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“Oh, I see,” he said dubiously, thoughts clearly swirling around in his head as he glanced between the two of us. He sighed as he pushed himself up and off the bed. “Well, we’ll let you get to it, but I expect to hear all the details about it later.” His soft smile caused a throbbing punch of guilt to swell in my stomach.
“Thank you for checking in on me.”
“Always, Rhia,” he said softly, before guiding Amica out of the room.
I covered my face with my blanket and groaned. I really need to tell Miles the truth. I hated keeping this side of me a secret from him and didn’t know how much longer I could take it. Maybe I could try asking Pater again to make an exception for Miles.
I was dreading the meeting I was bound to have with Pater soon. It was the first time I failed coming back from an assignment, and I had no idea how to handle it. What would I even tell him, and how would he react? I didn’t even want to think about all of the Vesper related issues that now circled around us. How was I supposed to just pretend like I didn’t know that an entire kingdom existed on the other side of Vicinus that was filled with Life and Shadow Crafters? I could usually pull on a pretty good mask, playing assassin, so I’d have to do just that with Pater. He could never find out that I knew about Vesper. At least, not yet. I didn’t want to end up locked up in the dungeon drugged, or worse—dead.
It just seemed so crazy to me. Pater had always been a father to me, and I just couldn’t imagine this side of him. Although I trusted Bennett and I did believe what he told me, I still wanted to find out my own information and discover the whole truth.
I just prayed to the stars that this meeting would never come. Maybe I could just try to avoid it for as long as possible, at least until after the masquerade was over.
???
Well, avoiding the meeting clearly didn’t work out, because as soon as I washed up, made my way to the kitchen, and was mid-bite into my meal, a royal guard approached me, stating that Pater requested my presence immediately. I had to scarf down my sandwich on the way to his office, because according to the guard, it “couldn’t wait” and now I regretted eating quickly because my nerves were threatening to throw it all up.
Each step I took felt heavy and forced, as if I was walking towards my own execution. I tried to gather my thoughts and kept going back and forth between the pros and cons of lying or speaking the truth.
A realization hit me that caused me to trip over my own feet.
“Is everything all right?” the guard asked.
I forced a smile. “Yes, I’m still recovering from my recent travels.”
I swallowed, but my throat was dry. What if Bennett already said something to Pater and our stories didn’t match up? What was I supposed to tell Pater we did during that day spent in Vesper?
When we arrived outside Pater’s office, the guard took his stance outside the door and motioned for me to enter. I knocked softly before opening the door, and I took a deep breath to try and calm nerves and act as normal as possible.
Immediately, my shoulders sank, and I let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Bennett already in the office.
Thank the stars.
With the two of us here, it would be much easier for our stories to align and to keep Pater from thinking we knew anything about Vesper or what he was doing to its captured citizens.
Pater was seated behind his desk, his arms folded over his chest. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
My eyes flicked to Bennett, who stood in the corner of the room. He leaned against the wall and looked completely relaxed, although his eyes told a different story. I could tell from his gaze that he was alert and aware of the dangers this conversation could create if it didn’t go well.
You’re still sick.
“I’m still sick, but it’s been helpful to rest,” I said, making my way over to my favorite settee and plopping down onto it. I placed my hands under my thighs to keep Pater from seeing any nervous twitch in them.
What in the stars was that? I could have sworn that I just heard Bennett in my head, but it could have just been intuition, his eyes giving way to his thoughts.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Bennett told me you weren’t feeling well, which is why I let you sleep, but as soon as I got word that you were up, I had to have someone sent to get you. I’ve already waited long enough to hear what happened.”
What I got out of that statement was that Bennett hadn’t told Pater anything yet. Possibly because Pater always received the updates from me, and that had always been our routine. I wasn’t sure. What I did know was that this conversation and coverup had fallen onto me, so I would be the one to admit our failure and lie about our little detour.
“Thank you for waiting, and I apologize for the delay.” I went straight into explaining what happened at the pub in detail, and how we got caught up in the fight and almost swarmed by people who believed women shouldn’t be there. I struggled through the part of our failure and how we didn’t manage to actually kill any Red Bones. I even mentioned that they might not have even been there at all. I mean, I assumed they were upstairs, but even still that was just a prediction. I explained it in as much detail as possible, so he wouldn’t ask many follow up questions. He sat there, soaking all the details in, tapping his fingers against the wooden desk and nodding as he listened.
He pursed his lips as I finished. “I see.”
“I am sorry. I have failed you,” I said, lowering my head in shame.
Bennett’s eyes flashed with anger at my confession. I knew how he felt about his father, and he probably couldn’t care less about the king’s feelings, but something inside of me still cared. I had an endless need to prove myself to people, and it was written in my blood and marrow to have my success define my identity.
“Your first failure.” He sighed. “I’ll admit, I didn’t see it coming, but I won’t put the entirety of the blame on you. This was your first assignment with Bennett, so he definitely could’ve been part of the problem.”
