Page 136 of The Shadows Between Us
That person is not the Kallias I know.
I have at least three more hours in the carriage to go, so I try to get comfortable, letting my legs rest against the opposite seat.
He can’t do this to me. To us.
We were perfect together. We were made for each other. As rulers. As lovers. There is no reason why we shouldn’t be together.
My hands close into fists. I have to make him see it. I have to convince him. But is it worth the risk of my own life? He swore he’d kill me himself if I returned.
How could I convince him I meant him no harm? How can I convince him I want the life he carved for us?
My shoulders loosen and my hands fall open. A new wave of pain hits me as I see Kallias’s ring on my finger, but then my eyes catch on something below it.
“Ugh.” A spot of dirt smudges the lower part of my hand. I attempt to rub it on the seat of the carriage. Kallias’s carriage.
It doesn’t come off.
I take a knuckle to it, and when that also doesn’t work, I wet a finger with my tongue and rub at it.
But it won’t come off.
Hesitantly, I lower my nose and sniff.
That aroma from before, the one mixed with Leandros’s roses, wafts gently toward me.
I know this smell. How do I know this smell?
My hands. They were in Leandros’s hair while I kissed him.
Yes, hair! There is a product used in the dying of ladies’ hair. It smells just like this.
But why would Leandros dye his hair?
As I sit there, I remember Lady Zervas’s insistence that she is innocent, that she’ll be freed when the real killer shows themselves.
Vasco is guilty. Of that I’m certain, but could he have roped his nephew into helping him?
No, Leandros would never. Why would he? He was Kallias’s friend. He came to court after the death of Kallias’s brother. Why should Leandros have any motive to harm the king?
But then I remember how he insisted I would be back in the palace soon and by his side. Still, why should he want to harm Kallias?
I stare down at the spot on my hand.
He came to court after the death of Kallias’s brother.
When Kallias and I went to the gentleman’s club in disguise, I’d noticed how Kallias looked so much like Leandros with the lighter hair.
What would Leandros have to gain from harming Kallias, unless…
Devils!
“Turn the carriage around!” I scream the words, and the carriage comes to a severe halt. I’m almost thrown onto the opposite seat.
“My lady?” the coachman asks.
“The king’s life is in peril. We must turn around at once.”
“I’m—I’m to take you away. King’s orders.”
