Page 48 of Only Flames Remain

“Valerian? What are you doing here?”

My youngest brother stood in the doorway, a sly smile adorning his full lips. His arms were crossed over his chest. “Have I found you snooping, Brother?” he asked, a laugh in his voice.

“What are you doing in this wing of the castle?” I shot back.

He hated when I answered a question with a question.

He rolled his eyes. “Looking for you, obviously.”

“For…?” I prompted.

I hadn’t seen Valerian since we had returned from the castle after our flight to Myros. He had vanished to Ravenwood for gods only know what reason. I stopped caring where he went a long time ago. If he wanted to shirk his duties as a Blackwater prince, so be it.

“I was tired tonight and decided to stay in. I was stealing the good liquor from Father’s study when I saw two very guilty looking humans sneaking out the front door in the main hall.”

“Sneaking?” My brow creased in confusion. “They are free to come and go—”

“As they please, yes.” He finished for me. “But the new ones…they don’t know that.”

I inclined my head “So?”

“So, I was curious. I followed them.”

I motioned for him to continue with my hand, impatient. Valerian always loved to draw things out and watch me squirm.

He leaned against the door frame. “One of them was your new maidservant.”

“How do you—” I started, but he cut me off again.

“I know a great many things that happen in this castle. You all think me some sort of imbecile or deviant. Little do you know, I am the eyes and ears of this place.”

I opened my mouth to protest—to tell him we didn’t think of him that way—but it simply wasn’t true. We did. We never gave him credit where credit was due.

“Your new little human pet was accompanied by a historian hired in the library. She is Veytari fae from Myros.”

My mouth parted at this. I knew she had to have gone out, what with her rooms being empty. It was only happenstance that Valerian had seen them and followed.

“Where did they go?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest.

“Ravenwood.”

“And…?” It was like pulling teeth trying to get the right answer out of him. If he weren’t my baby brother, I would wring his neck.

“And I saw them picking flowers at the docks when they first arrived off the vessel. Poisonous flowers. The kind Azhar always crushes up for your tea. I also saw them entering one Hortensia Grimlock’s herb shop, the sprite with the amaranthine wings.”

This information wouldn’t typically be suspicious, but after what I just discovered hiding under her mattress…it most certainly was.

“And that’s all?” I asked.

“That’s all?” He laughed, his pale cheeks blushing pink. “I thought you might want to know your new maid is an herbwitch, or worse...”

She had already admitted to me that she and her mother owned an apothecary in Myros. Was that all this was? Did she simply have a passion for it?

“Thank you, Valerian. You have been most helpful,” I said through clenched teeth.

He cocked his head to the side. “I want to go with you.”

“Go with me?” I moved to enter the hall once more, but he did not budge from blocking the doorway.