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I nod. “Yeah. I got that feeling, too. Like he deferred to her.”
“Well, the man is a coward.” Allison grins. “Even I remember that from the books.”
“Speaking of which...” Anthony sits up taller. “Maybe Q added her in the unfinished book. I mean, the noble houses aren’t just one individual, right? They’re called houses because they’re entire families. Plenty of characters exist but aren’t mentioned specifically because they are not important to the plot at the time.”
“Fair point.” Lindsey closes a book and grabs the next one. “Each house of succession to the throne supposedly has between twelve and fifty people associated with it, all related to each other. It wouldn’t be too out of the blue for a ‘distant cousin’ with an estate far from the city to suddenly show up.”
Allison perks up like an idea just hit her in the face. “Do you think Nesanth added her as a distraction? Like the new character would be the first one people suspect?”
“Who would she be worried about suspecting her?” I resist the urge to bang my head against Kingsley’s chest. “Didn’t we already establish she would have had no reason to hide from anyone familiar with the world as fiction? Nesanth wasn’t expecting people who know this is all based on books to come after her.”
“Oh.” Allison slouches. “True.”
“Except…” Anthony raises a hand. “She had to be within his head for some time before she slipped through into this world. She obviously knew he kept writing ‘need Sam’ all over his house. Nesanth also knew Ma kicked Elizabeth’s ass, so she’d have reason to be worried if we got involved.”
Groans come from Tammy, Lindsey, and Kingsley.
Allison makes a face of deep concentration. “Hmm. Does anyone suspect House Mur?”
Everyone shakes their heads to the negative.
Allison folds her arms. “Then it’s probably him.”
“Are we absolutely sure it’s not Thae?” I ask. “If Nesanth has truly godlike powers over this world, she wouldn’t need to be right here in the city to do whatever she’s doing. Even if the child isn’t Nesanth, maybe she’s the one sending assassins to kill the other nobles before they can have her murdered or framed for a crime bad enough to be executed.”
Anthony scrunches his nose in thought. “Is it self-defense to arrange the murder of people who are plotting to kill you?”
“Probably not,” I say. “And now that I think about it, she is a monarch in a fantasy medieval world. She wouldn’t need to hire assassins. Just declare her enemies to be traitors to the crown and have them executed.”
“No way, ma. Thae would never hire assassins or want to hurt anyone.” Tammy shakes her head rapidly. “Her personality is to hide or flee from danger like any reasonable child… which is exactly what she’s doing.”
“True.” Lindsey nods. “There is no parliament or senate here. The king or queen has absolute power. Only reason they’d resort to assassins is if the person they want to kill is beloved by the citizenry and ordering their death would undermine their rule.”
“But she doesn’t even want to be queen. The only thing the crown means to her is a death sentence.” Tammy sighs. “That poor kid.”
“I think the kid is legit.” Allison makes a sad face at me, like she’s a teenager trying to convince her mother to adopt a kitten they’ve found outside. “She’s the only person in this place I’ve gotten a good psychic read on. She’s so full of fear and sadness. None of the other nobles gave me anything, good or bad. Just… blank. Tammy?”
“Agree with Allie.” Tammy points at the ceiling. “Thae doesn’t have the personality to be a ruler. Too sweet, too innocent, and really high strung. Jumps at every shadow. Super shy. Can barely talk above a whisper around strangers. She hates sitting in on court because being in a room with so many strange people is overwhelming for her.”
Kingsley scratches at his chin. “Which makes her the last person anyone would ever suspect of doing something evil.”
“No way.” Lindsey grabs the next book in the ‘to be checked’ pile. “She’s just a child. I was with her for four days and she is honestly, genuinely sweet. She’s terrified.”
“Okay. Kid’s off the list.” I snuggle a little deeper into Kingsley’s lap. “Gotta say my hunch is she’s an innocent bystander. I just had to ask the question to put it out there in case my overactive mom-ness is stopping me from thinking clearly.”
“Right, because killing her would be super, super tragic. That’s exactly what Q would have done.” Lindsey frowns. “I was planning to buy two copies of the next book when it comes out so I could throw one out the window when I get to the part where she’s killed.”
“Argh.” I sigh. “Wish we could ask Quentin what he was planning.”
Tammy sits up. “Say, why don’t we try? Ant and Kingsley found him, right? Maybe Allie could make psychic contact?”
Allison bounces to her feet. “Worth a shot at least. And we’ve got a whole day to kill before the gala.”
“Can you not use that phrase in this world?” Tammy winces. “There’s enough killing.”
Chapter Thirteen
Procrastinating
