Three steps.
Somehow, I got from the second floor to the first.
All the while, Kole walked behind me, his Shield locked down tighter than I’d ever felt it before.
“Look what I found,” Jamie called to Kole, then inclined his head toward Verin. “This appears to be an elixir of some kind that was hidden in her quarters.”
I halted in the entryway.
Somehow, I was in the entryway, and Jamie was in front of me.
I’d completely forgotten about him.
The second Imperial Warrior stood with Verin beside him. But instead of the servant offering him tea or refreshments or ushering the warrior to a place to sit and wait, she stood next to him,shackled.
Blue cuffs encircled her wrists.
“Why have you arrested her?” my aunt demanded.
“We have reason to suspect she may be involved in what happened to your husband,” Jamie replied, then inclined his head toward me. “Although, we’re starting to wonder if Primelle was actually her intended victim.”
Me?
Me?
“What?” I said dumbly.
Jamie widened his stance, standing casually,easily, as if what he was saying and doing was just another normal day’swork as an Imperial Warrior. As ifanyof this was normal. As if the realm wasn’t falling down around us.
Jamie pulled a glass box from his pocket. Inside the box lay a small vial with liquid in it, although there was barely any liquid left. Only drops remained.
Gwen’s mouth dropped. “What is that?”
“That’s a good question, but considering the magic that comes off of it if you remove it from this box, I would guess to say that it’s an incredibly powerful potion. I’ve never felt power like it before.”
“And you found that in Verin’s room?” Gwen demanded, her tone hard, and her aura ratcheting up even higher.
Jamie nodded toward Verin. “Indeed. I found it in her quarters, exactly where you said things can be hidden in that room.”
Aunt Gwen’s eyes narrowed, and she hissed at the servant, “What is that potion?”
Verin’s gaze stayed on the floor, her shoulders folded inward.
Fog filled my mind. I still didn’t understand what was happening or why Jamie was saying these things. All I could think about was that Kole had the Stone.MyStone.
And Kole had said Uncle Timith couldn’t be saved.
Kole’s silence continued to fill the room behind me, but his pounding aura leaked through his Shield, as though he could no longer fully contain it. Yet he still kept the Stone. Still kept what was mine.
I wanted to crumple to the floor. I’d been so foolish to trust him.
So foolish.
Jamie inspected what was inside the glass box again, not even seeming to notice that I could barely keep from collapsing. “What happens if somebody swallows this, Verin? Does it turn them into what Timith is becoming?”
But Verin’s eyes stayed downcast, her lips sealed.
Hetsked. “The king and queen won’t be happy to hear it if that’s the case, especially since Primelle has been living in this home.”
