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There were no more spaces at the table. If Arin were visiting Justice, he’d be among the nobles at this table. Had Draven met with Arin at the Overlook and something transpired between them, accounting for Arin’s absence? Was it because of the documents I’d found featuring his name? I had to speak with him.
Soleil took her place at her modest throne, and in a soft, musical voice she said, “Balance is all.” And with that, we sat.
Soleil announced me as a Prince of Pain. All gazes obligatorily turned to me—all but Draven’s. Why was he avoiding me? I narrowed my eyes at the warlord. What was he hiding? I thanked the queen, my fellow guests, and we began to dine.
“Danyal, after dinner, I need you to track that warlord down,” I muttered so only Danyal heard. “I must speak with him urgently.”
“The one in red and black?”
“His name is Draven and since arriving, he’s been desperate to leave. I need to know why he’s here, and why he’s avoiding me.” If he’d done something to Arin, I’d slit his throat, and unlike Arin, I wouldn’t miss.
“How muchpersuasionis permitted?”
Soleil glanced my way. The Queen of Justice—the woman whom every single person in the shatterlands answered to. Commit any wrongdoing and be discovered and Justice would come for you. I covered my mouth, faked a cough, and spluttered,“Don’t kill him.”
“Understood.”
Draven’s anxious fidgeting suggested he wouldn’t come willingly, but while Draven was a formidable muscular force, Danyal was clever and vicious. He’d be able to handle the warlord.
“Would you like to visit your brother?” Soleil asked, appearing at my side.
I jolted, caught scheming. It was a good thing she couldn’t read minds. I saw a shadow of a smile through her veil. Blue eyes skewered me to my chair. Did she mean see Razak now? Surely not. “I will need to see him, yes, thank you.”
“Tomorrow.” She turned to leave.
“May I ask, is my brother in custody?”
“Yes. Prince Razak is far too dangerous to be allowed to roam free while awaiting trial.”
That was a relief, at least. There was only so much power he had behind bars. But it still begged the question why they’d allowedmeto walk among them, eat at their table, dine with them as a guest. This didn’t seem the place to ask, and I didn’t want to trigger any kind of protocol that might see me thrown into a cell alongside my brother. Better to keep quiet and let my curiosity go unanswered for now.
“If that is all—”
“Warlord Draven is here,” I blurted, stopping her from moving to the next guests.
She glanced across the table. “Do you know him?”
“You could say as much.” I’d had his cock in my mouth and loved his husband. I’d thought I’d known him, but recent discoveries suggested otherwise.
“Zayan, this is not the place for Pain’s scheming,” she said, quite clearly, despite the veil. “I hope you understand that while here, inside these illustrious halls, you will behave in such a manner as is expected by Justice.”
Those were a lot of words formind-your-own-fucking-business.I bowed my head. “Of course.”
“Your brother will await your arrival in the morning.”
She glided to the next guests, leaving me to turn my gaze back toward Draven. He’d finished three glasses of wine and poured himself another now. I stared, willing him to see me. What if Arin had demanded answers, and he’d hurt him to keep whatever secrets those documents held from being exposed? He was capable. If Draven was beholden to the Court of Pain, would he sacrifice Arin to protect himself? Damn it, if only there had been more time to explain my concerns to Arin. I’d thought the papers made it obvious something wasn’t right with Draven, but Arin’s absence now rattled my nerves.
“Danyal, when you were an administrator, did you come across the wordbenefitsin relation to children, and what it meant?” I asked.
“For children, no. But benefits means leverage. A benefit is something or someone that can be used for the Court of Pain’s gain.”
I’d thought so. “And if I were to discover some documents pertaining to Court of War benefits, and a list of names, what would that mean?”
“A list like that would mean those people, or others connected to them, are controlled by the Court of Pain.”
That had been my suspicion. But how deep did the control go? I didn’t want to believe Draven had aided my brother in the Court of War, but if he had, then everything we’d told him, every moment we’d spent with him, every plan, every confession—Razak likely knew it all. We’d told Draveneverything, even my plan to infiltrate my brother’s court.
He finally looked up. I stared through him. The table and its guests faded away, and he squirmed like a worm on a hook, then downed another glass of wine.
