Lorcan merely shrugged. “Tell them not to speak. Pay them if you must.”
“If you wish to go this route, son,” his uncle cut in quickly. “Then, might I make a suggestion?”
Thane glanced up at his uncle’s calming eyes. “Of course.”
“Go request the assistance of my spymaster. He will be able to determine if the High Queen was involved, quietly.”
“Right.” Thane gave a nod and pushed up from his chair. “I must go speak with him immediately then. Before word gets out.”
“And what would you have me to do help?” Lorcan asked.
Thane gave him a cold look. While he considered Lorcan his brother, he would not hide his frustration. Lorcan should have come to him first. And he never should have involved Reyna in any of it.
“Return to your post outside of Reyna’s door. And this time, do not let her leave.”
* * *
Troubled, Thane moved through the castle quickly. It would not take long before the rumors would begin to swirl through court. The air fae adored gossip, particularly anything remotely scandalous. So far, Ula had not been allowed to speak to anyone. He imagined it would not take long for that to change. Regardless of the truth, the prince could not afford for Reyna’s imagined dalliances to become public knowledge.
He truly wished Glencora had never fallen ill.
She would never have traipsed through the woods to lie in wait and then press a dagger against a servant’s neck.
He came to a stop outside of a door on the lowest level of Zephyr Tower. It was early yet, but he knew the male inside would be awake. A scuffling sounded from within, and then the door cracked open. A kindly weathered face peered out at him—the oldest fae inside the entire kingdom, Kelwyn.
Lord Bowen’s spymaster.
“My liege?” Kelwyn gave him a look of surprise before opening the door wider, and then ushering him inside.
Thane strode into a room that was dark and dank, lit only by a simple fire-lamp perched atop a wooden table. A small cot sat on the opposite wall, sheets rumpled and smattered with dirt. The stench of body odor swirled in the dusty space, but Thane kept a straight face. Offending Kelwyn would do little good.
Kelwyn shut the door quietly behind him and turned to the prince. With withered hands and whiskers that stretched down the very length of his face, Kelwyn looked as old as he truly was, almost two hundred years. He wore a simple tunic and trousers in the color of wheat with small, well-worn leather boots. His eyes were a deep gold, the only thing about him that had not faded over the years.
“I’m surprised to see you at such an early hour, what with your revelling. What can I do for you, my prince?”
It was a slight dig, but Thane ignored it. “We have a slight problem, Kelwyn, and I must request your secrecy on the matter.”
“My secrecy?” Kelwyn drawled in his scratching, aged voice. “You would have me lie, boy?”
Kelwyn was the only fae Thane had ever met who could lie, and only few were aware that he could. No one quite knew where he got such power, not even Kelwyn, if he could be believed. He was not a shadow fae. He’d been born right inside this very room. It made him one of Thane’s most powerful resources, though he only used Kelwyn’s special ability in matters of extreme urgency. The prince knew that if he asked him to lie too often, then others would quickly become aware of his gift, too.
Some secrets should stay hidden in the mists.
“I’m not certain,” Thane said. “We have caught another assassin attempting to murder my betrothed, and her identity suggests that she may be working for someone inside of this castle.”
“Ah.” Kelwyn nodded.
“I need to find out who it was, but I need you to be discreet. Only a few even know the assassin was captured.”
“I know why you’ve come to me. You believe it to be your mother.”
Thane flinched. “I don’t believe it. I need you to confirm that it wasn’t her.”
Kelwyn was silent for a moment before nodding. “And if it was your mother? What then?”
“Come to me immediately. Do not breathe a word about it to anyone else.” Thane paused. “Lie if you have to.”
He turned to go, but the spymaster cleared his throat before Thane could pull open the door. “And the payment. It will be the same as always?”
