Orry was silent.
“Orry? Can you do that?”
“Aye,” he whispered. “Aye, of course, Ren. Of course I will.”
She sighed and closed her eyes. “Thank you.”
She heard him shuffle and knew he was leaving. He did not speak as he took a few steps further away, but then stopped. “And if it’s as they say? That you?—”
“I did not kill him, Orry,” Terena said.
She turned her head and narrowed her eyes at him. “I loved him. I did not kill him. But if Isher did, I will killhim.”
Sonah shivered in her shift,the only clothing they’d allowed her after they’d stripped her of her dress, stockings and shoes. They even took the ribbon from her hair. Wiping her nose on her wrist, she sniffed again, no longer caring.
She stared down at the top of the table. Sonah had cried off and on for hours, having seen or heard no one since they dumped her in this room.
Sonah looked up, chancing a look around the small room. Blinking away the tears, she realized she was in the maids’s dining room.
She huffed out a sigh, and it hitched as she swallowed, so glad she was back in the palace proper and not….
The door opened, and she stiffened, dropping her gaze to her lap. She might not be in the dungeons anymore, but she sure as hells was not being cared for as befitting her station. She had a good idea she’d done something terrible, though she did not know what could be so bad, this was the consequence.
“I am sorry they brought you to the dungeons,” a silky, high-pitched voice called out, and Sonah shook. Hearing that voice directed at her made Sonah quail.
The general sat across from her, but she still wouldn’t look up at him. “Captain Cortis was overzealous.”
Silence.
Pretend he isn’t there. Pretend this is a dream.
“You went to the terrace? With the princes?”
Sonah didn’t respond.
Something clattered on the table, and Sonah jumped. She looked across the table and saw the general had dropped his dagger on it. She lifted wide eyes to him. Cold, blank eyes stared back.
“Were you with the princes, yes or no?”
“No.”
“No?” The general scowled. “Lady Maranou said you were called to Prince Lerek’s rooms that evening before dinner.”
“Aye,” Sonah said, blinking in confusion.
“Then why did you lie when I asked if you were with them?”
Shaking her head, Sonah opened her mouth. The general leaned forward, startling her.
“Only Isher—Prince Isher was there.”
He nodded. “Good.” He leaned in, dark eyes narrowed. “And did you drink the wine? You tasted it before Prince Isher, aye?”
Sonah nodded. “Aye.”
“And yet,” Peleon bit out, “Prince Isher says he was drugged. And Prince Lerek must have been, too. Now, Prince Lerek is dead, along with his guard. Their throats were slashed.”
Sonah’s head snapped up, mouth hanging open. She tried several times to say something, but her throat wouldn’t work, her lips opening and closing uselessly as tears gathered behind her eyes.
