“I don’t like that look on your face,” Petur murmured as soon as Deyvid got within hearing range. The facade of simple pleasure Deyvid had put on for the children had fallen away, and he’d gone stone-faced in a manner that meant he was about to be dead serious with Petur. “What is it?”
He drew in so close that his lips brushed against Petur’s earlobe. Any other time, Petur would have turned in and kissed him, made this into something more. But now … “I actually believe itcouldhave been a Harrier behind this,” Deyvid whispered in his ear.
“Why do you say that?” Petur replied just as softly.
“There are mages out there who are trained killers, who for the right price, or at the behest of a strong power, could have been sent here to attack Arven. We’ve done what we can to defend against this, but the palace isn’t impenetrable. They would almost certainly have tried to kill him with a spell, though. The less noticeable, the better. Instead, a crossbow?” He shook his head. “Paying a mage to fire a crossbow at someone is like paying a baker to add sand to his flour. You’ll get something marginally acceptable from it, but it’s not going to be good.”
“What a poet you are,” Petur muttered.
Deyvid punched his shoulder.
“Ow!”
“I’m being serious,” Deyvid said. “This attempt wasn’t a truly serious one. I’d warrant it was meant to muddy the waters and sow discord amongst the royal family, and if itisa Harrier tribewho put that mage up to this, that merits investigation. We should—”
“We don’t say anything,” Petur snapped. “Don’t put this bug in my sister’s ear. Not until we have more proof.”
“I’m not going to need to put this bug in her ear,” Deyvid said, soft and a little sad. “It’s what Jemal is thinking, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Petur muttered reluctantly. “It is, but Tania already hates Harriers. She’ll latch onto this with a fury that sends every other possibility out of her head, including the most obvious one, that it’s someone who wants to put a stop to Arven’s marriage with Kira. She won’t want to blame Mersaighe and put the alliance in jeopardy.”
“Perhaps,” Deyvid agreed. “I’m just saying that you and I, at least, need to keep an open mind when it comes to who might be behind this.”
“Why do I have to keep an open mind if she’s not going to?” Petur pouted.
Deyvid cracked a smile. “You sound like Givencie.”
“I do not.”
“You do. You sound like a child. I say that with love, but—”
“Shut up. I say that with love too,” Petur replied. He wiped a hand down his face, heaved a sigh, then said, “All right. I need to see this weapon, I need to see the location of the attack, and I need to interview the guards myself. Let’s see what we can come up with that will keep my sister from losing her mind the moment she gets back.”
***
Unfortunately, there was nothing Petur could do to keep Tania from losing her mind upon her return. Her relief for her son contrasted sharply with her absolute fury over the fact that Petur and Deyvid had been away from the palace when the attack happened.
“You shouldn’t have been gone,” she shouted, her voice ringing off the stones as she repeated her accusation for—Petur was counting—the fifth time. “You should have beenhere! It’s your duty to behere, protecting my children and my husband at all costs. You had no right to leave!”
“I had permission,” Petur reminded her, also for the fifth time. “You gave it to me yourself.”
“Well, I am revoking all such permissions,” she said, pacing over to him. The sweep of her skirts against the marble floor rustled like dry leaves. Her hands were clenched into fists, and Petur was a bit surprised she hadn’t given in to the impulse to hit him yet. “Do you understand me? You arenotstepping foot outside of this palace for the foreseeable future. You are going to keep both your eyes and all your senses on my children at all times, especially on Arven.
“In fact!” She whirled around to look at her son, who seemed supremely uncomfortable. “In fact—no, you’re not going to stay in the palace. You’re going to sea.”
Arven’s jaw dropped. “What? No!” he exclaimed. He looked at his father as though he couldn’t quite believe it. “Are you going to let her do this to me?”
“He doesn’t have the final say, does he?” Tania snarled at her son. “Ido. I am yourmother. I am thequeen. I know what’s best for you, and I have the final say of what happens in my own home. You’re going to sea. You’re going to get on the sloop with a contingent of your most loyal guards, and you’re going to stay at sea for the foreseeable future. Possibly until your marriage.”
“Until mymarriage?” Arven’s voice cracked. “That’s not for two years. You can’t … Mother, you can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I am serious,” she said. Her voice was so low and sibilant it sounded like a hiss. “I am deadly serious, and if you think about defying me, I will make you regret it. I will makeeveryonein this room regret it. Do you understand me? Now where ishe?” She whirled back to Petur. “Where is that Harrier spy you’re sleeping with? Have you interrogated him about this yet?” Her voice dropped to a hiss. “Perhaps he used his clever mind to plot something like this for when you two were away. Perhaps he meant it to take the pressure off himself, to cast him as innocent. Well, I don’t believe it.”
Petur’s hands were clenched so hard that he could barely feel his fingertips. “Leave Deyvid out of this,” he said coldly. “He had nothing to do with the attack on Arven.”
“He might be the one who told the assassin where to find my son in the first place,” Tania countered. “Who would know better about skulking around our palace than a professional assassin? I should have kicked him out years ago. I should have—”
“Sister, stop these baseless accusations,” Petur interjected.
