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“The others will come help me once they’ve finished hiding the bodies. It’ll be easier to dispose of them after the banquet.” Ophelia jerked her chin toward the hall from which she had come. “Speaking of which, you should be on your way. It was hard enough altering the schedule so that no guards would come by on patrol during your littlemeeting. I don’t need any more chances for something to go wrong. If someone finds me cleaning up this blood, it’ll be my neck on the line, not yours.”
He pressed a hand to his heart and bowed deeply. The elf faltered, her mouth parting in surprise. Judging by the ease with which she flitted throughout the castle, he doubted anyone ever looked twice at her, let alone bowed. “Thank you, Ophelia. I’m grateful for your aid. Truly. Lady Riona is lucky to have someone like you at her back.”
A flush rose on her cheeks, and she set to scrubbing a particularly stubborn patch of tile. “You’re welcome,” she muttered. He could just see a hint of a begrudging smile on her lips.
He carefully stepped over the pool of blood, straightened his doublet, and started toward the banquet hall.
ChapterSixty-Seven
The Lady
Relief transformed Amaris’s face when she opened the front door of Lord Lachlan’s estate to find Riona standing before her, a half-dozen Kentari guards at her back. Without warning, Amaris flung her arms around Riona’s neck, pulling her into a tight embrace. Riona fought to hold back a gasp as pain ignited throughout her chest, sending a burst of stars through her vision.
“Oh, thank the Creator,” Amaris breathed. “All day, I’ve been terrified that you’d meet some terribleaccidentat the hands of Lord Farquar or the king. I can’t tell you how good it is to see you in one piece.”
“Same for you. But why aren’t you with Prince Domhnall?” Riona asked as she extricated herself from Amaris’s grip and stepped into the house. The blood magic flared with every slight movement, an agonizing reminder of just how weak her body was, but she could not afford to wait any longer. She would not give her uncle another chance to hurt anyone else she loved. “And where is my father?”
“He’s with Prince Domhnall and the king, going over the details of the betrothal agreement His Majesty and Eamon are meant to sign at the banquet. Your father convinced the king to make a spectacle of signing it in front of all the members of the court. He bought you as much time as he could,” Amaris said as she turned back to close and latch the door. The Kentari guards who’d accompanied Riona from the castle set about surrounding the property, joining the men Valerian had sent to protect Amaris in surveilling the estate. She doubted her uncle would make another move so soon, but they could not afford to be careless. “I stayed with the prince as long as I could, but the king dismissed me to return here and change for the banquet, and you said not to give him any reason to suspect anything was amiss…”
Amaris stopped, seeming to realize she’d begun to ramble. She ran a self-conscious hand over the skirt of her burgundy velvet gown, smoothing non-existent wrinkles in the fabric—a nervous habit she’d picked up from Riona. “I’m afraid,” she whispered. “Afraid of what he will do when we confront him. Afraid of what tonight will mean for the future of our kingdom. Afraid of what you will face in Erduria.”
“As am I,” Riona confessed, taking her hand. “But this is what is right for Rivosa and her people. Right now, I need you to help me prepare for the banquet. I’m not strong enough to manage it myself.”
Amaris nodded and followed her up the stairs. Riona kept a tight grip on the banister the entire time, the blood magic sending spears of heat through her chest.
“You must have slipped out of the castle unseen, if you managed to evade the king’s guards,” Amaris said as she trailed Riona into her bedroom. “He would’ve insisted on keeping you in the castle to protect you from the supposed murderers lurking about the city. Did you take the passage behind the royal apartments?”
Riona nodded, slinging off the heavy wool cloak that Valerian had loaned her. Under it, she still wore her fitted leather pants, borrowed linen tunic, and leather boots. Auberon’s dagger hung in a sheath at her hip, on a belt given to her by the duke. She sank onto the foot of the bed, her fingers digging into the bedsheets as pain shot through her chest and down her bruised ribs. Amaris couldn’t find out how weak she was, or she’d refuse to let Riona out of the house. Time wasn’t a luxury they had. They had to end thistonight.
“I’m sorry to tell you that now both Erduria and Kenter know about the secret entrance to the castle.”
Amaris dismissed the words with a wave of her hand. “Our lives are more important than a stairwell that can easily be filled in. Domhnall and I will see to it that a new escape is constructed once the suitors leave.”
“I hope you never have cause to use it.”
“As do I.” Amaris moved to the wardrobe, opening the doors and surveying the vast array of colors and fabrics within. She pulled out a gown of sapphire silk, fanned out the full skirt, then returned it to the wardrobe. “Tread very, very carefully tonight, Riona. Your uncle may be a murderer, but he is still your king, and he has the might of the military behind him. Do not make yourself an enemy of our kingdom. You may have Erduria and Kenter as allies now, but you are still only one woman.”
A ripple of uncertainty danced down Riona’s spine. “I’ll do what I must.”
“And I’ll pray that it doesn’t end with your execution.”
Riona forced a smile. “My uncle has already tried to kill me at least once. Who says he’ll succeed this time?”
“Not funny,” Amaris said, but she caught the hint of a smile on the girl’s lips as she pulled a cloth-of-gold gown from the wardrobe. “This is the dress.”
With her help, Riona undressed and stepped into the gown. The neckline was cut low across her shoulders and chest, the bodice draped to accentuate the curve of her waist before falling in a sheath to the floor. The gold threads in the fabric shimmered every time she moved. Amaris stepped back as Riona turned to the full-length mirror in the corner of the room.
“I didn’t consider the bandages,” Amaris murmured, a crease between her brows. The white fabric bandages over her heart shone starkly against her dark skin. “That neckline isn’t going to hide your wound.”
A slow smile spread across Riona’s lips. “I don’t want to hide it. Will you help me take the bandages off?”
“Take them off? Are you sure that’s wise?”
“The king tried to have me killed. I want the court to see his handiwork.”
Amaris frowned, but she didn’t argue as she fetched a pair of sewing scissors from the vanity and carefully sliced through the bandages. She slowly peeled them away, and the blood drained from her face when the wound was finally revealed. Even with the duke’s magic, it was terrible; swollen and irritated along the line of stitches that held her flesh together.
Amaris’s eyes widened, but she didn’t say a word as she twisted Riona’s braids into a loose updo, which she secured with little gold pins. Once she’d finished, she moved to the vanity table and selected a pair of long chandelier earrings, then slid a pair of heels onto Riona’s feet.
