Chapter 15
Kiera
Fear almost swallowed my heart.
What had started as a ploy to claw more information from Aiden’s lips, to answer one of the many questions that had roiled in my mind since the conversation I’d overheard between Melaena and Garyth, became dangerous. Deadly.
Who speaks treason now?I would, if I must. To understand.
“The people would be more protected, would they not?” I asked.
But I had overplayed my hand, it seemed. Aiden slowly drew back, his gaze still never leaving mine, but the heat of it—a burn I felt on my very soul—was muted.
“I believe we have lost sight of the rules of our game,” he said coolly. “Shall we play again?”
I wanted to scream with frustration and wring the answers I so desperately sought out of that gods-damned tongue of his. That tongue that distracted me with words of wit and comfort and charm.
How I loathed it.
Patience.
But I couldn’t be patient for much longer. Time would run out quickly once I spoke to Renwell.
I nodded stiffly, and we played another game. Iris came by to fill our mugs once more, but we both asked for water instead. Cold, clear water to wash away the Sunshine.
There was no more teasing or banter. We played for victory. For a shield from the other’s questions.
Aiden won. Barely.
Unwilling to draw his attention back to my fingers, I tapped my nerves out on my thigh. “Well?” I asked, anticipating a heavy strike.
And he delivered. “Tell me what you know of Weylin and his children.”
My fingers tapped faster. “That’s not a question.”
He threw me a look that loudly protested my nitpicking. I threw him one back that statedhewas the one worried about the rules.
“What do you know of Weylin and his children?” he growled. “What they’re like, their habits, friends, enemies.”
My fingers stilled. My stomach churned with dread. “Why do you want to know that?”
“Are you refusing to answer?”
I hesitated. If I refused to answer, as he had done several times, it would look like I had something to hide. While he didn’t seem to mind hiding things from me, I held the lower ground here. I needed him to trust me, to tell me his plans. To do that, I would have to give, give, give.
I could lie. But he’d already shown himself to be quite adept at knowing when I was.
Or he was testing me. Seeing if I really had worked in the palace and was matching my information to his, as he had done with Melaena.
“I guarded the princesses as I told you,” I said finally, feeling strange talking about my family—and myself—in such a way. “Emilia and Delysia. Sweet girls, if naïve. I spent all my timearound them. I only saw Weylin occasionally at dinners. Same for the crown prince.”
“Did you like Prince Everett?”
I frowned. “What is your interest in the prince?”
“I’m merely curious about the heir who never leaves the palace. Weylin has gone to great lengths to ensure his family has the only claim to the throne, so it makes me wonder why he hides the prince.”
My eyes narrowed. “He’s not hiding him. He’s protecting him. Especially after his mother—” I broke off, swallowing hard.
