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However, as I make to pass him, he stops in his tracks and narrows his vibrant yellow eyes on me.
“You’re alive,” he says, his voice full of contempt.
I freeze, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Yes?”
With a huff, he drags his gaze up and down my form. “Shocking.”
“Did you think I’d be easier to kill?” The snarky question flies out of my mouth before I can snap it closed, and he takes a menacing step toward me.
“You’re not important enough for me to think about.”
Without another word, he continues down the hall, leaving me staring after him. My anger flares. If he’s the one behind the poisonings, he doesn’t deserve to see his family right now. He doesn’t deserve to see them ever again. It’s his fault they almost died, and now he’s going to waltz in there and pretend to care about them.
If I wasn’t afraid of being snapped in half, I might have slapped him, or at least yelled at him. While it wouldn’t change anything, it would have made me feel better, but neither of those are options. However, there’s something else that will bring me even more satisfaction: proving Zen’s guilt.
It’s a stupid idea, but I doubt I’ll get a more perfect opportunity. With Zen distracted in the infirmary, I know there’s no one in his room. All I have to do is hurry to the third floor and figure out which one is his. A few minutes inside won’t hurt anything, and I’ll be out before he makes it back.
I wish I had my dagger for some sense of security, but there’s no time to stop by my room on the way. I have a tiny window of time to work with and no spare seconds to waste. Before I can talk myself out of it or even think through my plan logically, I pick up my pace and round the end of the hall.
The third-floor corridor looks just like every other hallway in the castle, but I made sure to count the flights of stairs out loud as I climbed them to make sure I was in the right spot. There are only a few doors on either side of the hall, and I’m tempted to try them all when I spot one with a giant gold Z on it.
Bingo.
This is turning out to be too easy, which should make me worry.
As I approach the door and reach for the handle, my heartrate spikes and I start to second-guess my decision. If I’m caught, I’m as good as dead. But if I find what I came here looking for, it will change everything. We will finally have the proof we need to charge Zen with a mounting list of crimes.
With a deep breath, I turn the handle and shove the door open.
To be so full of himself, I expected Zen’s room to rival the grandeur of Nor’s, but that’s not the case. It’s quite subtle compared to the rest of the castle.
A four-poster bed sits to my left, a wardrobe on my right. There’s a desk farther along the wall and a lounge sofa on the opposite side of the room. Heart slamming painfully in my chest, I force myself into the room and close the door behind me. I probably only have a few minutes. I need to be quick.
I run to the desk and tug open the top drawer, having no idea what I’m looking for. I keep my eyes peeled for any useful information as I rummage through stacks of paper covered in neat scrawl, but nothing jumps out at me. I move to the second drawer, which is empty aside from a few books and pens. The final drawer is crammed full of junk that doesn’t look like it’s been touched in years.
“Damn it,” I curse under my breath, wheeling around on the spot.
If I were a psycho power-hungry murderer, where would I hide something?
I’d probably keep it on me at all times so no one could find it laying around my room, but frisking Zen in the hallway isn’t going to work. His room is the only option I have.
I move to the wardrobe, tugging open the doors and searching every corner for something useful. Any random notes or suspicious vials. I run my fingers along every inch of wood searching for hidden compartments or unusual engravings, but I come up short.
Losing hope, I close the wardrobe and check the bed, sliding my hands under the pillows and between the mattresses, but I don’t find anything. My stomach drops. I’d been so sure I would find something—someone so evil is bound to leave their master plans lying around—but I’m still empty-handed. I’ve already been here longer than I need to be, but there’s one last place to search.
I run to the bedside table that’s occupied by an empty plant pot and a carved deity figurine. Tugging open the drawer, I find another stack of papers. Some are blank. Some have tiny notes written on them. A few look like they’ve been ripped out of a book, and I lift them out to see them better.
My breath catches when my eyes fall on the heading:Orris Nyaeth.
I’m almost certain these are the missing pages from the book Zen was reading when we found him in the library. There are two full pages of text breaking down the properties of the plant and it’s uses. While it doesn’t seem significant, I can’t bring myself to put the pages down. My eyes glue themselves to the writing, and I find myself quickly scanning over the text.
Orris Nyaeth is native to the northern half of Ruark, along with some mountainous regions. While harmless in its natural state, it will release a powerful toxin when boiled with…
My heart skips a painful beat as I reread the page.
A powerful toxin. My eyes linger on the words as all the dots connect in my head. Zen claimed to be sleeping under the Orris bush on the night of my wedding, and he ripped these pages out of the library book to either use them or keep anyone else from finding them.
I flip the pages over, soaking in every bit of information. This is what Liz and I spent days searching for and even longer pondering over.
