Internally, I laughed, but externally, I only nodded.
“Your very presence comprises my investigation. Now get off the ship, or I will have you physically removed!” The Claw pointed at the gangplank.
“Son of a sea urchin,” the knight grumbled as he trudged down the gangplank.
Chuckling, I said, “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” Daiya snickered. “I would have noticed if he tampered with anything, but he was annoying.”
“Indeed. Oh, King Saric wanted you to know that he believes in King Jucai's innocence.”
“So do I.”
“What? Really?”
“Yes, and I'll show you why.”
Chapter Sixteen
It took longer than expected to examine the ship. Diaya was thorough and wanted to go over everything he'd found. He had also taken statements from the survivors, which I read, but I still wanted to interview them myself. There wasn't time for that, though. Feilen looked furious when I stepped off the ship, and he insisted we return to the palace immediately.
I agreed, and we took the carriage back to the palace. We hurried down the corridor toward the main stairs, but a palace attendant stopped us before we reached them. He said the meeting was over, and both kings had requested my presence.
I headed to King Saric first, Feilen still dogging my heels. Up the main stairs we went, this time going right off the landing. On the second floor, I led Feilen down a corridor that ended in a set of arched doors, carved more intricately than the palace's main doors. A pair of Dragon knights stood guard on either side. One opened a door while the other stepped forward and stood in Feilen's path.
“Only Lord Nadar may pass,” the Dragon said to Sir Feilen.
The poor guy was having a hard time spying on me. I mean, looking after me.
This time, Feilen didn't protest, only moved to stand against the right wall to wait.
“He's in his study,” the other guard said to me.
“Thank you, Sir Alahn.” I headed into the royal apartments and went straight to the King's study.
The door was open, but I paused in the doorway. The King's concubine was with him. Lady Seysara lay sprawled across a leather couch near the fireplace, her head on the King's lap. King Saric was stroking her long, platinum hair, but his gaze was on the fire, and his hands seemed to move by rote.
“Your Majesty?” I called softly.
The King flinched and looked up. “Ah, Lord Nadar. Come in.” He waved at a nearby armchair. “What did you discover?”
Lady Seysara sat up and then stood up, bowing to the King before leaving without a word. They'd been together long enough for her to know when she needed to leave the King to his duties. I waited until she was gone before I shut the door and took a seat.
“Claw Mahdred is a damn fine investigator. My help was meager. He showed me around the ship and shared the evidence he'd found.”
“And what evidence did you find?”
“My findings matched his. There were signs of a battle. That much is certain. The Talons removed the bodies before I got there, but I saw the blood and the damage done to the ship. A broken mast appeared to have been snapped by a cannonball, and there were gouges in the railing from grappling hooks. It looked like the aftermath of a pirate attack with one obviousdifference—the blood. Pirates don't kill unless forced to. I read the statements of the survivors, and they say that the attackers didn't give them a chance to surrender. They boarded the ship, slaughtered most of the crew, stole the cargo, and left enough survivors to sail the ship.”
“They left enough sailors alive to sail the ship? Why not kill everyone if you're going to be so savage?”
“Exactly. It has the feel of a performance.”
“What about the claim that they were Sea Dragons?”
“The survivors say the men wore the crest of Ilshi. But why would anyone attack a ship wearing their kingdom's crest? It just doesn't make sense. If King Jucai sent his men to attack your ship, he’d want them to be as anonymous as possible.”
“Unless those men wanted to frame Ilshi,” King Saric said.
