Page 43 of The Queen The Fae Forgot
Of course, he’d said no such thing and I had no such plan. The very last person I wanted to see right now was Shiel, but something about the scroll had seemed off. I couldn’t quite place it, but it nagged at me in a way that refused to be forgotten.
For a second, he almost looked like he was going to relent. I took advantage of that.
“What’s your name, again?” I asked, before he could deny me.
The question made him stumble over his words. It took him a second to answer.
“Newt.”
“Newt,” I repeated, cocking my head to the side as I batted my eyelashes, hoping I looked coquettish and not absolutely insane. “You’ve been working hard, looking for those scrolls. You look like you haven’t slept a wink since I last saw you.”
His mouth dropped open slightly and he struggled again to reply.
“I haven’t actually,” he admitted, shifting the papers in his arms. He let out a loud sigh and I could see the exhaustion etched on his face. “I’ve been running all over the castle trying to track them down. But they’re important, and I can’t let them fall into the wrong hands.”
“Exactly,” I agreed, holding out my hand. “I’ll deliver them straight to Shiel.”
He looked up at me, again then, the confusion clearing away slightly. “I’m not sure it’s wise for you to be asking to see them.”
“I thought you said they were standard reports.”
His brow furrowed, the confusion replaced with suspicion.
“It’s not my place to say,” he said, his voice growing firmer. “But I think it would be best if you left these be and went back to your lessons.”
I could feel my frustration mounting.
“I don’t want to go back to my lessons,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “I want answers.”
Newt looked at me skeptically. “What kind of answers?”
“The kind that explain what’s really going on here,” I said, my voice growing louder. I leaned in toward him. “The kind you might be able to give me.”
Newt’s expression softened, and for a second, I saw a brief clarity in his eyes. “I understand,” he said, his voice gentle. “But I don’t think these letters are going to give you the answers you’re looking for. Only the queen and her tutors know that, really.”
“Tutors?”
As quick as that clarity was there, it was gone.
“Advisors,” he said, but he hesitated before continuing, that cloud of confusion my returning stronger than before, if only for a moment. “I need to be going. I don’t want to be responsible for putting thoughts in your head. You shouldn’t be asking these kinds of questions.”
He drew back from me, and I knew he was lost to me.
I patted his arm once more, watching as that blush deepened again. He looked pleased with himself as he strode away, his scrolls intact. Little did he know he’d given me all I needed to know, anyway.
Maybe fate was on my side after all, if only for today.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
If the queenwasn’t going to play fair, then neither was I.
“Phina, I didn’t know you were one of the queen’s advisors.”
My tutor turned on her heel in surprise, the relief on her face short lived as she took in my own expression.
It was a half-cocked guess, a slip of Newt’s tongue, but the moment I saw the shift in Phina’s own face, I knew I’d guessed right.
That explained why she’d been chosen as my tutor. She was a horrible tutor. Hopefully she made a better advisor.
