Senta stood in the doorway. She looked between them. She quirked her lips, clearly aware of what they had been getting up to. “Get dressed. Properly. You’re needed.”
Chapter
Seventy
Now dressed, Elias strode with Gerard and Senta down the corridor.
“They’ve just brought the queen consort to us,” Senta said. “We’ve put her in one of the rooms. She arrived back at the White Monastery a little while ago, but a healer monk assessed her before she was brought here.”
Senta looked between them. “We thought we’d get the two of you before we questioned her. We decided against going to Father. He is not well enough, and who knows when he will be.”
Gerard nodded. “And I imagine it will be quite a shock for him to learn how his wife betrayed him. Who knows what the effect of learning that would have on his recovery.”
“Our thoughts exactly,” Senta said. “Grand Shield Dahlia also informed us that the bodies from the battle have been brought to the monastery.”
“Already?” Elias asked. “I thought it would take them a while to locate all of them.”
“Several necromancers went with them and assistedwith finding the corpses.” Her lips pressed together in a firm line. “But the grand shield said that none of the bodies could be identified as the robed figures you, Gerard, and Father spoke of.”
“What?” Elias frowned. “How?”
She sighed. “I don’t know.”
“What happened to them?” Elias gazed ahead as they walked. He had killed them! He knew he had. So where were they now? What had happened to the bodies?
Cold dripped down the centre of his spine. Could more robed figures have gone in and removed them before the grand shield and her people got there? How many of them were there?
He’d seen four. Three of them he’d killed. So at least one more was out there. But could there be more? And could they have really been so organised as to get there so quickly?
Hopefully they could find out something from the queen consort. Elias couldn’t tell if he was too strung out and tired, but he just couldn’t make sense of any of it.
Up ahead, Konrad, Luther, Onyx, and Juniper stood along with the grand shield, two warrior monks, and four Draconian guards.
“I was thinking for the interrogation, it might be best if not all of us go in,” Konrad said as the three approached. “That would overwhelm her.”
“I agree,” the grand shield said.
“I think it best if Elias and I are present,” Gerard said immediately. “We’ve spoken to her already, and she seemed willing to talk to us. Elias in particular was very good at getting her to speak.”
Elias held back a smile. He’d never been known byothers to be competent at—well, anything useful. He found he quite liked it.
Konrad stepped towards the door. “I should be there too. Since Father cannot be and I am crown prince.”
“I would advise you to bring no more in,” the grand shield said. “She is in quite a … fragile state. I worry any more individuals might overwhelm her and tip her into hysteria, and she will become unable to answer questions.”
“That makes sense,” Senta said, although Elias could hear the disappointment in her tone.
The others nodded. They did not seem perturbed to be left out of the interrogation.
“We could threaten her with death if she does not speak.” Konrad stared at the closed door. “She might be queen consort, but she is still a traitor to the kingdom. Death is the punishment for traitors.”
“I would advise against that. At least to start with,” Elias said. “I think I can get her to talk. I can lead the questioning. I believe I understand her and how her mind works.”
Gerard nodded immediately. Warmth suffused Elias all the way to his fingers and toes at Gerard’s instant trust.
However, Konrad stared at him assessingly for several long moments. Finally he let out a breath. “Fine. But I’ll step in if needed.”
Elias did not know how Konrad would determine if it was needed, but he supposed that would have to do.
