“The brand on your right foot says otherwise,” I stated dryly.
“It was put there without my permission!”
“We should listen to her,” said Felaf. “Scorpio selected her for a reason. We should trust in that.”
I glared at Rahzlyn. She glared right back.
Outside, Letti approached the observatory and knocked. She was alone. Felaf looked to me for confirmation. I nodded hesitantly.
“Enter, Letti.” Felaf spoke eagerly, her voice unlocking the doors. Letti emerged with a tray overflowing with warm bread, cheese, fruits, nuts and hot tea. Silence stretched into minutes.
While I permitted Letti to trim my hair every few months, I wasn’t certain of her ability to keep the revelations in this room quiet. Neither was Gregorios, it seemed.
Felaf read the room and disagreed. “I know what you’re thinking, but we can trust her too. Letti already knows she doesn’t speak Scorpion. Letti won’t say a word. I’m the only one she talks to in the palace, anyway.”
Letti rolled her eyes as she spread out plates across Gregorios’s desk.
“Roselyn is going to need a lady she can trust,” Felaf continued. “If we’re so concerned with someone discovering herbackground, and Gregorios’s secrets, better to have someone like Letti than one of Maryn’s loyal personal attendants.”
“The more people that know a secret, the less of a secret it becomes,” I said.
“You don’t trust anyone but yourself, do you?” Felaf asked, not expecting an answer.
“I think it’s women in general he doesn’t trust,” Rahzlyn said. “Just an observation.”
Felaf let out a low whistle.
“Are you going to join this conversation,Princess?” I mocked. “Or are you going to sulk over there in the corner?” I didn’t bother to acknowledge her ludicrous statement. No one, regardless of gender, should be trusted until proven otherwise.
“Raithe,” Gregorios warned. “That’s quite enough. I know tensions are high, but we are all on the same side here.”
I focused on the fireplace, listening to the crackles and pops of the burning wood. Despite her well-performed protests, Rahzlyn’s side was that of the apostai’s. I didn’t understand why Gregorios, and Felaf, couldn’t see that.
Letti poured mint tea for each of us. Felaf smiled fleetingly at her as she took a steaming cup and set it in her lap. “I must admit it doesn’t feel right to deceive our court. Maryn is Maryn, I know, but keeping such a secret from her, thequeen regent…”
“If Maryn finds out about the circumstances in which Raithe found her, she’ll send Roselyn and Raithe both to the dungeon,” Gregorios pointed out. “She’ll send me there too. Everything we’re discussing here is treasonous.”
Wordlessly, Letti approached Gregorios. She lifted her sleeve. With a knife swiped from the tray, she made a small incision along her wrist. “Here,” she said curtly. “Drink.”
Gregorios hesitated when she brought her wound to his mouth.
“Shouldn’t you drink Rahzlyn’s first?” I protested. “She’s the one we can’t trust.”
This earned a flabbergasted scoff from Rahzlyn.
“Her skin is still healing,” Gregorios explained. He closed his lips over Letti’s wrist and sucked.
Rahzlyn grimaced from the chaise. “I’ll never get used to that.”
Only a few seconds ticked by before he dabbed at his mouth. Seers had the highest tolerance for Blood Sight, but they had to be cautious of drinking too much. “She will not disclose anything to anyone, at least in the near future,” he confirmed.
“I told you.” Felaf’s shoulders loosened. “How much of this can we reveal to Alekko? Vesperah? Maryn?”
“Alekko doesn’t know how to lie,” I chimed in. “Especially to Vesperah. Maryn will know something is wrong by looking at him. And with Vesperah, Alekko outranks her. We can’t tell one without telling the other.”
“So we’re to keep all of this from Maryn?” Felaf repeated. I could hear her hesitancy. “What if you use Blood Sight on her?—”
“I can’t,” Gregorios said. “Not against her will. I don’t need to remind you the dangers of using forced Blood Sight on another. Me asking for permission would only make her believe we don’t trust her, which would spell even more trouble for all of us.”
