His gaze softens. “Vera may not be dead yet, General.”
My heart skips a beat, the sliver of hope I’ve tried to ignore awakening. “Have your spies found something?”
Noire shakes his head. “Not yet. But until we find the proof of her death, I would rather not make assumptions.”
I look at Noire for a beat too long before I avert my gaze.
Cradling such hope is dangerous. Foolish. It’s better to make peace with the reality than carry false hope and be heartbroken later.
But I don’t voice that to Noire.
I clear my throat. “Well, whatever the case is, I am going to do this.”
Noire smirks, dipping his chin. “Ah, I miss youth solely for these bursts of untamed ambition and hope.”
I frown. “Don’t patronize me.”
“I wouldn’t dare, General,” he says, walking over to my desk. “I admire your bravery and drive. I would not want to squander it, or extinguish your fire. My job, my only mission, is to protect it at all costs.”
“Then help me pass this law. To honor Vera’s legacy. Also, the Talbots need to be punished for what they’ve done to her.”
That family deserves my wrath just as much as King Francis. Maybe even more. I have all the intentions of repaying them for what they’ve done.
Noire sighs. “We’re in a complicated position. You, as an Ezkai General, have a lot of responsibilities resting on your shoulders. You can’t just take off whenever you desire and go after one of the most prominent Ezkai families, throwing accusations without proof.”
My cheeks heat with anger. “But it’s the Talbots! You know that they’re the ones who kidnapped and killed her! They didn’t need to sign their name on that damn note for me to know who that message was from.”
“I’m aware of that. However, Vera’s death is not confirmed. It’s a silent threat from them. The Talbots don’t want an open war just as much as you shouldn’t want it either. It could destroy the delicate balance that holds House Dzuni and the Order of Ezkai together. We could be plunged into a civil war. That would make Ekios fragile. Knowing how difficult King Francis has been, it’s safe to say he’d jump to use that to his advantage.”
Anger boils thick in my chest at the mention of my family’s killer. It’s hard to breathe.
Finally, I manage to get the words out. “So what? I just sit here surrounded by riches and infantile nobles in my castle and do nothing?”
Noire smirks. “Ruling a country is not nothing, General. You’ve got to familiarize yourself with many things, and yourfocus should be on becoming as strong as you can be. I have my spies working on finding Vera, and once we have evidence, we’ll come up with a plan of action.”
“Vera’s gone, Jax is in prison, and here I am, completely powerless to change that.” I cross my arms and sink back into my seat, looking away from him.
Noire sighs and takes a seat opposite me. For a while, he allows me to simmer in my grief and frustration alone. When my temper settles, I clear my throat and face him again.
Before I can say anything, Noire pulls out a deck of cards from one of his sleeves. I frown.
“A round of Bloodiamond?”
I blink, taken aback by the unexpected offer. Slowly, I nod. I’m not very good at it, but might as well see where this takes us. Noire starts shuffling the cards with ease. Holding the deck face down, he deals me and himself a hand. He places the rest of the deck between us.
I eye the cards in front of me. A memory surges to the front of my mind, of my father dealing the cards for me, my sisters, and my mother at our large dining table after dinner. I used to delay picking up my cards, waiting for others to go first.
My fingertips tingle with anticipation while my heart bleeds with dread. I swallow, push those emotions to the farthest corner of me, and pick up my damn cards before Noire.
One thing hasn’t changed. I have the worst luck with cards.
My hand is so bad I might as well give up now. But, of course, I keep my face neutral and look up from my cards at Noire. He wears that pleasant smile I have come to like. A lot. It puts me at ease.
“Twelve of Bones,” he says.
“You go first,” I say without glancing at my cards.
From the deck, he pulls out one card and places it face up between us. Nine of Dragons.Spirits of the gods be damned. I might have a chance at winning this time around after all.
