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I blushed furiously. "Keep your voice down!"
She just laughed, but I couldn't join in her glee. I was happy that Raven team was still in the running, that there was some small chance they might win. But I also had a sinking feeling in my gut. Because they were no longer here by choice. They were essentially being forced to continue this ridiculous game.
I felt weary to my very bones. No matter the outcome, I was more than ready for this game to end.
Chapter 40
I never thought I would have the honor of attending a royal interrogation, and I could now say that it wasn't an honor I'd ever like bestowed upon me again.
There was no torture. No terror or pain—at least not here. Though I wouldn't put it past the king and queen to use other methods when I wasn't present. I wasn't naïve enough to think they had ruled Elfhaven for as long as they had without resorting to unsavory means now and then. But this inquiry was unpleasant for other reasons. For me, it was a reminder of how sheltered I really was.
The threat was still there, despite the lack of weapons and torture devices—the high cleric could easily destroy these men. And soldiers guarded the room. But the captives were cooperating. Mercenaries were, I had been told, generally cooperative if they got caught after they had already been paid.
And they were smart enough to switch their loyalties to the most powerful person in the room. Which, currently, was not their employer.
The royal inquisitor was usually a congenial man, calm and fair, and level-headed. He was a tall highborn, with fairly nondescript features for a fae, boasting tiny nubs for antlers and soft brown hair and eyes. But faced with the two mercenaries who had been hunted down and arrested for attacking the contestants of the royal tournament, putting more than a dozen lives in danger…he became something else entirely. Something more. His eyes glowed with fury, and something in his demeanor sharpened, radiating danger. Slowly pacing the small, stone-walled room, he became imposing. Cold. Without a single tell or flaw to give away what he was thinking. This male's power didn't come from magic. It came from intelligence, cunning, and the unflinching knowledge that his word was law.
And behind him stood the high cleric. The pink-haired male was one of the most powerful magic workers in Elfhaven. Except for the two people who sat beside me, outside the interrogation room, observing from behind a spelled window of smoky quartz glass. The king and queen had unrivaled power. But they had employees and officials for a reason.
"They're not lying," the king mused as he watched the proceedings in the other room. "They really don't know."
We had been here for over an hour. The two males—one fae, one human—insisted that they had been hired by an anonymous patron through an intermediary to protect the patron's identity. Even a truth spell didn't change their answer. The high cleric had been able to use his magic to track these men, but their meeting with the intermediary had been too long ago, in a public place, where all magic tracking spells failed.
All they could tell the inquisitor was that the intermediary they delt with was a mixed blood female who seemed mostly human. It could have been anyone.
"And your objectives?" The inquisitor asked them for the third time as the high cleric wove his truth spell, looking for any deviation in their story. "What were your orders?"
The mercenaries spoke in flat voices, compelled to utter the truth. The inquisitor and the high cleric reworded their questions again and again, to prevent any lie of omission or tricky wording. But the answers didn't change. Someone had tasked the mercenaries with making sure Lion team won the tournament. They didn't know why. They didn't know who hired them. They didn't think Lion team was aware they had been hired, but they couldn't say for certain.
And when asked whether they had been ordered to kill anyone that night in the Untamed Wood, they answered just the same as they had the first two times. "No direct kills. But their employer's intermediary hinted that if the contestants or the tea spiller had an accident or ran afoul of a deadly forest entity, we would receive a healthy bonus."
When the inquiry was over, the guards hauled the mercenaries away. The inquisitor and high cleric joined us in the hidden observation room, where we had been able to see and hear the entire inquiry.
"This makes no sense," I said tiredly. "They didn't know who I was. Whoever is behind this has no way of knowing that it has anything to do with Larkwood or stewardship. Why would they go to all this trouble to get their people to win?"
The inquisitor cocked his head. He and the high cleric were immune to the queen's secrecy spell, thanks to a charm they both wore to prevent them from being influenced by any magic that might compromise their positions. In a way, they were the most incorruptible people in Elfhaven. But everyone else, including the mercenaries, was literally unable to figure out who I was.
"You are correct," the inquisitor said slowly. "Those involved do not know who you are, Lady Kat, nor do they know the tournament has to do with Larkwood. However, that may be why they are so motivated to ensure that their chosen team wins." He grimaced at me. "No offense intended, my lady, but they may think the tournament's Prize is someone more important."
That certainly would make more sense than anyone going to this length to influence who I bonded with. Many people assumed that the royal involvement meant the Prize was someone of royal blood, one of King Bane and Queen Iris's children or a close relative.
"Who would benefit most from placing puppets close to an Elfhaven royal?" I asked, my mind churning over the possibilities.
But the king and queen had been investigating this issue for much longer, and they were far more used to these types of games. They already knew the motivations of every suspect. "The humans," Queen Iris said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Most likely Hamartia or Bellspear, since Atagonia seems to be invested in more acceptable ways to connect our kingdoms."
She didn't even hesitate in her answer, as if it should all be obvious. Though she did seem a bit distracted. As if she was already scheming and planning, or unraveling some other plot in her head.
I supposed that made sense. Atagonia had been communicating with the royal family about sending a suitor from their kingdom to court Ama. While that didn't mean they couldn't also be trying to use other, less savory means of winning favor, the king and queen probably had other reasons that I wasn't aware of to think that the humans of Atagonia were innocent. And from what I understood, Atagonia was our closest human ally when it came to trade and policies that fostered goodwill between our people.
"I will continue to gather information," the inquisitor said with a bow to the king and queen. "But for now, I believe you at least know which team will not be winning the tournament for the lady's heart." He winked at me and took his leave, his congenial mask once more in place.
I sighed. I supposed that was one fortunate side effect of all this nonsense. I wouldn't have to put up with Talon of Lion team in my home.
"If there is nothing more at the moment," the high cleric said with a bow, "I will see to some additional reinforcements to the wards for tomorrow's ball."
After the two males left, I turned to the king and queen. "What is it?" I demanded. "What are you not saying out loud?"
Queen Iris shook herself out of whatever train of thought had been occupying her mind, her green eyes meeting mine. "We are not keeping secrets, Kat, I assure you," she said with a half smirk. "But there are so many threads…." She waved a hand as if she were gesturing to a web of lies and intrigue. "Sometimes the obvious explanation is not the correct answer." She shrugged. "But then again, sometimes it is."
