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“You won’t tell on me?” Padraig asked.
“You are safe,” I told him. “You had no part in this anyway, I won’t be lying. You didn’t know what I was planning.”
Padraig didn’t seem to believe me, but as I heard the sound of footsteps, he had no choice but to turn around and pretend we hadn’t been talking. The metal sound reached me once again and footsteps followed.
The door to the cell opened and Lugh came in, his beard trimmed and his clothes perfectly neat. Lady Queill stepped in behind him with a slimy smile on her face.
Lugh’s eyes darted down to Orla. I thought I saw fear there, but I could not be sure.
Not feeling their emotions was difficult. I didn’t know how others managed to navigate life without knowing. Everyone was a possible source of danger when one didn’t know what they felt.
“Your brother is dead,” Lugh said.
He could easily be lying, but I couldn’t help the rising sadness in me. I tried not to let it consume me. This could all be a trick to wear me down.
Then again, I didn’t know what could be accomplished by that. I was already beaten.
“He attacked the prison,” Lugh continued. “And died trying. I wonder how he knew where it was...”
He looked toward Lady Queill.
“She blocks her thoughts, your grace,” Lady Queill said quickly. “She always has.”
“We don’t need her thoughts to know the truth,” Lugh said. “She hid Orla. And she was trying to escape. Our resources say they used that innkeeper to communicate. I just need to figure out how she managed to find out our secret.”
“Of course,” Lady Queill replied. Then, she turned to me. “Tell him.”
I stared at her blankly.
“Tell him how you found out,” Lady Queill asked, her tone cold but calculated.
“Yes,” Lugh said. “Tell me. Did you sneak into the library to search the locked room?”
“I did,” I replied.
“How?” Lugh asked, unable to hide his curiosity. “We had guards at the door at all times.”
“I won’t tell you how,” I replied.
“Did someone help you?” Lady Queill asked.
She was too smart. I decided to focus on Lugh to push on his thirst for authority. Ignoring her, I stared at him.
They deserved nothing but silence.
“Was it Orla?” Lugh asked. “Did she trick everyone?”
“It couldn’t have been,” Lady Queill said before I could confirm Lugh’s theories. “We would have felt her intrusion in their minds.”
They hadn’t. But I wasn’t about to tell them that.
“Tell me who helped you get in and I’ll forgive your treason,” Lugh replied.
On the other side of the door, Padraig stirred. Luckily, he wasn’t stupid enough to look through the opening to try and see us.
“No one helped me,” I said. “And I don’t need your forgiveness.”
“We can question her after, my king,” Lady Queill said warningly when Lugh took a step toward me. She lifted her hand as though she was going to grab his arm to stop him, but then, she decided against it.
