Amaskan's Blood Raven Oak (polar express read aloud TXT) 📖

balls of my feet in the corner of the room. And yet Lady Millicent’s convinced there’s something to see.

The women paused briefly as a servant entered bearing a tray laden with fruit and light wine. Adelei took the opportunity to stand in a slow, full-bodied stretch, after which she stepped outside to watch the change of guards.

Difficult enough to protect Margaret from an unknown assailant, but more difficult still to find out who he or she was when Adelei was busy playing nursemaid. There was movement behind her, but she ignored it. The footfalls weren’t hidden, only soft; she figured it for the servant and tensed when a hand touched her elbow.

“Master Adelei…” said Lady Millicent and the partially withdrawn blade returned to Adelei’s sleeve. “Master Adelei, I must speak to you immediately. The marriage must not happen—”

“Not here,” Adelei interrupted. With a finger flick, she called several guards over to the bower doors. “I need to escort Lady Millicent to her rooms. No one is to enter or exit the bower until I return, is that understood?”

“Yes, Master Adelei.”

“This way, my lady.”

Lady Millicent followed Adelei into a tiny, rarely used room Adelei had discovered in her sojourn through the castle. Probably once used as a closet, it now held extra pieces of furniture and random bits of household goods. The lady paused upon entering the room, then uprighted an overturned chair and settled into it as if it were completely normal for someone of her station to be consorting with an Amaskan in a closet. “I’m sorry for the necessity of meeting here, but there are too many ears in this castle.”

Lady Millicent’s fine green gown rested against a chair that used to be of the same shade before dust coated it in gray. “The wedding cannot happen. Prince Gamun Bajit isn’t the man people believe him to be, and he can’t be allowed control of the throne.”

Adelei overturned a short stool and sat, glad to be resting on something other than a dog’s cushion. “I was told Alexander royalty held a joint leadership.”

“Yes, but we both know that the moment the Shadian family marries into this kingdom, the royal family’s days are numbered. And with the Princess and her father out of the way, it’s only a matter of time before Prince Gamun would rewrite law to allow himself control.”

“If it’s so easy to rewrite the law, I’m surprised this hasn’t been an issue before.” Despite a solid background in the histories of the Little Dozen, she could remember no time where such a concern had existed. But then, I can’t think of very many instances where the royal family married outside their own kingdom either. Not since long before the war.

“Prince Gamun is different. Crueler than most and ruthless. Certain laws can’t be changed without the agreement of the King’s advisors—the Alexandrian council. But if members of that council were to suddenly disappear or die before they could be replaced, or if they were replaced by members of the Shadian bloodline, then those laws could be changed easily enough.”

Lady Millicent swallowed hard, the lump in her throat causing the ruby on her necklace to bounce like a clump of blood resting on her breast.

“What makes you think this prince is capable of such lofty goals?”

“Don’t play coy with me.” The lady’s eyes flashed. “An Amaskan within our midst can mean only one thing—an attempt on the royal family’s lives. What else would bring someone as detested as you into Alexander? That’s why you’re here, is it not?”

Adelei said nothing. When she continued her silence, Lady Millicent sighed. “I know you can’t discuss details with me, but you can’t hide from me either. Why not come outright and ask me for information… Alethea?” Adelei’s eye twitched. “I thought I finally had the evidence needed to take before the Boahim Senate and lock that monster away. But I don’t, do I? There is no girl, no victim here. Only an assassin seeking information.”

“I’m sorry, Lady Millicent. It wasn’t personal.”

The way the lady’s rigid frame sat straight in the chair, her fingers in a white knuckled grip on her hem, gave Adelei pause. When she spotted the unshed tears, she swore. Something isn’t right here.

“Lady, I will help anyway I can. If this man is a perceived threat in the eyes of the Boahim Senate, he is on my map as well. Tell me what you know—let me help.” The anger fled from Lady Millicent as a few tears leapt over her eyelids and rolled down cheeks that had been rosy only moments before. Whatever monster she thinks exists in this prince, it’s not just about Margaret. This is personal.

“This Prince of Shad has a history, but it’s all gossip. Whenever the Boahim Senate gets close to a victim, they disappear—sometimes permanently. Sometimes just the victim’s memories are missing.”

“So when ‘Alethea’ came before you, you thought—”

“I thought we’d found another victim, this one in time to save my—to do something about this monster of a prince.”

Adelei noted the slip. “I apologize for the necessity of that. After I heard Lady Angelina and you in the library, I didn’t know whether you would be willing to speak with me. I do wish to talk with you further, but I fear leaving Her Highness alone for too long.”

“I understand. I’ll leave you to your job then.”

“Wait—” Adelei touched the woman’s arm as she brushed past. “Tonight, when the Princess has retired, seek me out in her sitting room. We’ll discuss this further.”

If the woman thought it odd to be invited into royal chambers, she said nothing of it, nor did she give any exterior sign of surprise. She nodded curtly and excused herself, kerchiefed fingers blotting at her eyes as she retreated.

That made one ally in Alesta. With hope the information was worth the price. Adelei strode toward the bower, tension twisting her muscles. The laughter inside set her on edge. Back to the torture chamber. Adelei nodded to the guards before