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He pulled her up, and Riona looked everywhere but at him as they danced.Do not be taken in by his charm.She’d been watching him from the corner of her eye all evening, and she hadn’t missed the ease with which he had slipped into the advisors’ conversation. The smiles and jests were nothing but a pretty façade. She could never forget who he was. The Emperor wasn’t a man who feared the cutthroat machinations of the court; he was a man who turned them to his advantage, and his sons were no different. She could see it in the gleam in Auberon’s eyes, as dark and unforgiving as the Tranquil Sea’s tides.
“You don’t…care much for politics, do you, Lady Riona?” Auberon said, slightly out of breath. Over the course of the evening, the temperature of the room had risen considerably, and perspiration shone across his brow.
“What makes you say that?”
He raised a brow. “That laugh with which you graced me earlier was the first time I heard you laugh all night. You’ve smiled through every dance, yet—yet it has never once reached your eyes. You hate it here.”
Alarm bells rang through her head.He sees too much.“Do not presume to know a single thing about me,” Riona hissed.
“I’m not blind, my lady. You may be a good enough actress to…trick every—”
The word ended in a gurgle as he doubled over and coughed, blood splattering across the ivory silk of Riona’s bodice. She froze in shock as the prince staggered back a few steps and wiped his mouth with the back of a hand. It came away crimson. The couples around them recoiled. Several noblewomen let out shrieks of horror and fear when they saw the prince gasping, a smear of blood across his lips.
Drystan leapt from the dais and shoved through the crowd. “Auberon! Oh, by the Creator—”
“My bag,” Auberon interrupted. He gripped his brother’s arm. “There’s a small…wooden box inside. Bring it to me…now.”
Drystan didn’t waste a second. He helped Auberon into one of the seats at the head table, then rushed out of the room, pushing gawking nobles out of his path. Chaos erupted. Guards and servants rushed in, herding the nobles toward the rear of the room and the suitors to the dais. The king commanded Master Kaiden to fetch a healer as Auberon doubled over and coughed again, bright red droplets pooling on the marble at his feet.
Riona stared at the blood, frozen in place. Auberon’s doublet strained as he sucked in several wet, shallow breaths, his knuckles white around the arms of his chair. He lifted his head, a shock of chestnut hair falling over his brow, and his wide eyes met hers. The pure terror she saw in their depths hit her like a physical blow. Without a word, she climbed the steps and sank to her knees beside him, heedless of the blood staining her ivory skirt.
“You’re going to be okay,” she murmured, setting a hand atop his. He said nothing, blood dripping from his lips, but he released his vice grip on the chair’s arm and instead clasped her hand. “The healer is on his way. He’ll be here before you know it. You’re going to be okay.”
Auberon could only nod.
Riona looked him over, belatedly realizing that the perspiration beading on his forehead had not been a result of the warmth of the room, but of fever. His eyes were shiny, unfocused, and his hands had grown clammy. Riona cursed herself for not seeing it sooner. The realization of what had happened settled over her just as he lifted his head and mumbledOsha’s Kissthrough bloody lips.
Someone had poisoned Prince Auberon.
ChapterTwelve
The Liar
Auberon was dying.
He fought for breath through failing lungs as the celebration devolved into chaos around him. He was doubled over, staring down at the flecks of blood dotting his shiny leather boots, and he could hear the jumble of voices echoing throughout the hall. The king snapping orders. The queen comforting her children. Guards herding people away from him. Somewhere in the hall, metal rang against stone when someone knocked a tray of goblets to the floor.
Yet through it all, he could hear Riona.
“You’ll be okay,” she kept saying, over and over and over again. He clutched one of her hands, and the other was on his back, rubbing gently, keeping him focused on her voice. Auberon coughed, the taste of copper filling his mouth. Blood dripped from his lips and splattered on the floor, soaking into the skirt of her gown. “You’re going to be okay. Healer Barra will help you. He’ll— Oh, thank the Creator! Your brother’s here.”
Auberon pushed himself upright as Drystan dropped to his knees beside the chair, a small wooden box in his hands. Without hesitation, Auberon snatched it and scanned the labels of the bottles within, recalling the hours and hours of lessons he’d taken in the palace library.Osha’s Kiss. Osha’s Kiss. Counteracted by…maryglove!
His hands shook as he pulled the bottle out and broke the wax seal, then poured the contents into his mouth. The dried blossoms were bitter and earthy, but at the very least, the taste cut through the horrible tang of blood. He prayed he hadn’t taken the antidote too late. Already, his heart was racing, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his lungs filling with fluid. He doubled over and coughed again, wincing at the spray of blood that splattered across the floor. His vision was growing hazy.
The banquet hall doors flew open, cracking against the walls, just as everything went black.
ChapterThirteen
The Lady
“No one is to leave the banquet hall until they’ve been questioned by a member of the royal guard,” King Domhnall said to Master Kaiden as he stormed into the throne room, his face contorted in fury. “Not a servant, not a cook, not a courtier. Someone tried to kill the son of the Erdurian Emperor inmycastle, and I will not allow him to walk free. I don’t care how long it takes. I will not be forced into another damned battle.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Kaiden bowed and hurried out of the room, dipping his head in respect as he passed Riona, her father, and Prince Domhnall. The king let out a string of oaths as he paced before the throne, running an agitated hand over his short hair. “Of all the things to befall us tonight, a poisoning!” he snarled. “You had all better begin praying that Prince Auberon survives the night, because if he dies, it’ll be all our heads. The Emperor will rip the wholekingdomfrom us if his son dies tonight.”
“Barra is the best healer in the kingdom,” Lachlan said, holding his hands up to calm his brother. “He will save the prince’s life, and we will find and punish the person responsible for this attack. If we have to promise Riona to Drystan in order to avoid another battle…” He hesitated, pain flashing across his face. “We will do it.”
