The grand general leaned over the table, her fingertips pressed into the shiny wood surface reflecting the light streaming in from the room’s three windows. “I’m sure you’re curious as to my presence here. I’m afraid it’s not for anything good. I was told you were informed that the king took a turn for the worse recently. Whatever illness is ravaging his body has only increased in virulence. His physicians say he has days to live.”
Jade swallowed past a rising lump in her throat, her eyes never leaving Devereaux. The echo of the ticking clock hanging on the wall rang in Jade’s mind, counting down what little time she had left. She could only hope Nicolas was doing his own work taking care of Grannam before that clock ran out.
Devereaux straightened, bringing her hands together behind her back and sticking her elbows out to the side at perfect right angles. “Commander Matherson has informed me of the work you have been doing and how you have helped in efforts to ensure Prince Reynauld is crowned after the king’s passing. It will soon be our most critical hour, and I need the very best working on this.”
Her eyes flashed between Jade and Theo, a tacit challenge for them both. “I understand you believe Lord Grannam, the Duke of Evenshold, is the one responsible for the murders that have been happening, passed off as deaths with no identifiable causes. Concrete evidence that implicates him in these murders will allow us to take him into custody and hopefully prevent any further deaths.”
Jade fought the urge to squirm in her seat, her stomach uneasy. She’dhadconcrete evidence, and she’d handed it off to Nicolas.
But no, he said he would handle it, and Jade believed him. She forced her restless limbs to settle and refocused on Devereaux.
“While she doesn’t pose the threat Lord Grannam does, there is also the matter of Lady Arabella. We may need to go so far as to strike a deal with her so that she doesn’t usurp the crown from her own father.”
“What about Lord Marchand?” Theo asked across the table.
Devereaux answered with a quick shake of her head. “His claim would never hold up. He’s not someone we have to waste time or resources on. Finding evidence on Lord Grannam is our top priority.”
Grand General Devereaux sat and extended her hand toward Commander Matherson. He remained seated, but he turned to face Jade beside him. “You are also here for a debrief of your mission at the opera two nights ago. I’m afraid I was called away to discuss strategies with the grand general and other commanders. But it is all the better that we had not debriefed yet because now Grand General Devereaux can be present for your report.”
Jade cleared her throat, the lingering silence after Matherson had finished speaking his only segue into letting Jade and Theo have the floor.
“We remained in the rafters above the top boxes for a good portion of the night,” Jade began, her eyes automatically drifting to Theo across from her. “We kept watch on both the Evenshold and Fellsrin families through vents that allowed sightlines into their boxes, but for the most part, they all simply enjoyed the opera. Lord Grannam seemed fidgety and restless, so we kept a closer eye on him. Shortly before intermission, he whispered something to his wife and left the box. I left the rafters and followed him to a sitting room, where I overheard him speaking with the same man he had met with in his war room the night I went to the dinner at Evenshold Palace.”
“Did you get a look at this man?” Matherson asked.
With the threat removed, Jade wished that she had stepped forward and peeked around the doorframe into the sitting room to catch a glimpse of this unidentified man. “Not a good one,” she said, returning her attention to Matherson. “I chose to listen and not risk being seen, so I only saw the back of his head. There was little cover and no crowd to get lost in. If either he or Lord Grannam had spotted me, they would have ceased their conversation and likely pursued me.”
Matherson gave her a small nod in response as though he accepted her answer. “What did you overhear?”
“They spoke of some information being incorrect, and then Grannam said ‘shemust have known she was being targeted.’”
“She?” Devereaux asked. “Who? Lady Arabella?”
“That was the conclusion I drew as well,” Jade said. “The two of them have been involved in something for a while, possibly trying to come to some kind of agreement or truce, but I don’t think they’ve settled on a solution.”
“No, I don’t believe they have. Commander Matherson shared with us what you have learned about Lady Arabella. That, along with other information we have obtained, points to the fact that Lord Grannam is trying hard to get her to back down, but Lady Arabella won’t budge. I wouldn’t putit past him attempting something drastic as the day of the king’s death draws closer.”
“I agree. In fact, when I heard what Lord Grannam had to say to his associate at the opera, I went to Arabella to see if anything had happened to her.”
Grand General Devereaux’s brow furrowed as she sat up in the chair, folding her hands on the table in front of her. “You left your position spying on Lord Grannam and his associate to go to Lady Arabella?”
A pit made of solid lead dropped into Jade’s stomach. That clearly wasn’t what Devereaux wanted to hear. Backing down from her decisions, however, would only make her appear weak, and that was decidedlynotthe impression Jade wanted to give her. “Yes, Grand General. I feared for Lady Arabella’s life, and if it was within my power to save her based on what I had overheard in that moment, then I would do it.”
Grand General Devereaux tipped up her chin at Jade’s answer. She didn’t appear pleased, exactly, but the answer must have satisfied her.
“But Lady Arabella was fine, so I started to make my way back to the rafters as I assumed Lord Grannam and his associate would be on the move again. That was when Lord Martin of Waterstone fell from his box, which I don’t imagine was accidental. I believe the assassin was responsible.”
The air in the room chilled with nothing more than Grand General Devereaux’s icy stare. “There is no reason to believe Lord Martin’s fall was the work of the same killer. It doesn’t fit the assassin’s methodology. The killer employs the use of poison, which has to be administered via consumed food or drink. Lord Martin’s family confirmed the man had neither the entire time he was at the opera. We also have no evidence that the man you heard speaking to Lord Grannam is, in fact, his assassin.”
“Actually, I no longer believe that man is the assassin.”
Devereaux’s stare narrowed. “Why is that?”
“I don’t think the timing works for Lord Martin’s death. But I did see the assassin,” Jade replied, encroaching on impertinence with a commandingofficer—and the grand general, at that. “Above the stage. I caught a glimpse of him when I went looking for Theo.”
“And I believe I encountered him in the flies.” Theo squared his shoulders as he spoke. All eyes went to him, and Jade was thankful for the reprieve and support. “Captain Ni’ihm found me shortly after I’d had a rope thrown around my neck in the flies above the wings. I was stuck trying to keep it from tightening until Captain Ni’ihm discovered me and helped get me out of it.” Theo’s eyes flashed from Devereaux to Jade, and the corners of Jade’s mouth curled in the barest hint of a smile. “I also believe the culprit was the assassin responsible for all the murders.”
Hearing the tale from Theo’s mouth had Jade’s mind back in that moment, but with a different perspective. If Theo truly was the assassin, could he have shed a cloak and gotten to that side of the stage that quickly? He would have had to ensure there was a rope back there to tangle around himself as an alibi. And if Theo was the assassin, he was a better actor than Jade had ever given him credit for.
