He frowned, “But it has begun again, hasn’t it?”
Her smile was wan. “I still miss your father, Dilys. No number of years will ever change that. And you are settled now, and happy, with alianawho completes you, as your father completed me, a mate truly worthy of you, who brings you a joy I thought lost to you forever after our poor Nyamialine. I have been fighting for years, but now, at last, I can finally rest.”
Alarm flared. His fingers clenched. She was planning to surrender to the Fade! “Nima...”
She pressed a slender finger to his lips and shook her head. “Ono, moa elua.We will not speak of it. Your poor uncle is distressed enough for the both of you. He does not want to let me go. Why do you think he tried to betroth you to an infant? Or threw such a fit when I vowed from the Sea Throne to ensure your daughter was born a true Calbernan, with all the gifts aMyerialwould require?” She sighed. “Poor Cal. It was no joy for him to be born my twin. He should have had alianaof his own to love. He is so strong, so loving, so fiercely devoted, with such a sharp, intelligent mind. He would have made even a Siren a worthy mate. And yet in a cruel twist of fate, all that love, all that strength and devotion, was shackled from birth to a twin sister instead of the mate he could complete and who could complete him.”
“I’ve never heard him complain.”
“Of course you haven’t. He would never dream of hurting me by voicing even the tiniest regret over the high price of being born my twin. I doubt he even allows himself to consider any life but the one he has. That doesn’t make it any less tragic that my beloved brother has been robbed of alianaand family of his own.”
Dilys was astounded. He knew his mother missed his father. How could he not? Dillon Merimydion’s death had stolen the radiance from her smile. But the rest...
“How long have you felt this way,Nima?”
“Truthfully? Since the first time I understood that my love for your father was so much deeper and more essential to me than my love for Calivan. That’s the first time I realized what Cal would be missing, and the first time I realized that no matter how much I loved my brother, it was to Dillon that my heart—and my life—was irrevocably tied. I love my brother. I love him deeply. But that awful night in our warehouse—if those thieves had murdered Cal instead of my Dillon—I would have grieved, I would have mourned for years, a part of my heart would have died with him, but the Fade would never have laid its hand upon me. Your father would never have allowed it. He would have anchored me to life the way you anchor your Gabriella, the way she anchors you. That is the gift of a true Calbernan claiming. And it makes me weep that I am the reason my brother will never know that joy for himself.”
“Nima,you cannot blame yourself. You were not the one who created the custom that bound Uncle Calivan’s life to yours.”
“Neither have I been the one to challenge it.” Alys pressed her fingers to the inner corners of her eyes. She wasn’t crying, but Dilys knew her well enough to know she was fighting to keep from it. She blinked quickly and took several deep, rapid breaths to compose herself. Once she had, she lowered her hands and lifted her chin in a familiar, regally decisive manner. When she spoke again, it was not Dilys’snima,but theMyerialAlysaldria I who said, “But enough of that. You came here with a far more immediate concern. Do you truly believe a member of our House was responsible for Siavaluana’s death?”
“I believe Nemuan believed it. Oh, he might certainly have concocted the whole story as a way to win Ari to his side, but once Ari refused to betray us, Nemuan had no reason to keep up the pretense. Unless, in Nemuan’s mind, it wasn’t a lie.”
Alysaldria nodded crisply. “Then let’s proceed on the assumption that he was right, that a traitor to Calberna does, in fact, reside within our House. If Nemuan committed his suspicions to paper, he wouldn’t have kept it here, in the palace, where the members of our House come and go so freely. Nor would he have confided in anyone in the palace, except possibly for the oldest retainers, the ones who had served House Merimynos before us. Or perhaps someone with ties to House Merimynos who works and lives within the palace walls? We did not supplant every member of the staff with our own people when we came.” She tapped a finger to her lips thoughtfully. “The palace smith, for instance, was born to House Osa, who serve House Merimynos. He personally made the weapons for every one of Siavaluana’s sons. He’s someone Nemuan might have confided in.”
“That seems as good a place to start as any,” Dilys said, “but I recommend rounding them all up at the same time so they don’t have time to agree on whatever story they think we want to hear. I’d also like to send someone to search Nemuan’s private quarters both here in the city and in Cali Va’Mynos.”
“Agreed.” Alysaldria turned to her two guards. “Peris, gather two teams of your most trusted men. Send one to Cali Va’Mynos and another to House Merimynos’s mansion here in the city. I want both dwellings searched from top to bottom, with particular focus on Prince Nemuan’s rooms and offices. Bring back every personal journal, every scrap of correspondence, every note Prince Nemuan penned or kept. Andion, you will assemble the entire palace staff and identify every member of the staff with blood ties or particular loyalty to House Merimynos or a notable friendship with Prince Nemuan.”
“Tey, moa Myerial.” Peris and Andion both bowed deeply. As they did so, the long ropes of their hair slid forward over their shoulders. A flash of red caught Dilys’s eye, and every muscle in his body went taut.
“Hold!” he commanded, his voice vibrating with power.
The two guards snapped to attention. “Moa Myerielua?”
“Andion, show me your neck.”
“My prince?”
“Your neck! Show me your neck.” He was already reaching for the long ropes of the unresisting guard’s hair. Andion stood silent and still as Dilys bared the corded column of Andion’s throat, revealing a small red circle of runes inked on the dark skin behind his ear.
“Where did you get this? Did Nemuan put this mark on you?” He held Andion’s shoulder in a fierce grip.
“Dilys!” His mother’s alarm, which normally would have stopped Dilys in his tracks, barely registered, so intent and all-consuming was his focus.
His claws slid out, piercing Andion’s shoulder. Before the man could flinch, Dilys’s free hand shot to the guard’s throat, battle claws curled around his trachea in a raw threat. The sharp edge of one claw stroked the small red rune-circle near Andion’s ear. “I’ll ask one last time. Who gave you this mark?” Blood seeped out from beneath Dilys’s grip on the guard’s shoulder and trickled down Andion’sulumi-covered chest. Like all the queen’s guards, Andion was a celebrated hero of many wars, but Dilys would rip out his throat without a thought if Andion were part of Nemuan’s conspiracy.
“What’s come over you, Dilys? Release him this instant!” Command throbbed in his mother’s Voice. He felt it clearly, yet felt no compulsion to obey.
“You don’t understand,Nima.Ari says Nemuan drew a mark like this on him and his men. It allowed Nemuan to control them withsusirena.That’s how Nemuan drowned my men—drowned Fyerin and the others. He inked that mark on them then Commanded them to drown, and they had to obey.”
“That can’t be true,” Alysaldria protested. “That mark is a ward designed toblockthe power of adverse spells and magic.”
“Who told you that? Because I suspect whoever did is our traitor.”
His mother went pale beneath the bronze of her skin. “Ono.” Her lips started to tremble, and her head shook from side to side in a sort of dazed denial. She stumbled back, away from Dilys, raising one shaking hand to cover her mouth.
And then he knew, of course. The realization made his heart slam against his sternum. In his veins, every drop of his blood turned to ice. Sweet Numahao.
