Page 82 of Rise of the Vicious Princess

Lord Palmer shot a look at Severin and then said in a hushed voice, “Lady Merryfin isn’t here to tell you in person, but I know she supports you as well. And though her lands haven’t received as much damage from the Montevallians, being farther south on the coast than Ebbington, she has concerns that have nothing to do with the peace treaty.”

“Speak freely.”

“There are . . . strange things happening along the coast, Your Highness,” Lord Palmer said. “Noises at night that sound like a woman screaming or crying. And rattling sounds, as though dry twigs are being shaken by the wind, though it all seems to come from the water.”

A chill chased itself across Charis’s skin, and it took effort not to rub at the goose bumps rising on her arms. She knew that sound. She’d heard it once from aboard the ship.

“That’s strange enough, but then there are the bodies.” Lord Palmer tugged at his tea coat as though the subject made him uncomfortable.

“What bodies?” Charis asked.

“Lady Merryfin says bodies have started washing ashore. A few one day, one the next, then nothing for a week straight only to find yet another pair. All sailors, I suppose, though by the time they reach the shore, they’re disfigured and decaying, so her guards have a hard time knowing for certain.”

“Perhaps a ship sank in the area and some of the sailors are being brought to shore,” Charis said.

“Perhaps, but . . .” Lord Palmer tugged more insistently on his coat, and Lord Severin took over.

“The bodies are all on the shores of Portsmith, Your Highness.” His brown eyes held hers. “It’s a small, mostly abandoned fishing town with a very narrow harbor. Inhospitable to bigger ships and certainly not a place any merchant has used for decades. Of course, Lady Merryfin doesn’t have a guard presence there, so most of the reports are brought in by palloren. She’s only sent one group to the town to investigate, but still, given the attacks our ships have suffered at sea, she’s concerned that the threat is close to her lands.”

“Portsmith.” Charis’s thoughts raced as fast as her pulse. Portsmith’s harbor couldn’t manage large frigates, but perhaps whoever was sinking Calera’s ships also had a smaller attack vessel. One that would be faster, harder to see, and easier to hide.

It didn’t explain the strange sounds coming from beneath the water, but Charis would worry about that later. The most pressing issue was to visit Portsmith herself with her crew under the cover of darkness and see if an enemy fleet was using it or the large caves that lined the northern shore as cover.

By the time the tea was over and the crowd was moving toward the dining room, Charis had spoken with every northern landowner, planted a rumor with Lady Shawling that the queen had received overwhelming support for both the peace treaty and her reign from their allies at sea, and had quelled several impertinent matrons who’d openly speculated that having a Montevallian in the palace would be the ruin of Calera.

Fools.

The ruin of Calera would be the continuation of a war they’d long ago proven they could not win. But then, Charis supposed it was easy to say such nonsense when the war had never cost your family anything but increased taxes. Let those matrons spend a few weeks in the north, sifting through the burnt rubble of homes for bodies of children or staring at warehouses nearly empty of grain as winter swiftly approached and see what they had to say about ruin then.

She paused by the ladies’ parlor, Reuben and Elsbet at her back.

“What can I get for you, Your Highness?” a plump woman with bright brown eyes and a wide smile asked as she curtsied from the doorway, her starched gray uniform gleaming in the light of the oil lamps that had been lit along the hallway.

“My guard Tal, if you please. And my mother’s maid so I can freshen up.”

The woman nodded and entered the room. A moment later, she was back, a slight frown marring her forehead. “I apologize, Your Highness, but your guard isn’t here at the moment, and the maid is with the queen. If there’s something I can do for you, I’d be happy to assist. I have powders, combs, mints, and an assortment of fragrances for you to choose from if you’d like.”

Charis stared at the woman in silence, her thoughts spinning.

Where had Tal gone? Had he overheard something that was concerning enough that he’d decided he needed to investigate it further? And how would he even do that here, unless whatever he’d overheard had something to do with the Everlys?

“Good afternoon, Your Highness,” a quiet, calm voice said from Charis’s left.

Charis turned to find Lady Channing and her maid, Leeya, a woman old enough to be Charis’s mother who’d been at Lady Channing’s side for as long as Charis could remember.

“Where did Tal go?” Reuben asked close to Charis’s ear.

The last thing she needed was for Reuben to take it upon himself to go hunting for Tal. She didn’t trust him while she was present to keep him in check. Having him confront Tal without her was a recipe for disaster, though she was pretty sure the one who’d come out the worse for wear was Reuben.

“Chamber pot,” Charis said cheerfully. “Reuben, please go do a check of the dining room.”

Lady Channing stepped to Charis’s side, neatly cutting off Reuben’s attempts to whisper something else to the princess, and said, “Perhaps I can be of service? I have plenty of toiletry items left in my bag.”

Charis moved away from the doorway of the ladies’ parlor but stopped before they reached one of the private chambers near the end of the hall. She couldn’t go inside without taking her eyes off Reuben, and she needed to see that Tal returned safely before then.

If Lady Channing thought it strange that the princess showed no inclination to step inside a private room to freshen up, she didn’t show it. Instead, she nodded to Leeya, who scooped out a glass container of finely ground rice powder and a clean sponge. Reuben passed them on his way to do a check of the dining room, and Elsbet positioned herself just to Charis’s left.

As Charis stood still, allowing Leeya to press the powder against her forehead and nose, Lady Channing said softly, “How did tea go? I expect there were some people who feel unhappy with the peace treaty’s terms.”

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