“I don’t know where else to go.” Huxley sighed, stared at his boots for a beat, and then said abruptly, “Did you kill Julian, Magdala?”
Magdala jolted. “What?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Your arm is bruised.”
“A crowd tried to press me to death,” Magdala said, slamming her knife down on a carrot. “Of course I am bruised.”
“I see the riot bruises,” he said. “It’s these fresh ones I’m noticing. I know you lied at the inquest.”
Magdala wiped her brow with the back of her hand. “I couldn’t kill anyone,” she said. “To my shame.”
Huxley sniffed and studied her. “I think you could. I think it would be easy, if you had the right reason.”
Magdala frowned. “I haven’t got a good enough reason.”
Huxley moved on quickly. “I know that Asherton killed my brother. I know it in my soul. I don’t want that man sitting on the throne, smug in his victory. So, I’ve decided to join your father’s cause.”
“What about the curse? Won’t he die if he tries to take the throne?”
“I still don’t believe in curses.”
Magdala scraped her sliced vegetables violently into a cast iron pan. “My father will be pleased to have you. He always did want you as a trophy on his wall.”
“Because of the riot in Largotia, the queen-regent has requested a bodyguard for the prince. She has tasked me with appointing someone.”
“Alright …”
“I want you to go to Elegy and guard him.”
Magdala spun on him, her jaw slack. “What?”
“I want you to be his bodyguard. At Elegy.”
“Elegy?” Magdala breathed. “Elegy, as in … my Elegy?”
“Yes, Magdala. Your Elegy.”
“The house I was born in?”
“The very same.”
Magdala let out a short laugh. “You want me to go to my house, my ancestral home, my inheritance, and serve the man who stole it from me?”
“Asherton is dangerous,” Huxley continued, ignoring her objections. “He wants to join Sennalaith in the war, and he wants to tamper with the dragon trade. Our economy hangs upon a thread—we train and trade dragons to both of the warring kingdoms. If Ashkendor and Sennalaith are no longer at war, our society crumbles. And if we cut trade ties with Ashkendor, then we will be forced to enter a war we have no part in. If Asherton comes to power, it will change this kingdom. It will ruin us.”
With a hint of shame, Magdala said, “I don’t think I can kill him. I don’t think I have it in me. I’m sorry.”
Huxley waved this aside. “If we could prove he murdered Julian, then the prince would be forced to abdicate. The queen-regent will remain on the throne another twenty-one years, and all will be well.”
“But you said that you cannot prove that the prince killed Julian."
“We could if he admits it to you.”
Magdala chuffed. “I’m not going to seduce him either.”
With a small laugh, Huxley said, “You have many talents, my dear, but you’re not quite alluring enough to win over Asherton Ageric.”
Magdala bristled.
