“This is Edwin’s house, isn’t it?”
“It is indeed.”
“It’s charming.”
Helena had not taken one of the royal coaches, and she wore a plain blue dress without much in the way of jewelry except some pearl earrings. She’d clearly dressed down in order to fit in better with this environment. I appreciated the effort, as this wasn’t really a meeting I wanted to advertise. I also didn’t want people to look for me here because it would cause problems for Edwin.
Helena sailed inside and greeted both her boyfriend and mine with a cheery hello. I popped into the kitchen to help Edwin bring all the food out. He’d made a delicious seafood pasta I’d had before, and it would surely be a hit with these two as well.
Lucien accepted the bowl as it was passed around but demanded, “Why was I summoned here, anyway?”
I eyed him, not sure how to begin. I was admittedly nervous about telling him the full truth. Not that I hadn’t thought about it—I had—but Lucien was by far the most logical and levelheaded of my friends. My story was going to be hard for him to swallow.
“Lucien,” I started, “I have a crazy story to tell you. I need you to hear me out until the end.”
His eyes narrowed with suspicion, but he gave me a go-ahead wave of his hand.
I started talking between bites of excellent food. Lucien ate, listened, but didn’t ask a single question. I knew he was absorbing information, so I kept talking.
Only, I reached the end and he was still staring at me, dumbfounded.
The silence was quite loud.
Helena’s fork hit her plate, and she let out a happy sigh. “This was truly excellent, Edwin.”
“Why, thank you, Helena. Would you like more?”
“I’d love some.”
Lucien sucked in a breath and managed, “You have never lied to me. But James, this is a bit much to swallow.”
“Trust me, I know. Imagine living it.”
He suddenly realized the other two weren’t at all fazed. He glanced from Helena to Edwin, face working its way through various emotions, from confusion to a left-out sort of accusation. “You already knew.”
“James told me a while ago,” Edwin confirmed. “He told Prince Royce and Helena shortly afterward.”
I eyed my friend, not sure whether to say something else at this juncture or just let him think things through. I finished off the rest of my pasta first and waited.
For a long moment he sat there, then his eyes came up to meet Edwin’s. “What convinced you?”
“I saw too many odd behaviors from him the moment he hit the palace to dismiss his story,” Edwin answered promptly. Almost as if he’d expected the question. “I’ll give you some examples. He didn’t need to learn the layout of the palace or its grounds. He even knew all the shortcuts, despite never living in the palace before. He knew all the staff—and I do mean all. From runners to judges, he knew everyone by name. He was also having horrid nightmares of the past, like waking dreams, and I saw the aftermath of those.”
Helena jumped in. “He also predicted when Retazo’s Wrath would strike, although it came earlier than he said it would.Because of his foresight we were able to plan ahead and mitigate the lives lost.”
Lucien rubbed his forehead. “I had wondered about that. Lady Crovan—you knew Victor would despoil her, which is why you kept an eye out for her and knew to intervene.”
I hadn’t mentioned that as part of my story, but I wasn’t surprised he was already putting the pieces together. “Yes, that’s why.”
“Dammit. I’d wondered, and your excuse of having a spy following Gillespie around sounded plausible enough, but I had this sense you weren’t saying something. Now I know why.” Lucien rubbed his forehead some more. “Why do I find myself believing you?”
I grinned at him and sipped from my glass.
“You can go to Vuheia at the temple and ask for confirmation,” Edwin surprised me by suggesting. “She’ll be happy to confirm it for you.”
Lucien locked eyes with him and slowly dipped his head in a nod, expression pensive. “I think I’ll do that. Although truly, I’m half believing him already, which is very unlike me. James, why did you tell me all this?”
“Two reasons. One, Helena requested it.”
