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Worry festered, knotting in my chest as I set my glass down.
“Gods damn,ni’meres,” Claude muttered, shaking his head. “What next? Thenix?”
I shuddered. Gods, I hoped not.
“Ni’meresbehaving like that?” Hymel spoke up, frowning. “It’s rather unheard of, isn’t it?”
“A lot of unheard-of things have been happening,” Magistrate Kidder replied.
Claude stopped, looking at the older man. “Care to add more detail to that?”
“I’ve been hearing rumors of Hyhborn fighting,” the Magistrate began. “There’ve been reports of it happening in other cities. Just the other week, I heard that there had been quite the skirmish between them in Urbane last month.”
My brows knitted in a frown. Urbane was in the Lowlands territory, not all that far from the Hyhborn Court of Augustine, which also served as the capital of Caelum. I thought of what Lord Thorne had said when it came to Hyhborn on the verge of killing one another. Apparently it wasn’t out of the ordinary in their Courts, but it was rare to hear of it happening in front of the lowborn.
“Several were killed,” Magistrate Kidder added. “As well as a few lowborn who were unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Do we know what they are fighting about?” Claude asked.
“That I haven’t heard.” The Magistrate scratched at his jaw. “But if I do hear anything, I will let you know.”
“Thank you.” Claude glanced over at me, his expression unreadable. He crossed his arms. “I want the gardens cleared by this evening.” He faced the Magistrate. “I don’t want anything left behind, not even a fingernail.”
“Will do.” Magistrate Kidder got to his feet and strode stiffly out of the chamber, not looking in my direction. He hadn’t once since he’d entered. I didn’t need intuition to know that he thought I was nothing more than a well-kept whore that he’d have to pay for the pleasure of even looking upon.
Whatever.
The moment the door closed behind the Magistrate, the Baron turned to me. His features were so tensed that his mouth was nothing more than a slash. The Baron was clearly in a mood, and rightfully so. Therewerebody parts in his gardens.
“Tell me, my pet, with all your intuition and second sight,” he said, arms at his sides, “you didn’t see a horde ofni’meresdescending to wreak havoc on my gardens?”
“For her to have seen that, she would have to actually be useful,” Hymel remarked, crossing his arms over his chest. Over his shoulder, I saw Grady eyeing the back of his head like he wished to knock it off his shoulders. “And beyond parlor tricks and good instincts, she isn’t good for much, cousin.”
Claude’s head swung toward Hymel. “Shut up.”
A ruddy flush hit Hymel’s cheeks. He liked to run his mouth, but he knew that what I did had nothing to do with parlor tricks or illusion. He was just being an ass, as per usual.
So I ignored him,as per usual.
Claude faced me. “Lis?”
“It doesn’t work like that,” I reminded him. “You know— ” I jumped as Claude lunged forward, swiping his arm across the table. The glass of water and plate of tiny triangle-sliced sandwiches went flying onto the hardwood floors.
My jaw unlocked in surprise as I stared at the mess on the floor. Claude had a temper. Mostcaelestiasdid. I’d seen him throw a glass or two before. Expensive bottles of wine had hit the ground more than once, but he’d never acted that way toward me.
“Yes,” Claude hissed inches from my face as he planted his hands on the table. I saw Grady start to step forward, but he stopped himself when I gave a curt shake of my head. “I know it doesn’t work that way. You can’t see anything dealing with the Hyhborn, but . . .” His gaze locked on to mine. “But I also know that isn’t always the case. Sometimes you get vague impressions, and I also know you can’t see what you are a part of.”
My fingers dug into the skirt of my gown as something occurred to me. Last night I had seen what was about to happen regarding Muriel and Lord Thorne— the blood splattered on the wisteria blossoms. It hadn’t occurred to me then. Was it because it involved Lord Thorne?
“So, tell me, my pet.” He smiled, snapping me out of my realization. Or tried to. It was more of a grimace. “Were you involved in this?”
“No!” I exclaimed. Shock rolled through me as I stared at him. It wasn’t even because I was,somewhat,involved in what happened last night. But because he would even think I had anything to do with freakingni’meres.“I had nothing to do with that. I didn’t even know there wereni’meresin Archwood.”
The Baron eyed me for several moments and then pushed off the table, rattling the remaining utensils. “There aren’tni’meresin Archwood,” he said, nostrils flaring as he took a step back, nearly stepping in the food. “But there are some in Primvera. That is where they likely came from.” He stared down at the mess he’d created, pink spreading across his cheeks. “Either way,” he said, shoving the untucked tail of his shirt into his breeches. “Thoseni’mereswere obviously unhappy with something in that garden.”
More like unhappy withsomeone.
“Make sure that magistrate does his job,” he said to Hymel before stopping and coming back to where I sat. His throat bobbed as he stared down at me. “I’m sorry for losing my temper. I shouldn’t have done that. It’s not because I was angry with you.”
