Was he sorry for the attempt on Vasil’s life or because he couldn’t tell me the truth? “I know this wasn’t your idea, Galen. It’s clear to me you were forced into it. Will you tell me who did this so we can catch them and bring them to justice?”
He shook his head slowly, tears falling freely now. “I can’t, sir. They have her.”
“Have who?”
“I can’t say. They’ll kill her if I do.”
“If you tell us, maybe we can help you get her back.”
He shook his head miserably and covered his face with both hands. “It’ll be too late,” he said with utter defeat. I felt the lad’s anguish with every pained word he uttered. He was an unwilling accomplice in this plot, that much was certain. I waited patiently for Galen to say more, but he wouldn’t.
“We’re not going to hurt you, Galen. In fact, we want to help you, but until you tell us who did this, we can’t let you go either,” I told him.
The boy sniffled and nodded slightly, resigned to his fate.
“If you change your mind about telling me, have a guard come fetch me, okay?”
Galen nodded, lips pressed tightly together, and didn’t say another word.
Chapter 17
Lord Vasil
“You handled that well,” I told Cedrych regarding his chat with our recalcitrant and painfully young prisoner. One couldn’t help but pity the lad, if he was telling the truth. We were now on our way to the study, standing together with two of my guards in what Cedrych called my “flight box.” I could smell his honeyed skin, the sweet tang of orange peel, his scent always teasing at the fringes of my senses and distracting me from the matter at hand.
“I didn’t get a name from him,” Cedrych said, discouraged.
“No, but you earned his trust and gave him an alternative to consider.”
“I feel bad for the boy. He’s clearly been enslaved and abused. There are probably more where he came from.”
“A fae trafficking ring,” I remarked. My spies hadn’t told me anything of the sort, but the alleged crime needed investigating. I led Cedrych to the chaise he favored and watched him carefully try to sit, sympathetic to his discomfort but a bit aroused by it too. “Lunch will be brought up. Read a book and try to relax. I’ll be right next door if you need anything.”
“What will you be doing?” he asked.
“Summoning my spies.”
I left him there in my study, our guards posted right outside the door. My first order of business was to check in with my contacts in the elvish realm for any leads on the culprit behind this latest attempt on my life. They were aggravatingly sparse on information, and none seemed to know of any child trafficking ring, fae or otherwise. When it came to who might have put the lad up to his crime, there were a lot of theories on who might have done it but no proof.
After that disappointment, I summoned Sir Grantham Breckon, my cousin’s guard of honor, to determine if he knew what Sinclair was scheming. The man appeared to be in the stables, brushing down a lovely white mare that my cousin favored. They must have gone riding that morning, one of Sinclair’s favorite pastimes.
“He’s not plotting to overthrow you,” Grantham said in answer to my query. “Not to my knowledge anyway.”
“How can you be so sure?”
The large man set down the grooming brush and walked with his handheld summoner into what looked like an enclosed stable. For privacy, I assumed. “I don’t think he wants to rule your lands, m’lord. He’s said as much to me in confidence. He’s got proof of some sort, as he said at the tournament, regarding your parents’ and Master Kane’s death. I overheard him and Lady Kazimir arguing about it.”
“Arguing?” I asked, intrigued.
“She didn’t want him to tell you. Said it was clan business.”
Clan business. How could any information regarding my parents’ death not include me too? Unless they were the culprits behind it. “Is she worried this evidence will implicate her?”
“No, m’lord, I think…” Grantham shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “I think she’s trying to protect you.”
I nearly laughed out loud. Protect me? From what exactly? That woman had done nothing but try to usurp me from my throne since I’d been a fledgling. Only my talent as a sorcerer and Anika’s defensive prowess had saved my kingdom from becoming an extension of the Kazimir Clan.
And my backing by the fae queen.
