Mistel caught the flicker of panic in his eyes just before Rilla latched onto her last weapon—her voice.
“You want the truth?” she spat at Kurtz. “You broke my heart when you ran off to join the Kingsguard, so when I saw you were back, I thought you’d come for me. But no. You rejected me again.”
“I’m sorry,” Kurtz said.
Rilla’s voice cracked. “I wanted to hurt you back, so I listened. Learned what I could. And when I realized you were sniffing around Verdot, I went to the man himself.” Her smile turned brittle. “For a fee.”
“She tried to extort me,” Verdot said. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“You lying snake,” Rilla said. “When I found out Kurtz wanted to help Master West escape, I told Verdot, and we made a plan to capture them so he could sell them to the Ebens.”
Mistel’s stomach twisted. Sell them. To giants. She shot a quick glance at Cole. His jaw was tight.
“Shut up, fool woman!” Verdot yelled, his face blotchy. “You’re digging both our graves.”
Kurtz released Rilla and stepped around the desk. “What did Lord Nathak promise you?” he asked Verdot. “To get your help in the plot against King Axel.”
Verdot’s chin jerked up. “I don’t have to tell you anything. In fact, you all need to leave my office immediately.”
Cole lunged over the threshold and dragged Verdot outside the door.
“Unhand me! You have no authorityyy ee-ahh!” Verdot crumpled to his knees, dropping the remaining scrolls as he clutched his head and whimpered.
“His Highness would like a word.” Cole’s voice came calm and steady from outside the doorway. “He says he has authority here.”
Verdot rocked on his knees and let out a choked whimper. “Yes, yes, of course, Your Highness,” he said. “I-I only wanted a title. A title that should have been mine when my brother died with no male heirs. But the queen…she and Nitsa were friends. And the queen convinced the king to let women inherit and rule. If it had only been Nitsa, I could have waited. But the woman had five daughters. Five. I knew I would never get what was rightfully mine.”
“The king demands to know your role in the assassination of his parents,” Cole said.
Verdot let out a pitiful whine. “I forged letters,” he admitted. “To Lord Agros. From Lord Agros. Between Kurtz and Eagan.”
Kurtz sucked in a sharp breath. “I knew it, I did.”
“What else?” Cole said.
Verdot wrung his hands. “Once the queen bloodvoiced the word stray, Nathak saw his opportunity to frame Eagan and Kurtz. He asked me to forge the letters. And once everything was set, I was to wake Gavin and pretend to help.”
Kurtz’s voice turned to iron. “Which is why you really refused to testify at the hearing.”
Verdot nodded, shoulders sagging. “The bloodvoice mediators would have caught me otherwise. Nathak told me to pretend to be a coward. And I didn’t mind. Not if it got me what I wanted. But it didn’t. Nathak said since Duchess Amal was on the Council of Seven, we had to wait. He had me appointed warden here—temporarily—until he could get me placed over Carmine. But he lied. Repeatedly. I heard about his marriage proposals to the duchess and later to Lady Averella. He wanted Carm for himself. He was never going to give me what was mine.”
“Then why continue helping him?” Zanna asked.
Verdot let out a hollow laugh. “I didn’t. I helped myself. I helped the new king. I helped you and Eagan get out of Ice Island. I made up for my sins.”
What a hunx. “Yet made a host of new ones, by the sound of it,” Mistel said.
Kurtz crossed his arms. “Who else helped Nathak kill the king?”
Verdot’s eyes darted around as if searching for an escape. “Kenton and his guards. And the Hadad. He spoke to us all.”
“What about Careeanne?” Kurtz asked. “What about Falkson?”
Verdot shook his head frantically. “I don’t know who else helped. I swear to you. Nathak kept most of his supporters separate back then. Said it was safer that way in case we were questioned.”
Cole’s gaze flicked to the brazier, where bits of charred parchment still curled in the embers. “Why were you burning documents?”
“Rilla said Thusk was captured. I had to destroy anything that tied me to him.”
