AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When my question goes unanswered again, I finally accept that he’s not just hiding out and avoiding me. He’s not here.
It would be easy to pilfer through his belongings to look for anything suspicious, but I can’t push myself any deeper into the room to investigate. I’m already walking on thin ice by trespassing without a just cause. Questioning him without my father’s direct approval is one thing, but searching through his things without even mentioning my suspicions to Father is bound to cause a rift amongst the royal siblings.
It’s not something I’m willing to do yet.
Besides, if I expect Zen to tell me anything at all, I can’t cross him. I have to make him believe, if only slightly, that I’m already convinced of his innocence. He’s not dumb enough to be forthcoming with incriminating information if he knows I suspect him. I’ll have to be calculating if I expect to get what I want.
And if that doesn’t work, I can always resort to Plan B: violence.
“What a lovely surprise,” a voice hisses behind me, unease licking up my spine at the sound. I turn around slowly and find Zen standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. “Surely you’ve heard of knocking, Nor.”
“I tried that first,” I assure him.
“What do you want?” He steps inside, leaving the doorway gaping open for me to make a hasty exit, but I linger.
“Can’t I just come by without needing anything?” I ask, trying to get the conversation started.
His expression dulls. “No.”
Well, it seems buttering him up isn’t going to work, and I can’t say I’m surprised. It was at least worth a shot. I sigh, deciding to attempt a different approach.
“You’re right,” I say. “There is something I need, and I figured you over anyone else would have it.”
“Oh?” His eyebrows raise slightly now that I’ve piqued his interest. “And what, pray tell, would that be?”
The way we’re standing squared up with one another feels like a confrontation, despite me trying to be casual, and the air feels like it’s constricting around me. If I want this to sound less like an accusation and more like a quest for knowledge, I have to reduce the tension.
His eyes pinned on me sharply, I move to sit on the side of the bed. Instantly, the energy in the room shifts, and I no longer feel like I’m suffocating. “Information. You know more than anyone else in this castle, so I’m hoping you can help me.”
Zen’s muscles relax and he cocks his head to the side. “You’re right about one thing—I do know more than anyone else.” No longer determined to run me out of his room, he reaches for the door and snaps it closed with a flick of his wrist. “But I don’t know if I can help you.”
I lift one shoulder in a shrug. “If you can, you can. If not, I’ll leave you alone.”
A sinister smile curls his lips. “What kind of information do you need?”
I gather my thoughts, unsure of the best way to proceed. I need him to think I believe his innocence more than anything, but I don’t want to divulge too much if he truly isn’t involved. Does he already know about the Hyatt captives down in the dungeons?
“Well?” he urges while my thoughts are still cartwheeling.
“Have you heard anything about a group of minotaurs attacking another kingdom?” I ask, choosing my words carefully. “Hyatt, for instance.”
“Attacking another kingdom?” His eyebrows pinch together, and his mouth drops open slightly. “No, I haven’t.”
His answer sound genuine, but a tug in my gut tells me he knows more than he’s letting on. Maybe I have to give him a little information to get some in return. I decide to try.
“Informants from Hyatt have reported attacks,” I say, leaving out the fact that they’re currently concealed somewhere beneath us. “Minotaurs bearing our coat of arms. I figured you might have heard something about it.”
He shifts, eyes locking with mine before he shakes his head. “You thought wrong, brother. I haven’t heard anything about it.”
That’s a lie. I don’t know how I know—or maybe I’m so eager for a confession that I refuse to accept anything else—but I’m convinced he’s lying.
“Nothing at all?”
He shakes his head again, making the unsettling feeling in my gut grow stronger. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“No apologies needed. I just thought if anyone would know what’s going on, you would,” I say flippantly, despite my irritation. His refusal to give me anything I need has my skin crawling with angry heat, but I ignore the feeling. I decide to keep going, trying a different angle this time. One of them is bound to work. “Do you want to hear the rumors that are going around?”
With a smirk, he walks past me toward the middle of the room. “Yes. Do enlighten me,” he says over his shoulder.
