My heart stopped. I’d assumed I hadn’t been followed since no one was home and I’d been on an errand for Sophie, but...
What if Aiden came looking for me and saw who I was with?
A laugh scraped past Renwell’s lips. “Tell me, Kiera, are you more worried that someone will see me as your lover or you as a traitor?”
I glared at him, his strange behavior making him ever more unpredictable. Was it because I’d killed one of his Wolves? Or because of Aiden?
“I can’t risk either,” I said, “and I shouldn’t stay much longer. Do you want to know Aiden’s plan or not?”
Renwell leaned against the far wall, his expression back to its usual mask. “Tell me.”
I told him of Aiden’s need for gold, despite his shipping business and smuggling for nobles, and how I’d offered the idea of stealing from Asher’s vault as a way to tempt him.
“That was a dangerous move. One the king will not like,” Renwell said, but his eyes gleamed.
“Does it matter? We can’t let it happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because,” I spluttered, “they could take that gold and disappear or use it for gods only know?—”
“Have you learnedwhyhe wants it?”
I ground my teeth. “Not exactly.”
Disappointment harshened every line in Renwell’s face.
I thought quickly. “But I overheard something else. Something that might be related.”
My words tumbled over each as I told him about the conversation I heard between Garyth and Melaena. I only left out the details of Garyth suspecting someone had searched his office and found his papers. I didn’t want to turn Renwell’s fury on me once more. As I spoke, he paced the room like a caged animal.
“That gods-damned fool is meddling where he shouldn’t,” Renwell muttered.
“What’s happening at the mine?” I asked carefully.
His voice lashed out. “Nothing that concerns you.”
I didn’t want to push him, but I hated being in the dark. “Does it have something to do with the People’s Council? With the letters I found?”
“I searched for them, but they were gone.”
“Are you going to arrest him?”
“Not yet.”
Gods, I hoped for Garyth’s sake that he forgot about the People’s Council and the sunstone mine and whatever else he was meddling in.
I hadn’t considered the lives that would weigh on my conscience with this job. I thought the lines between good and evil were carved in stone, not sand. Father would call Garyth a traitor for evenwantingthe People’s Council back. But Garyth was also a good father, a loving husband, and, from what I remember, a decent man.
Holy Four, what if it was like the Pravaran rebellion all over again? Those days had been filled with terror so potent I could taste it in the air, like a brewing storm. Renwell hunting down my father’s enemies in Aquinon and serving them up for execution. Friends and family betraying each other to save themselves. Enemies taking their revenge by naming supporters.
And through it all, I had believed—with all my sixteen years of wisdom—that love would be enough to save Julian, if not his family.
But he refused to give up his cause, even for me.
“You’re certain Garyth said, ‘We can do nothing if he doesn’t succeed?’” Renwell asked, ceasing his pacing.
I nodded. “And Melaena assured himhewould.”
