He held out his hand and waited until Shane took it. “I forgive you, Shane. You’ve hurt us all, and that is something you’ll have to live with, but we can be friends again one day.” He shook Shane’s hand and let it go. “And now, I resign.”
Shane flinched. “What?”
“I’d rather be with Izzy, however she’ll take me.”
Thank the gods. Finally.
Luka smiled and jogged to the door, ripped it open, and almost bowled into the wide-eyed messenger waiting for him outside.
“Knight Commander.” Felix bowed, picking at his thumbs nervously. “Adina asked me to speak with you.”
“I’m in a hurry. Can you walk with me?”
“Yes, sir.” They fell into a fast pace, walking side by side.
“What can I help you with?” Luka asked, trying to be gentle with one of the newest—and most anxious—messengers, despite his haste to get to Izzy.
“I have a message. I mean, obviously, because that’s my job? Ah… that is, Adina asked me to tell you—” Felix took a shaky breath. “—I saw Lady Narya with a healer.”
“The night of the banquet?” Luka asked more sharply than he intended.
“No, the night before,” Felix answered in a rush. “They were sitting together in a corner of the walled garden. I expect theydidn’t think anyone could see them in the shadows. But I was already there. I like to read with my back to the mountain where the stone is warmed, behind a big stand of lace bush. Adina said we could take any book we wanted from the library, provided we looked after it. I thought?—”
Luka stopped walking and placed a hand on Felix’s shoulder to stop the young man’s rambling. “You’re allowed to read the books, and you can take your break in the garden. Please tell me what you saw.”
Felix bit his lip. “I didn’t say anything before because it wasn’t unusual. They asked if we saw anything unusual, but I didn’t. And?—”
Luka kept his voice calm and kind. “You’re not in trouble, but I need to know who you saw. Was it Physik General Melo?”
“Oh, no.” Felix flicked his thumbs. “Lady Narya was with Healer Sarwin.”
Luka’s beast coiled in his belly, sending scales slithering up his arms to cover his chest and throat. “They were together? Romantically?”
“No. I don’t… um, I don’t think so.” Felix blinked nervously at Luka’s glittering armored scales. “Healer Sarwin is already seeing someone, and he’s not at all keen on socializing. In fact, Sergeant Sutton once made the mistake of approaching Master Sarwin in the great hall to ask if he wanted to go to the market for a drink and dancing.” Felix winced. Clearly, it had not gone well for Sutton.
Who could Sarwin possibly be seeing? Luka prided himself on knowing the flow of the relationship tides within the castle. Who was courting whom. Who was sleeping with whom. Who hated whom. But he didn’t know this. Could it be someone who wanted to start a war?
“Who is Sarwin with romantically?”
Felix opened his mouth, closed it, and then tried again. “I don’t know. No one does. Except them, I guess.”
“Is there anything else you can tell me about Healer Sarwin?” Luka asked carefully. “Anything at all?”
“I don’t know. I mean… he lives in the castle, but he also spends time in the city. I think he helps some patients there? I don’t know. I heard his family are steel smiths. Except his uncle Benja, obviously.”
“Benja?” Luka prompted. Something about the name was familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it.
“The apothecary,” Felix said, as if everyone should know. “But he’s dead.”
A wave of unease slithered over Luka’s skin. “The apothecary? From the market?”
Izabel’s shop? Gods of fire.
“Yes. I once heard Healer Sarwin talking about how Mistress Izabel stole his shop. Although I think it was her brother he really blamed. He was quite bitter about it and….”
Felix continued speaking, but Luka had stopped listening. Rayan had found out about the shop being repossessed from a healer—Sarwin—and he’d helped Izabel buy it. Sarwin felt that they’d stolen it. But was that enough for murder? Did Sarwin kill Luka’s best friend over this?
How does this link to Firebreather? There’s something we’re missing.
