I sat in a chair across from him, nursing more water. “I thought we were trying to keep my attack a secret, and yet you openly spoke about it with the Lords.”
Resting his elbows on his thighs, he nodded. “Initially, we planned to hide it from everyone. But when no obvious guilty party emerged, your attack became a…tool.”
I was not a fan of that phrasing.
“Clearly, whoever hired your assailants was in a position of authority. They had access to the guards’ placements and schedules, knew where you’d likely be, and were able to let those mercenaries into the Citadel. With Koerlyn missing or dead, it was unlikely to be a high-ranking soldier who was being threatened by him. So I looked at the biggest group of snakes I know.”
“Your cabinet,” I concluded.
He inclined his head. “There was no evidence. We needed a way to make them confess. I planted a rumor, one that said your attack occurred outside the Citadel, not within the garden. Given Jonathan’s comment about you being a threat during our last meeting, I looked into him first.”
“And at the celebration, when you spoke to him, he slipped and named the garden as the attack location,” I finished.
It had been a clever plan. One he’d kept from me, even though I was at the center of it.
My fingers tightened around the cup. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He rubbed at his jaw. “You’re smart, and you’re capable. I know that. But you were still recovering from your injuries.”
The cup landed on the table with a thump. “So I was temporarilyincapable of being smart?”
He dropped his hand and gave me a look that was almost pained. “You were hurt within the Citadel,while I was here. You’d been through enough trouble and stress. I wanted to spare you from more.”
“You aren’t my mother.”
“I’m well aware, considering what I did to you last night.”
I cursed the blush in my cheeks. “Don’t change the subject. You don’t get to make decisions for me.”
“I may not be your mother, but I’m someone who cares. For you, about you,” he carefully articulated. “I thought you didn’tneedto know, especially because I wasn’t sure Jonathan was to blame until that moment on the dais.”
I shook my head, ready to reinforce my point, when he said, “I made the wrong choice.”
Wait.What?
“I miscalculated. I should have told you. It was a situation directly involving you, and not only did I hide it, but I blindsided you with the result. I’m sorry for that.”
Blindsided may not be a strong enough term to describe watching a man’s ear and tongue being removed, right before he was killed in front of you. But his apology, on the other hand, was weighted.
It stunned me so much it took a moment to find my words. “So why did you accuse him of Jac’s crime?”
Harthon sighed out a breath. “I needed to make an example of him. And while I may have nudged a rumor of your attack to the cabinet, I do not want the entire Territory to know. So, I cited another crime that still needed to be answered for.”
“What are you going to execute Jac for, then?” I asked quietly. Because that would be happening. I was surprised it hadn’t already.
“I’m not executing Jac.”
My lips parted. “But he—”
Harthon cut me off. “I know what he did, and for it, he deserves death,” he said darkly. “But instead of an execution here, he’ll be coming with us to Sixth, and he’ll be sent to scout First. There’s a high chance that task will lead to his death.”
“But there’s a chance that he willnotdie,” I pointed out. “And if he does die, it will be doing something honorable, not hanging from a rope with his hands behind his back.” Confusion mingled with relief. Jac wouldn’t die like a common criminal. The man might live. “Why would you do that?”
“Because we need a scout.” His tone softened. “And because you don’t need any more deaths on your mind.”
* * *
The conversation about Jac was still echoing in my head when I entered the garden with Merelda. I wanted her to see it, all that greenery and life. Someone had already placed a chair for her against the wall.
