Nadiyah stared at me with a wild expression.
I smirked.“Why do you think I secured the invitations from the Enchantress?”
I handed the paper to her.Golden designs of intricate weaving bordered the invitation, my name scrawled across the top in a metallic opal ink that sparkled in the candlelight.A bright red circle of wax with the king’s seal was stamped beneath the elaborate scrawl.
“This is a special invitation, hand-sealed by the king, meaning it is only he himself who could order my removal from the Paravellian Balls.”
“And what makes you think he won’t do that?”
“Nothing,” I said.“But judging by the prince’s reaction, I have an inkling he will be too lazy to pursue it any further.”
Sunlight crested the sky, illuminating the room around us.
Desmond should have been back hours ago.An unspoken question passed between Nadiyah and me.Should we look for him?But how to look for him without drawing suspicion.Unease rippled through my gut like violent waves and threatened to drown me.
Something rattled at the door, scratching over the metal bars inside the lock.A moment later the handle twisted and Desmond stepped inside.
I frowned at the pins in his hand.He could remember those but not a key.He was always like that.His entrances had to be difficult.Had to be interesting.
“You couldn’t knock?”I asked.
He ran a hand through his disheveled hair, his bloodshot eyes gazing longingly at the bedroom door.“I thought you both would be asleep.”
Nadiyah was understandable, but he should know better about me.
“You didn’t pass the guards in the stairwell?”I said.“The prince tried to exile me from Paravellia.”
He lifted an eyebrow, curious but too tired to ask.
“Where have you been?”Nadiyah probed.
Desmond collapsed onto the sofa, shutting his eyes for a moment of reprieve.“Here, there, everywhere.But most interestingly, and mostimportantly, the gambling dens.”
“We both know you’re not a betting man,” I said.
He shook his head, a small smile lighting on his lips.“No.I’m not.It’s the gossip I go for, and the later it became, the better it got.No one wanted to talk at first, but a little more alcohol, a little more of Nadiyah’s relaxation drug slipped into their drinks, and they were all singing like canaries.”
I cocked my head.He didn’t drag things out for nothing.
He had something.
And it was big.
“Desmond,” I said.
He opened his eyes and sat up, pouring himself water from the side table and downing a glass.
“King Zaricor’s eldest son is dead.”
I stared at him.Shocked.“The crown prince?What was his name, Rivero?How?”
He set the glass down, turning serious.“One of the governors from the north was down there blabbing about it, but the guards shut him up.Said it was a foul rumor.”Desmond shrugged.“So I dug a little deeper, found another man with the governor’s party.Coaxed the information out of him.Anyone in the palace will deny it, call it a horrid rumor, convince you it isn’t true.Tell you he’s alive and well.”
“Why lie?”Nadiyah questioned.“Wouldn’t they want to mourn?”
“Not if it was an assassination.”
Desmond’s words sent a cold chill through me, numbing my bones like icicles on my skin.I licked my lips.“Assassination?”
