If I killed him, I’d be covered in blood. It was everywhere. There is no way I could have gotten it all off myself, least of all asleep.
“The killer obviously changed their clothes.”
“Ha!” I say. Father looks up startled as does Talyria, and I realize that I said that out loud. I press my lips together with a sheepish smile. Now isn’t the time for such an outburst, but I couldn’t help it, I may have the demigod of chaos in my head, but I have enough presence of mind to know that I’m wearing the same outfit I had on this morning.
So, it couldn’t have been me who killed the man.
“Unless I used sorcery to kill him. Then you wouldn’t have even had to get close.”
I feel my smile slide off my face. I don’t believe anything Likho is saying, and yet, there is a part of me that fears that he is telling the truth. It’s the part of me that wonders if I should have ever made the deal at all.
Sure, I like living especially since it gave me the chance to get married which I’m sure will be a more than pleasant part of my life once I actually get a single solitary moment alone with my bride. But then I think that perhaps there was a good reason that the demigods were killed, locked away, and that their followers were slaughtered.
It occurs to me that I’m meddling with forces far out of my control.
“Oh, you have no idea… do you truly think you can contain me?”
I’m not even trying to contain him, Likho can do what he wants. Just not with my body and certainly not things I disagree with.
“I think you misunderstand what my host is supposed to be.”
And I think that you should have picked a better host.
“Oh, I chose well. You are living chaos. You just haven’t realized it yet.”
I give my head a firm shake and turn my attention back to the matter at hand. Namely the murder that I definitely did not commit, no matter how much Likho tries to gaslight me into thinking that I did.
Ibram, the other guardsman who was staying the night here, paces the floor fuming. He is demanding justice, going on a tirade about how he is in charge of the matter since the storm makes travel impossible. I fold my arms; this is my father’s inn. Ibram has no jurisdiction here, and if he thinks he can demand the authority he so clearly craves he has another thing coming to him.
I’m done taking orders from power mad guardsmen.
Estelle steps forward, placing her hand on her hip. “Listen to yourself, Ibram, as if we have no idea who did it. Most of us grew up together.” She turns to Lek who hurriedly nods before she turns her attention back to Ibram. “It’s obviously one of the strangers here.”
Father steps forward, holding up his hands in a placating manner. “Hey, let’s not go around accusing all my guests here of being murderers.”
“Well, one is,” Talyria grumbles, folding her arms. She looks disgruntled over everything that has happened. With a jolt, I realize that is probably because someone is dead.
I am no stranger to death, I’ve faced it with myself before, but that doesn’t mean that the others are capable of handling it so callously as I.
Vera is sitting behind the counter, holding Mika close and whispering to her. Probably to distract her from what is going on. I notice that my father has set himself up between the rest of the room and the girls, except for Talyria who is standing in the middle of it all by herself.
I glance down at the ring of my finger, realizing that it’s my role to be by her side now. I let out a little grunt as I ran a hand down my face. I’m turning out to be a rubbish husband, aren’t I?
First thing after such a horrific murder, I should have been checking on my wife. Instead, I was left wondering if I’d committed it.
I step up to Talyria, wrapping my arm around her waist in what I hope to be a comforting manner.
“What about her?” Lek asks, raising a hand to point to the newcomer. She’s standing apart from the crowd with her hood still up. I’ll admit I haven’t gotten a good look at her since she came in here. She is certainly a mysterious entity, arriving here in the middle of a near impassable snowstorm, but that doesn’t mean that she’s a killer.
I find myself shaking my head. “No, she arrived after the murder had already been committed. Just before Vera found the body.”
My cousin sniffles at my words, and I find myself grimacing as I glance toward her and my sister. Not exactly the best conversation to have around young women.
“That isn’t exactly proof she didn’t do it.”
We all turn to the Highlander, who despite his size had been very quiet, sitting at one of the tables near the bar. He stands up when he sees that we are all looking toward him and clears his throat. “What I mean is that until we rule out all possibilitiesof forced entries into the back of the building, she could have broken in, did the deed, and then slipped out before coming in through the front door as if she were entering for the first time.”
The newcomer snorts at this. “Why would I enter a building after killing someone inside?”
