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Tait slammed a pigskin filled with copper coin and silver chips. “Sit.”
The woman obliged, snatching her new purse, and tucked it inside the bust of her dress. With a wide grin, her needle-jagged teeth flashed. “Well, now that we’re in order, how may I serve you, King Erik?”
“Have you heard any word from Bonekeeper as of late?”
Pesha’s thick lashes fluttered like wings over her eyes. “Oh, Highness. I’ve not seen him for some time. But.” She paused. “I’ve taken company of a few menfolk who’ve been tangled in with my Bonekeeper. Not certain I recalleverythingthey might’ve said.”
With a coy sneer, Pesha tugged one of her coins from the purse and rolled it between her forefinger and thumb.
“You dare keep secrets? You speak to your king, woman,” Tait said, voice thick and low.
“She knows.” I chuckled with a new sort of malice and scraped my thumb over the point of one tooth until a drop of blood bubbled to the surface.
Pesha tried to scramble away from the table. I’d expected it, and gripped the back of her neck, drawing her painted face close to mine.
“Dear Pesha, would you like to know what I expect?”
She closed her eyes, quivering, and let out a whimper when I traced her cheek with my blood.
My grip tightened on her neck. “Answer me!”
“Yes,” she sobbed. “Yes, My King. What . . . what d-d-do you expect?”
“I expect,” I said, drawing my face alongside hers, “that when I ask for something, something like finding my queen, you answer. You see, I’ve grown tired of liars and cheats and traitors. I’ve no patience for the lot of them, and I’d rather rid my kingdom of such folk than make deals.” I lowered my voice to a whisper and spoke directly into her ear. “Understand?”
Pesha nodded. “Y-Yes, My King. Yes.”
I released her, putting an arm’s length between us. “Good. Now, tell me what you know.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE SERPENT
Pesha kepther gaze pointed to the table, her fingers tangled together like threads on a weave. She’d told her tale of her evenings with the second mate of theFire Storm—Hesh’s ship.
It answered some questions but brought many others.
“Why should I believe you that you’ve not bedded Larsson in weeks?”
Pesha lifted her chin. “King Erik, I swear to the gods, I’ve not. He went and got himself a mate, as I told you.”
A mate. Pesha insisted Larsson aimed to create a bond with a woman, much like my bond with Livia. No mistake, he wanted the power that came with it. The difference between Larsson and me was I loved my mate, with or without a heartbond. He would fall for his manipulation of such a gift, the same way as my father.
I’d make certain of it.
I drummed my fingertips on the table. “You’re certain the House of Blades has joined with Larsson?”
Pesha sniffled. “Yes. I didn’t realize they was plotting treason, My Lord.”
“And Lord Hesh has sided with a traitor. This is what the second mate told you?”
“Aye. Bonekeeper has his own plans, as I understand, but once Bonekeeper rises, Lord Hesh wishes to make amends for what he lost during the earth fae wars. He wants the earth fae to bend the knee to him. Already the House of Blades be sending folk through the Chasm to cause a bit of torment before Hesh brings battle.”
It explained the sea fae sightings that had the Rave warriors divided across the earth fae kingdoms.
“This could be why Larsson made his move,” Celine whispered. “He’s found something, some power, and Hesh knows of it, making him bolder.”
I clenched a fist over my knee. “When you were attending to the second mate, did he say where they were gathering?”
