“We’re getting to the wider part between the kitchens and the main rooms. Stay close, we’ll need to be quiet soon.”
“Do people use the corridors frequently?”
George shook her head, knowing he’d see the sway of her curls in the lamplight. “Only me for the past fifteen years or more.”
“Not even the servants?” he whispered.
“No one seems to know about this, and the servants are nearly all pixies and elves. They fly near the ceilings to remain discreet while they serve people with their magic.”
“How does their magic work?”
“Shh.” George held a finger to her lips and stopped Isahn in his tracks. Standing on her toes, she whispered into his ear, “There are peepholes into the public rooms starting right up there. Leave the lantern here and be silent now. I’ll answer all your questions later.”
“All right.”Isahn’s warm lips brushed against the shell of her ear.
She nodded and pressed a firm kiss to his beautiful mouth before taking his face in her hands. “Remember, no talking. Not a peep, until I tell you.”
Isahn grinned, lamplight deepening his dimple, and he gave her a silent nod while setting the light on the floor.
When she turned to continue their excursion, he smacked her, very softly and silently, on the bottom.
At the appropriate peephole, George pressed a finger to her lips like Isahn could see her, and pulled him down to kneel at her side. Claiming the tiny hole for herself and peering through. Isahn’s thigh brushed her side as he moved into a more comfortable position, apparently content and hopefully listening through his water.
Along with Peros and George’s father, two aides were present, too, and George was glad Isahn couldn’t see the scene itself. On hands and knees at the end of eachlectus, a woman clad in gold held her back flat for use as a table while the men, their backs to George, chatted and occasionally set down their glasses of wine. Their voices were hardly loud enough to hear, and she frowned as she pressed her eye against the stone.
Warmth prodded George’s hair, and she snapped her head toward Isahn, picking him out in the near blackness just as a cord of water connected to her ear, offering the chance to hear what was being said inside. She knew bringing him to Domos was a good idea.
“Ican’tfuckingbelieveit.I knew it. Iknewit,” Isahn ranted as he paced around George’s sitting room.
She should’ve sent for her friends—Hildy at least. But Isahn was frustrated, and, selfishly, she wanted some time alone with him. She’d ask Ean to invite Hildy, Dunstan, Burke, and Ceadda up forprandiumthe following afternoon.
While Isahn paced, George slipped away to issue her commands to the elf. When she returned, she found the lord sprawled in her most colorful armchair, his breathing ragged with frustration.
“Why is your fucking father trying to kill the Selwassan royal family!?”
George flinched.
“I’m sorry. Give me a second, please.” Isahn squeezed his eyes closed as he rubbed his temples. He breathed deeply, each inhale slower than the last.
Making her way to their untouched dessert, she selected a bottle of wine from the three options, poured two glasses, and took a seat.
She didn’t blame him for losing his temper; sheknewit wasn’t directed at her. But that didn’t stop her body from reacting as though she were being screamed at directly. Isahn noticed and consciously paused to calm down before continuing.
He was too good to be true. He had to be.
She’d be riled up, too, were she in Isahn’s position. Her father and Peros spoke freely during dinner, operating under the false assumption that they were alone.
For the most part, they reminisced—her father’s version of that, anyway. George and Isahn learned that Peros had been working for the king for over two decades. While the Selwassan knight hadn’t been given a token to depart Hepikoru after each visit, he willingly submitted to partial memory revisions to ensure he could carry out his orders.
Shockingly, they learned that the former Prince of Selwas had also been working for George’s father many years ago, before he was caught in an attempted coup and imprisoned. Details remained hazy; Peros and her father didn’t rehash all of the ins and outs. However, it was fairly obvious Domos had been involved in the attempted murder of King Hethtar of Selwas.She wasn’t certain why, but the conversation confirmed it had happened. Apparently, a few other Selwassans were targeted too. Some successful, and some not.
George’s father had shouted at Peros for failing to properly supervise the attempts on King Hethtar, his sister, and his children. In an attempt to divert the king’s wrath, the Selwassan knight waxed on about taking down an older gentleman named Hotha Treesden.
“A drop in the bucket,” her father spat before reiterating how crucial it was that Peros not botch his mission again. His “good-for-nothing son” lost his life for his involvement in the failed murder attempts on the royal family. And even if he somehow escaped his containment, the former prince, Nekash, no longer remembered his involvement. It seemed George’s father had sent a secret contingent of spies to take care of the problem before they locked him away.
Only Sir Peros Sarma remained, waltzing around Selwas as an undetected traitor—for now. They needed to gather more details and act soon before the king added to his network.
She was still trying to process everything. For example, she wasn’t aware that the King of Selwas had a sister. But her father haddefinitelymentioned a sister.
