She thought of the loyalty Amron had demanded of her, and then she thought of the mud-splattered girl the guards had dragged away.
“That girl yesterday,” Melia said, “what was so special about her?”
Her words lit a spark in Amril’s eyes, and Melia knew she’d said exactly what he wanted her to say.
“Nothing. Except that my brother is infatuated with her. You see that bruise on my face? That’s because of her. He’s fallen hard.”
“He denies it.” A weak whimper.
“Of course he does. But he’s my little brother, I’ve known him since the day he was born, and I’ve never seen him so smitten before. He’s not like me, I fall in and out of love twice a week, but Amron is serious about it. I’d be worried if I were you.”
Did Amril just enjoy saying the most inflammatory, hurtful things he could think of?
Melia couldn’t do it, she couldn’t dance and smile and talk to him and pretend his words didn’t cut her. “Excuse me,” she said for the second time that evening, and tore herself out of his grasp with such force she collided with the couple behind her. Blushing, she fled. Reaching the high table, she noticed Amril’s half-full glass on the table, unattended. It was almost too easy to slip the vial between her fingers and pour its contents into his wine.
Out, she wanted to get out. But someone cried, “It’s time for bedding!” and the crowd swallowed her again.
Chapter 19
Liana
Liana woke tovoices coming from behind the door.
“I have agreed with Captain Darin to bring the girl up for questioning now.”
Amron.
“My lord, the king’s orders are that only he can—”
“Do you want to go up to the great hall and ask him? I can wait.”
“No, my lord. Please—”
“Then stand aside. If my father has objections, he can take them up with me in the morning.”
Liana was already on her feet when the door opened and Amron peered inside.
“Come quickly,” he said.
As she passed through the door, he threw his cloak over her, swathing her in the warm velvet that smelled of him. The two guards stood aside to let them pass, hands on their hilts, suspicion mixed with reluctance on their faces. Still, they didn’t have the audacity to draw a weapon on a prince.
As they rushed through the net of dark passages, she asked, “Is Captain Darin waiting for us?” dreading her father’s reaction.
“No, he doesn’t know I’m here,” Amron said. “I bluffed, counting on the fact that a couple of sleepy night guards who’d rather be gambling than standing in a drafty corridor wouldn’t have the gall to stop me.”
Her chilled body objected to running, but she kept up with him, barefooted on the smooth wood of the back corridors.“Who told you I was here, then?”
“My mother.”
Liana didn’t ask how Queen Orsiana knew she was the same girl Amron had dashed off with, or why she thought it was important her son knew what had happened to her. In the few brief interactions Liana had had with the queen, she’d always acted with purpose, even if that purpose wasn’t always clear to those around her.
They were climbing up the servants’ stairs to the second floor. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“To the only place where I can hide you at the moment.”
His chamber. Despite the exhaustion and fear and hurt, she felt a spark of excitement at the thought that they would be alone. They ran through the familiar passage built in the wall and slipped through the door, behind a tapestry, and into a room with a solitary candle burning on the desk.
A sense of familiarity washed over Liana. It wasn’t the same room he’d used when they lived together, but it was undoubtedly his, nevertheless. Crowded, but organized, filled with the books and art he loved, his scent lingering like a ghost of his presence. It felt like home.
