Jade willed her breathing to remain even though her heart beat faster. The timing was too close to be coincidental, wasn’t it? Perhaps Devereaux was using this to test Jade’s abilities, to see what she was really made of. Since Matherson said the grand general wanted to keep an eye on her career, perhaps this was her way of challenging Jade and seeing what she could accomplish with minimal information.
But it still seemed odd coming the day after Jade met with her informant for the first time and when the conflict was moving toward such a critical point. She still knew nothing about him—about Nicolas. Not really. How he got the information he did, what all he knew about The Claim, what his motivation was. How he knew so much about Jade. A shiver tore up her spine even though the room suffocated her with its stifling warmth.
But if Grand General Devereaux wasn’t passing pertinent information along to Matherson and therefore to her, she would need to get leads from somewhere.
She would have to agree to Nicolas’s terms and work for him.
“I’ll learn something at this dinner, Commander,” Jade said, finally finding her voice. “I understand the direness of the situation.”
Matherson nodded once, the concern receding from his expression. “I know I can count on you, Captain Ni’ihm.” He smiled, small and sincere. “We’re very fortunate to have you.”
The proverbial knife weighed heavily in her hand with the betrayal it would eventually serve out in Matherson’s back. Though she needed a way to get around the military’s apparent lack of urgency, she hated to keep things from her commander. Stomach acid rose in Jade’s throat, and she pusheddown the guilt that came with it. She didn’t deserve Matherson’s favor or his kindness.
Jade tried to return the smile, playing the part. “I’m just doing my job.”
Theo waited beside the carriage with the gardens of Featherly Manor as his backdrop, the low-hanging sun casting a golden glow over the scene. Despite the heaviness of the circumstances surrounding her, Jade cracked a smile as she came down the front steps to join him. Whatever had happened between them in the arena as they sparred days ago was a distant memory. Jade’s encounter with Nicolas and the changes in the Conflict of Succession had pushed the awkwardness of the moment and the feelings associated with it far from her mind.
“It’s the princess herself.” A smile spread across Theo’s face at the inside joke.
Jade leaned into the subtle jab. “Good to know you respect those in positions above you,footman.”
In the whirlwind of excitement preparing for her first mission of this assignment at the masquerade ball, Jade had hardly paid attention to Theo in his own disguise. Now, in the golden summer glow, she couldn’t ignore it. He thoroughly looked the part of a footman in an aristocratic house. He wore a nicely tailored navy blue suit with a cream-colored vest and white button-down shirt. Silver buttons on the cuffs and at his waist glinted in the waning light. His short brown hair was styled back, all stray locks accounted for. The dazzling smile that shined down at her made her stomach flip and brought her back to the place where they’d been in the arena, and the phantom of his arm pressed against her waist again.
She crossed to the door of the carriage and Theo extended his arm to grasp the handle, but he stopped and held his arm there to block herentrance. She glared at him good-naturedly, but the seriousness in his ocean eyes took her by surprise.
“Are you all right?” he asked, concern etched on his features. “You’ve seemed kind of...guarded lately.”
Jade’s eyes fell from his and flashed to his white-gloved hand on the door handle. He must have taken her glance as confirmation, and he stepped in between her and the carriage door, his closeness paralyzing her.
He dropped his voice to a murmur, meant for her ears alone. “If this is about the training arena the other day—”
“Theo.” Jade squeezed her eyes shut, placing a hand on his arm to stop him. The simple admission that he had noticed something as well was too much for her in that moment. “No, it’s...it’s just the assignment. There’s a lot on the line right now.”
His silence forced her gaze to meet his, and his proximity had her craning her neck to look up at him. He studied her, the concern transforming to question. “Something’s happened.”
Jade nodded almost imperceptibly, her eyes darting to the corners to catch sight of the troopers seeing them off outside. “Commander Matherson will fill you in later. But tonight has to go well.”
Theo lifted his free hand to rest atop hers where it lay on his arm and squeezed her fingers. Without another word, he pulled at the handle and opened the door, helping her inside the carriage before turning and taking his place at the front.
Jade nearly collapsed on the seat once tucked away in the carriage. She leaned her head back, and her eyelids fluttered shut. The distractions of Nicolas, the king’s turn for the worse, and the cessation of information flow from leadership to Matherson had kept Jade’s mind from straying to thoughts of Theo. But his reassuring squeeze still lingered on her fingers, and she still saw his lovely eyes studying at her with such worry.
He was trying to bring up the training arena.
Which meant he’d noticed it too. Something between them.
And if he’d noticed it . . . if he felt the same way . . .
Jade stopped the loose train of thoughts before it got away from her. She was on her way to a dinner party at Evenshold Palace on an assignment crucial to The Claim. She needed to be getting into character, to preparing her mind for the night. The last thing she needed was thoughts of Theo throwing her off.
She cleared her mind of everything but the character she had created, the girl who was giddy with excitement to be attending a dinner party with members of the royal family. If she was going to get invited back for anything else, she had to sell this. She had to buy into everything it meant to be a noble. Her disgust for the frivolity and duplicity of the aristocracy couldn’t make an appearance, so she shoved that part of herself deep inside and embraced the very things she swore she would always hate.
Sixteen
An hour later, the carriagerolled up to Evenshold Palace, the atmosphere starkly different from the night of the masquerade ball. No line of carriages filled the curved drive, waiting to unload. Rather than a symphony pouring out of the palace, only the music of the night surrounded them. The overall effect was more subdued, with no crowd for Jade to get lost in or activity to distract the other guests. In this setting, she would be on display, which meant she had to remain in character at all times.
Theo drove them right up to the front of the palace and stepped down, then opened Jade’s door for her. He leaned close as he took her hand.
“I’m here if you need me. Play it smart.”
