Roman narrowed his eyes, but she held his gaze without budging. As was mandatory in a moment like this, Roman stepped aside, lowering his head to Lord Karev, who strode past him. The lord quickly took the responsibility of opening the doorinstead of allowing Vaasa to do so, his arm sweeping through the threshold. “You first, of course.”
Vaasa gave an urbane smile as she stepped past him and into the large council room where many of the nobles would soon join them. A large table sat in the center, surrounded by at least ten chairs.
“You look positively lost in thought,” Lord Karev said as he approached, so close that she had to crane her neck to meet his gray eyes.
She unclasped the cloak at her shoulders and swept it from her body, settling it neatly on the chair they stood next to. “So much to think about.” She was careful to keep their proximity casually close, but had put enough distance between them to feel safe.
“A shame about Lord Vlacik,” Lord Karev said.
Vaasa nodded. “A terrible crime. Though I suppose you were right about what you said the other night; he was frequenting the brothel.”
His lips pursed, his cheeks still reddened from the cold. He leaned his hip against the table. “I suppose we all have our hidden tastes.”
Her words from the night before, echoed back to her as a threat.
He knew.
Precisely as she’d assumed.
As she searched for a worthwhile response, she gave the appearance of a woman caught in a lie, but before she said anything, a small chuckle emanated from him.
And he thought he had her.
“An affair with your lead sentinel, how groundbreaking.” Lord Karev slid farther onto the table, sitting entirely upon it now. Any hint of the charm he’d previously spun for her was gone.“Unless, of course, you had an ulterior motive for being there last night?”
He was pinning her into one confession or another: Either she’d been there enjoying the brothel for its original purpose with her lead sentinel, or she’d had something to do with Vlacik’s murder. But if he already knew she’d returned to the fortress with Roman, it either meant the whispers had become widespread or he had eyes and ears somewhere in the fortress’s ranks.
Vaasa shook her head. “I don’t believe I know what you’re talking about.”
Lord Karev smiled wickedly. “Every idiot outside of this room is whispering theory after theory, but I know something they don’t. Somethingfarmore interesting. I’m involved in a great deal of trade along the continent, and for the first time in my life, I met with an Icrurian salt lord last night.”
Vaasa paused. This was not something she thought he would jump to.
Lord Karev continued, “What I’m trying to decide is if your presence last night was merely serendipity, or if it’s no coincidence at all that you and he were in the same place at the same time. Either you’re a murderer, or you’re just like your father, because all the best players know serendipity is simply successful scheming.”
While Karev might be brazen and perhaps unhinged, he certainly wasn’t unintelligent, which Vaasa had known from the moment she laid eyes on him. If he had put together who Reid was, they were all dead. But he hadn’t said as much. He was accusing her of many things, but a clandestine meeting with her Icrurian husband wasn’t one of them.
Vaasa tried desperately to think on her feet. All the lord wanted was for her to think he had the upper hand, and nomatter what he said, she had more leverage than he ever could: She could make him an emperor.
Vaasa put on a subtle meekness meant to soften her features. It was best he thought her afraid of him, or at least more powerless than she was. “We’ve found ourselves in a precarious position, haven’t we, Lord Karev?”
The man looked smug. His body relaxed, ease pouring from his posture as he sat unbothered in front of her. “Why don’t you explain it to me.”
Vaasa ran her tongue over her teeth. Looking at the door, she pretended to check that no one was coming inside. To make herself appear nervous. He needed to believe himself cleverer, more connected, better informed. She controlled every aspect of her voice, broaching an almosttooconfident tone, one Karev would perceive as fabricated. As her trying too hard. “Would you believe my brother sent me into Icruria without a plan to make friends with the salt lords?” Vaasa asked, the lie coming as easy to her as breathing.
Lord Karev scoffed. “Your brother was a sniveling idiot. But I suspect that advisor of yours knew precisely what he was doing.”
Vaasa paused for just one second. He had just provided her with a far easier lie than her brother spinning schemes, because it was a half-truth. She sighed in concession, tugging her hand through her snow-tangled hair. “All right, fine. Ozik asked me to make friends with the salt lords, and I did. When your friend mentioned salt the other night, I decided I would risk it. The man you met—I was trying to meet with him last night, as well. If I can deliver salt, I can secure the throne. But I had nothing to do with what happened to Vlacik.”
Throne.All he needed was that one word.
Lord Karev smiled like the devil himself. “So you know the man?”
“I do.”
“And what exactly is your intention with him now that trade has been cut off between Asterya and Icruria? What does Ozik want?”
She started to breathe a little heavier and gave a small frown, like she was losing control of the conversation. “Why would I tell you that?”
