Page 22 of A Touch of Poison
“Kat.”
She flicked her fingers dismissively before cupping my cheek. “—Katis not only under your protection butmine. She’ll have a lovely time, I’m sure of it. Happy?”
“Ecstatic.”
Hand sinking, she huffed out through her nose. “Fine, sarcasm will do.” She swept over to the bed with a yawn. “You’re lucky. Most queens wouldn’t indulge you as I do, you know.”
“I know. And I’m eternally grateful.”
That also wasn’t a lie. She alone was responsible for putting me in this position. Not just living in the palace with all its benefits, but in a role where I could hold so many strings—strings that held our two courts in balance and kept everything under control.
“I’m the one who should be grateful to you.” A sadness flickered at the edges of her smile, and I wondered if she thought of the daughter I’d killed for her.
If I dwelled on it, I could feel her blood on my hands—royalblood—mingling with my father’s. I could hear the thud of her head landing on the throne room floor and rolling, the collective gasp in response. I could smell her fear before I’d struck—so overwhelming it had blotted out every other scent.
That was why I didn’t dwell on it.
Instead, I watched the queen I’d given so much to as she smoothed a lightly scented oil into her bronze skin. “Have you made any progress with your investigations into the changeling?” she asked, not looking up from the floating hand-mirror.
“I have a few threads I’m pulling at, but the Hydra Ascendant business is taking up most of my time. Kat was able to give me some useful information about unCavendish, though, and—”
“Un-what?”
“UnCavendish. That’s her name for the changeling.”
Braea’s eyebrow rose, sharp as a blade. “Is it, now?”
Even in small ways like this, Kat’s influence had crept under my skin. As sweet and sharp and insidious as her poison.
Despite the sting when I gave her that first touch of the day, I would gladly lick the stuff from her fingers and beg her for more. Fuck antidotes. Fuck everything else. Fuck—
Good gods, Bastian. Control yourself.
I swallowed down the rising madness and cleared my throat. “She’s been very helpful. It’s just a shame she burned the note I recovered from their spies.” Decoding it would’ve given us information about what Dawn had really been up to in Lunden. It wasn’t as though Caelus had made any real attempts to woo the human queen.
“Hmm.” Braea’s expression soured. “I suppose there’s nothing we can do about that. Now—”
She yawned, wide and uncontrolled. The dressing screen showed the brightest point of night, moments from the sun breaking the horizon.
“It’s time.”
She grumbled and hunkered down in the bed, her mirror landing on the side table. “Of course it is. I’ve only been doing this for centuries.” Another yawn smothered the end of her sentence. “Good morning.” She waved me away.
“Good morning, Your Majesty.”
When I reached the door, seconds from dawn, her voice drifted over. “Thank you, Bastian. For all you sacrifice for my court. It doesn’t go unnoticed.”
I paused in the doorway, a tightness in my chest, but she didn’t say anything more.
On the dressing screen, day had broken.
9
Kat
It had started off as all my evenings in Elfhame had: reading and drinking. But I’d run out of books, so now I was just drinking.
It didn’t dull the pain of my loneliness though.
