The room went silent.
Tal released her hand.
“I cannot help you with that.”
“You attended her.”
“I was present after.”
“Then you know whether the official story is false.”
Tal turned away, crossed to the cabinet, opened it, then closed it again without taking anything out.
“Lady Sabine, there are questions in this palace that do not become safer because you ask them quietly.”
“I am already unsafe.”
That landed.
He stood with one hand on the cabinet door and did not look at her when he answered.
“Her body was sealed too quickly.”
Sabine said nothing.
“The official explanation did not match what I saw,” he went on. “That is all I will say unless you are actively trying to have both of us removed.”
Sabine’s pulse kicked. “Was she displayed publicly?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
His jaw tightened. “Because the body would have raised questions the crown and temple did not want asked.”
“What kind of questions?”
Tal looked at her then. Really looked.
“The kind that begin with whether the rite is still sacred and end with whether it is murder.”
The words chilled the room.
Sabine’s fingers curled against her skirt.
“Did Lucien have blood on his hands?”
“Yes.”
“His?”
A pause.
“Not only his.”
Before she could ask anything else, the door opened.
Bloodwright Maelor entered as if he belonged there more than either of them did.
