Queen of Secrets

14

As Garon slept off his injuries, I slipped away to deal with my other problem. Morning light filtered through the castle and I yawned, but there was no time to sleep. Not yet.

When I reached the dungeon door, my brother was already there waiting for me. “Care to tell me where you’ve been for the last few hours?”

“Good morning to you too brother,” I said, suppressing another yawn. “I’ve been dealing with the Ravens who tried to kill me. I’ll tell you more later.”

His formidable presence blocked me from the door. “You were attacked at the ball and then you disappeared. You had Prince Nial locked up with no evidence. This could ruin our alliance and sabotage your wedding. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking I wanted to stop the man who ordered me killed.”

Balsam pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve kept him locked up because one of the guards said he heard the assassin say Nial was involved. He also said the man was carrying a blade with an Illidan crest. Right after Queen Casnia herself showed up at the ball. That doesn’t seem like a coincidence.”

“I don’t think Casnia is involved at all. But let’s ask Nial himself, shall we?”

Balsam looked skeptical, but he gestured for the guard to open the heavy locked door. Together we stepped inside the dark chamber that smelled of blood and piss. I hefted up my skirts as we stepped across to the shadowed corner of the room where Nial was chained to the wall, still wearing his clothes from the ball. He was the only prisoner at the moment, which was fortunate for him.

“How dare you treat me this way,” Nial said, glaring at us both. “I’ve done nothing wrong, but you can be sure my father will hear about this.”

“A member of the Ravens confessed that you hired them to kill Princess Dahlia,” Balsam asked in his most commanding tone. “Is this true?”

“Of course not,” Nial said with disdain. “This must be some kind of mistake. They’re setting me up to sabotage our alliance. Probably Ilidan.”

Balsam raised an eyebrow at me, likely agreeing with Nial. I stepped forward and stared my fiancé down, noticing how he had a hard time meeting my eyes. Though I already knew the truth, I pulled out my glowing dagger, which both men stared at in surprise.

“It’s time you stopped lying to us,” I said to Nial.

“What is that?” Balsam asked.

“Fellina made it for me. It forces people to tell the truth.”

“Fellina did that?”

“Yes, she’s been helping me with this matter.” I took a step closer to Nial, who tried to struggle against his chains. I slid the dagger across his forearm, making a tiny, shallow cut that wouldn’t even scar—but gave me enough blood to make the dagger glow brighter.

“Sun and Moon, Dahlia,” Balsam muttered.

I stepped back and held up the shining blade. “Now you’re going to tell the truth. Did you hire the Ravens to kill me?”

“Yes, I did,” Nial said, though it sounded like he was struggling to keep the words in and failing.

Even though I’d been expecting this answer, his words still made a hard pit grow in my stomach. I’d never loved Nial, but I’d always considered him a good man and a friend. Now it was clear I meant nothing to him at all. “Why?”

Nial’s head bowed in defeat as he was forced to give in to the dagger’s interrogation. “Andaria has decided to ally with Rodor instead. Once I broke our alliance, I planned to wed Queen Elsap.”

Balsam grabbed the dagger from my hand and gave Nial another gash on his arm. “Did Queen Elsap know about this plot?”

Nial flinched back. “She’s the one who proposed it to me actually. Our marriage will unite Rodor and Andaria and allow us to defeat the growing threat that Mesner poses.”

“Was Ilidan involved at all?” my brother asked.

“No. We wanted you to think Ilidan was behind the assassination. We hoped your two kingdoms would tear each other apart, so that once we conquered Mesner we could take them while they were weakened.”

I plucked the dagger from Balsam’s hand. “Satisfied?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” He crossed his arms and leveled a steely gaze at the prince.

I slid the dagger back into its sheath with a sigh. “You could have simply broken our engagement, Nial.”

He finally met my eyes with a hateful look I’d never seen before. “And you could have married me three years ago instead of delaying endlessly.”

“That’s enough,” Balsam snapped. He gave Nial one last withering glare before gesturing for me to follow him out of the dungeon. I hesitated, trying to find something else to say to Nial, but I simply wanted him out of my sight.

When the dungeon door was locked behind us, Balsam asked, “What am I supposed to do with him? For his crimes he should be executed, but he’s a prince of Andaria. His father could see any punishment as an act of war.”

“I’m not sure. Talk to Fellina and see what she thinks.” She might be able to use her fortune magic to find the best course of action, and if not, she would probably have a good idea of what to do anyway.

“I will.” Balsam rubbed his chin, looking weary. “I need some time to think on this. And I must deal with the Ravens too for agreeing to complete this contract.”

“Let me handle that.”