Sommer tears another piece of bread free and continues. “The consuls were the ones saying you’d fled the palace, and because it was coming fromthem, a lot of the staff began to believe it. But those of us in your personal guard suspected a kidnapping plot of some sort.” He swallows. “We knew you didn’t trust Sallister after what happened with the Benefactors—so we didn’t either. Wadestrom and Granger started talking about a search party. We thought something had happened to you, and we’d begun to close ranks against Captain Huxley anyway.” He falters, then glances at Saeth, then at me. “I . . . ?I don’t know if you know that—”
“I know it now,” I say. “Continue.”
He nods. “Sallister was ahead of us, though. Or maybe the captain was. Huxley told the palace staff and the general guard that there were several among us who were assisting you to deceive the people. He and Sallister offered payment for anyone who would report a guard for acting outside orders. I still don’t know if someone actually reported Granger or if they just needed someone to take the fall, but he was hung in the courtyard the next morning.”
I inhale sharply. At my back, Saeth swears.
Sommer looks up at him and nods. “It sent a message, andquick. No one knew who’d turned him in, so we all became suspicious of each other. When days passed without word from any of you, we all began to think maybe the consuls were telling the truth—especially when they cut our pay and froze our accounts.”
“So you thought I was poisoning people,” I say flatly. “Despiteneverhearing me make such a claim.”
“They said you’d been conspiring with Ostriary to do it. That it was the true reason for Captain Blakemore’s visit.” Sommer glances at Saeth again, then back at me. “Rocco and Saeth were both with you on the day he arrived, so it fed suspicion. Especially since you sent Rocco away—and allowed Rocco to choose the team who sailed. Captain Huxley said you deliberately went around him for the guard placement, too. It was obvious you were working in collusion. It all began to raise a few eyebrows.”
A note of challenge has entered his voice. It’s subtle, but it’s there, reminding me of the way Lennard spat vitriol at me in the rain last night. There’s a part of him that believes these claims that Huxley and the consuls were making. I want to knock the food right out of his hands and have the men throw him back in the cellar.
But he also watched his friends die, just like Saeth and Thorin. He spent the night bound and shivering and starving, after being beaten by men who likely presumed I would approve of their treatment.
He might be a prisoner, but I need to convince him, too.
“Ididsend Rocco, and Ididgo around Captain Huxley,” I say. “But there was no collusion. Rocco came to me and offered to sail with Prince Corrick because he has experience on board a ship. Rocco wasalsosuspicious of Huxley—as he is the one who first told me about how you all were ‘closing ranks.’ I let him choose histeam because he’d earned the right to do so. I may not always succeed, but I do my best to treat my people fairly, Sommer.” I glance at the bread in his hands. “Perhaps you should consider the food you’re eating if you need a reminder.”
Sommer considers that, then frowns and looks at my boots.
But he doesn’t take another bite.
“What else?” I say. “Who was truly pushing this narrative that I wascolludingwith my guards andconspiringwith Ostriary? Was it Huxley or the consuls?”
Sommer thinks for a moment, then shakes his head. “It’s all getting muddled now. Consul Sallister kept saying that Blakemore was threatening to reveal your methods for poisoning the people if you didn’t share a greater portion of your profits with him.”
“Profits! Profits fromwhat?”
“Profits from the sale of Moonflower petals.”
“I don’t profit from the sale of Moonflower petals!” I cry, smacking my chest. “Sallisterdoes!”
Sommer draws back. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Everyone around us is absolutely silent, listening.
I make an exasperated sound and grit my teeth. I absolutely cannot believe I once called Allisander Sallister afriend.
“A question, if I may,” says Quint.
“Please,” I say.
“How was Consul Sallister able to convince the other consuls of this? They know the king doesn’t profit from the sale of Moon-flower any more than they do.”
Sommer hesitates, looking uncertain now. “Well, they know the Crown takes a cut of all sales and shipments—”
“Lord,” I say, and I have to run a hand down my face. “Not the taxes and shipping leviesagain. As much as they like to ignore it,they must realize it costs silver torunthe kingdom, surely. Where exactly do you think your own pay comes from, Sommer?”
He blanches a little at that, so I lean in and add, “And now that you’re not getting it, where do you think it’s going? I’m clearly not stockpiling silverhere.”
He swallows thickly.
At my back, Saeth says, “Maybe it’s paying these bounties you’re all so eager to claim. They stopped paying your salary and instead paid you to turn traitor.”
Sommer clenches his jaw and looks away.
