Page 170 of A Touch of Poison
If I could make her believe we were more useful alive, that might buy us some time. But that was our only hope.
“Now, how did you find out about that?” Sura canted her head at Kat. “This is another reason to wait—I need more spies in the palace.”
More. Meaning she already had at least one. I bowed my head to hide my reaction. She must not realise how much information she was letting slip. She had been away from court for fifteen years, surrounded only by those she trusted. She was out of practice.
“Regardless”—she shrugged—“the split system is broken.”
“Why not marry Prince Cyrus, then? Rule together.”
Sura wrinkled her nose. “It had crossed my mind—a long, long time ago. But you’ve met the Day Prince. You understand why that’s not my preferred plan. Besides, there should be only one monarch. One queen. One court. One nation, together.”
Exactly the instability I feared Dawn causing with the Circle.
“Only one queen, but three heads.” I nodded towards the banner hanging behind her table, the hydra’s eyes picked out in gold thread.
She sucked in her cheeks and looked away. “How well do you really know the queen you serve, Bastian?”
Deflecting.
I raised an eyebrow, refusing to take her bait. She wanted to sow a seed in my mind, make me wonder what she might be referring to. She really was out of practice if she thought that would work on me.
“Do you understand the lengths she’d go to in order to protect herself?”
“She protectsDusk.”
Brow set in a determined line, Kat leant forward. “Are you going to just hint that she’s done something terrible or actually tell us what it is?”
“There isn’t anything,” I gritted out. “She’s trying to change the subject.”
“You wouldn’t believe me. Even if I tookarianmêl, you’d say I was evading the truth.” The princess gave a humourless laugh. “Ask your father if you really want to know.”
More bluffing.
She rolled her eyes at me. “Stars above, are you predictable. Loyal to the queen. ‘She elevated me to her second in command, and all I had to do was kill my father.’ It’s so boring.”
Trying to make me angry. Almost succeeding. Maybe she was warming up.
“Since you went to such trouble to save Kat’s life, I assume you’re not going to execute us right this second. What do you want? If you get on with it, I can stop boring you.”
“I haven’t decided what to do with you two. Execution isn’t off the table yet.” She smiled sweetly. “But for now, I’ll take a bargain. My guards will take you to your room and remove your manacles. In return you and Katherine will not in any way harm me or my people for the duration of your stay.”
She’d already threatened Kat’s life if we made an escape attempt. Perhaps she didn’t trust me not to take that risk. It had crossed my mind—there had to be a way we could get out and keep her safe from the archers.
Still, bound in iron, I would only grow weaker and weaker. At least this way, I stood a chance of recovering while in our room. She had to mean cell, but I supposed this way it would be a “fun surprise” for us when we arrived.
“No manacles, no one hurts Kat,andwe get a nice suite with a bed and bath—something fitting of a diplomat from Dusk.”
“No one hurts her as long as you don’t attempt to escape or unless I decide on execution. That’s non-negotiable. You want a bath, you’ll have one room. There are no spare suites.” She shrugged. “But ‘nice’ I can do.”
“You have yourself a bargain.” I raised my eyebrows at Kat, since she would be bound to it, too.
“And no one hurts Bastian.”
Sura rolled her eyes. “If it wasn’t so sickening, it would be sweet. But yes, fine. Happy now?”
It wasn’t going to get any better than that, and I intended to escape before they had a chance to execute us.
We agreed, and the princess and I sealed our sides of the bargain. Kat flinched away when she went to touch her.
