I didn’t leave the dining room right away. I sat there for a long while, thinking about what he’d said, getting angrier by the moment. When I finally left, I went to the Observation deck, which had a quiet room for observing the cosmos as we passed through it. It was dark inside, so dark I had to almost feel my way to a seat at the back. It was a fairly big space, because the ship was so big, I suppose, and very luxurious. Little light came from the large viewing screen. In space, the sky was always pitch black, contrasted by sharp, non-twinklingstars, along with distant planets and galaxies. And because this was Prince Mikos’s modern, up to date ship, I was using a surveillance screen and not looking through an actual glass that would require a physical hole to be cut into the hull of the ship. Still, the room was very dimly lit and so quiet I could hear every little sound. It was peaceful, and I liked to use this room to sit and think when I had a problem.
I found it difficult to do that tonight, though. I should just let Taran go and do as he damn well pleased. Obviously, my offer for him to become my nobyo wasn’t of interest to him. He said if I didn’t accept his ridiculous “proposal” he’d leave the capitol city and go rejoin the Royal Guard so he could live and travel with them instead of me.
If he thought I cared, he was sadly mistaken. It had made me furious, yes, but I couldn’t have cared less. Not really. It was probably for the best. I couldn’t and wouldn’t love him the way he seemed to require. He’d soon find another lover, someone younger and Laltanan, and he’d forget all about me. Good for him! I’d see them together someday, him and his Laltanan. Perhaps they’d be arm in arm somewhere. They might even get married in a big ceremony inside his father’s mansion. He struck me as the type to want a big wedding—a big ostentatious display of his wealth and his fathers’ status. And I’d be there as one of the guards.
I thought that would probably kill me.
Damn it and damn him. He had a way of breaking through the defenses I’d built up against this kind of thing over the years. I thought I could feel those defenses crumbling even now. I didn’t understand how I’d come to care for him so quickly anyway. The bond with my husband had never been fully formed, no matter that we’d been together for months before his death. The bond with Taran had taken only moments to form—almost as soon as I’d found him in my bedroom on Moravia.He’d become almost like a habit to me now. And habits were made to be broken.
And yet…I thought again about what he’d said. About how I had love inside me with no place to go. He was wrong about that. I was afraid that I’d found that place in him, and it stubbornly refused to be dislodged, no matter how hard I tried.
Damn it, maybe I should just give in gracefully and accept my fate, because he’d give me no peace until I did.
Two figures came in and I sank down lower in my seat. The last thing I wanted or needed was conversation. It must have worked, because they didn’t appear to have seen me, like I couldn’t make out their features. They were speaking in Tygerian, and very softly, almost whispering. My curiosity got the better of me and despite myself, I began to eavesdrop.
“Do you have it?” One of them whispered to the other.
“Yes, it’s here,” he said, and I heard a rustle of cloth. “Be careful if you have a cut on your hands. It’s from the watha, and very deadly. It will kill in minutes.”
My ears perked up, and I slid lower in my seat as silently as I could. Awatha?The watha was a type of amphibious creature that lived near the lakes and streams in the forests of Tygeria. Their venom was one of the deadliest poisons we had on our planet. If a person ingested its poison, there was no known cure to my knowledge.
Were these people planning to kill someone with this poison? My first impulse was to jump to my feet and denounce them. But maybe it was better to let them keep thinking that no one knew about their plan. I knew they had to be planning to use that poison to kill Janos. It would be far too great a coincidence for it to be anyone else. And I didn’t believe in coincidence.
I stayed as still as I could to listen to what else they might say. One of them seemed to pass a small vial over to the other and then, to my disappointment, they left the room in oppositedirections. I was forced to stay still and quiet and let them get away until I could come up with a plan to stop them. And we were still days away from Tygeria.
When I thought I wouldn’t be seen, I quietly left the observation deck and went immediately to find Prince Mikos.
Chapter Eighteen
“We can’t just stand by and wait for something to happen,” Prince Mikos was saying, as he paced the floor of his quarters. “And they have poison, you say? We have to identify these men.”
Consort Ryan, who was also in the cabin with us, watched us both nervously. These men wouldn’t go easy, and we all knew it. There was a sense of barely controlled violence in the room, and I was about as angry and disappointed as I’d ever been. To think I had trusted these men and would have given up my life for any one of them. Their dishonor was a stain on me. It wasn’t all of them, but for any of them to betray my trust and the prince’s trust so badly made me furious.
“Agreed,” I said. “I think this confirms my theory that the ones behind all of this must be one or more of the Imperial Guards. Since they’re here with us on this ship, they’re some of my most trusted men.”
“Yes, I remember the names of those you took with you. All of them are excellent warriors and soldiers. If one or more of them is guilty of this treason, then it’s hard to know who we can trust.”
“That’s a future problem, Your Highness. And we’ll figure it out. For now, we have to work out how to manage the next few days and narrow down the field even further when we reach Tygeria. I say we arrest them all tonight and secure them so they can’t be a danger to anyone.”
“Yes, I agree.” He glanced up at me. “See that it’s done.”
“Gladly.”
A knock on the door startled all of us, I think, though the prince quickly recovered. “Oh, four hells, I asked Larz and hisfamily to join us. They need to be told about this new threat against them.”
He opened the hatch door and the three of them came in, looking a little wary. Taran’s eyes went directly to me and lingered for a few seconds before he turned abruptly away, sticking his lips out in a little pout that probably no one would have noticed except for me. He was letting me know he still hadn’t forgiven me. It was extremely irritating and at the same time, adorable.
And when had I ever used that word before in my entire life? Gods, I believed he might actually be driving me crazy.
Ryan invited them all to sit down and Larz and Janos took a seat on a small divan against the wall, while Ryan and Prince Mikos sat on the end of their bed.
I was leaning with my shoulder against a wall near the hatch in the room. I caught Taran’s eye and jerked my head at him, indicating he should come and stand by me. He blushed but obeyed and quickly came over to stand beside me.
“The general has uncovered some new information that you need to be aware of,” Prince Mikos began. “Kirstos, please tell them what you know.”
I quickly informed them of what I’d overheard, trying my best not to alarm them unnecessarily, though Janos’s complexion paled noticeably at the word ‘poison.’ I remembered that poison as method of assassination had once been popular on Laltana. Beside me, I could hear an increase in Taran’s breathing, too, but for the most part, he remained calm, and I was proud of them both for not panicking. Not too much, anyway.
“I thought this was all over,” Prince Larz said. “And that we had our culprit in Bryos. How extensive is this plot anyway? Will my family even be safe now on Tygeria?”
