personal Imperial Guard, Alexi, was always outside the prince’s rooms. Terena had caught him sleeping more than once during a night shift, but it wasn’t late enough for him to have already fallen asleep.
And she’d never seen him not at his post.
Terena looked around, then reached for the latch, lifting it slowly and pushing the door open. The silence beyond was not reassuring at all.
Terena unsheathed her dagger slowly, pushing the door wider, and slipped inside. She closed the door behind her, her eyes adjusting to the dark, darting around the large foyer.
As she turned to step into the room, she saw a guard lying on the floor on the far side of the door.
Terena held her breath as she hunched down, her hands sliding up to the guard’s neck to feel for a pulse. She gasped, snatching her hand back when she felt the slippery slide of blood. Glancing around, Terena moved carefully through the antechamber, stopping beside a plush chaise where someone was sitting facing away from her.
As she stepped closer, her eyes narrowed, and she leaned in to see a guard slumped half on and half off the chaise. The smell of copper hit her nose as she kneeled, hissing at him to wake up, but he didn’t so much as twitch. Terena lifted a hand and pushed at his shoulder roughly. He slumped over and Terena’s heart skipped.
Alexi.
Terena reached out, running both hands over his body. Something warm and wet covered his armor.
She pulled her hand back, sliding the pads of her fingers together, the coppery smell filling her nostrils. Terena leaned forward, her arms flying across the guard’s chest to his neck, where the blood pooled thickly at the collar of his uniform jacket. Blood roaring in her ears, Terena rose slowly and glanced around the room once more before stepping toward the open terrace doors.
Outside, she paused, straining to hear. Nothing but silence and the gathering darkness greeted her. Her grip tightened on her dagger as she stepped up onto the upper terrace. Lerek’s garden terrace surrounded a pergola wreathed in white silk curtains billowing slowly as she neared. The cool night air did nothing to ease her overheated skin. Beyond the swaying silks, she could see the dim embers of a dying fire.
The silence was thick in her ears and she blinked owlishly at her surroundings. As she parted the silks, Terena stared dumbly around at the scene. Lerek lay on the ground in front of the settee, wearing the same clothes he’d worn earlier, a dark stain marring the white silk, his arms stretched out wide. Looking across, her eyes landed on another figure, her eyes widening. Lerek’s twin, Isher, was half lying on an armchair across from Lerek, an empty glass near his fingers shattered on the stone. Another guard lay on the ground face down near his feet.
Terena rushed to Lerek, her hands trembling badly. She whimpered incoherently as her hands groped his chest, his face, feeling something sticky she couldn’t see but knew by the coppery scent what it was. She put her head to his chest, her cheek in the wetness on his shirt. He was sostill, his skin like ice.
She couldn’t hear his heartbeat.
Terena drew her hands back in horror, then stared at them like she’d never seen them before, covered in blood.
Terena sat there, mouth opening and closing.
