I wouldn’t let them see my hands tremble. Not Wren, not Gideon, not the stragglers still hanging out in the hallway, feigning to chat about trade levies while their eyes clung to me like a vulture.
I folded the parchment tightly and slipped it into the concealed seam of my sleeve, as if hiding the words could conceal their meaning. But they pulsed in my mind with the clarity of a blade pressed against my throat:
She already has someone you trust.
I forced my breath even. “Enough for today,” I said to the eavesdroppers. “Council is adjourned. You can have your further grievances in the morning.”
They bowed and scraped, but I could feel it—their suspicion, their hunger for weakness. They were waiting for me to falter, to show even a c***k.
Now that the chamber was empty, Gideon came for
