Page 79 of Return of the Vengeful Quee

“Hurry!” he mouthed, pointing at the end of the corridor where the Rakuuna patrol would soon be making their rounds.

Charis looked at the floor as though being careful not to slip in her wet boots as she walked past Ferris. It was that or spit her fury in his face.

“You’re back.” Reuben shot off the couch, his face pale and weary.

“We’re fine,” Tal said softly. “Get some sleep.”

“Shouldn’t we talk about what you learned from Ollen and Thorsby tonight?” Ferris asked.

Charis nodded. “Of course. But the patrol might hear us speaking, and we’re all exhausted. Get some sleep. We’ll speak about it tomorrow.”

She managed to make eye contact with him and smile, though it turned her stomach to do so.

Ferris left, Reuben settled onto the couch and began dozing, and Holland wandered into his room and shut the door. Charis walked to her room, Tal behind her, and turned as he quietly closed the door behind him.

“We have a problem,” she said the instant the door clicked shut.

“What’s wrong?” He moved closer. “Something’s been off with you since we left the bakery.”

“I overheard Ferris call Mason by the name Bartho.” Her voice shook, and she sank slowly onto the chair that rested in front of the vanity.

Tal stared at her in silence for a long moment, his eyes dark, his jaw tight. Finally, in a voice she barely recognized, he said, “Stay right here. I’m going to go beat the truth out of Ferris.”

Twenty-Eight

“YOU CAN’T GO pick a fight with Ferris,” Charis said firmly.

“Watch me,” Tal snarled, turning toward the door.

“Wait!” She scrambled to her feet. “What if I’m wrong?”

“Are you?” He held her gaze, fury in his eyes.

Slowly she shook her head. “No.”

“Then I’ll be back here momentarily with a bloodied and beaten Ferris. In fact, I think I’ll invite Holland and Reuben to the party, and we’ll make sure Lord Everly gets his due as well.” He grabbed the doorknob.

She threw herself between him and the door. “No.”

“Charis.” He looked at the ceiling as if searching for patience and then tipped his head down to meet her eyes. “That man hired the assassin who shot an arrow at your heart. And you were poisoned, remember? At the Everlys’ house! It must have been his voice I heard saying to put poison in your dinner in case you hadn’t already ingested enough from your drink.”

“I know.”

“That means the Everlys must have been working with Lady Channing all along.”

She sagged against the door as the true weight of the Everlys’ treachery sank in.

“And that means they’re traitors who tried to kill you. Repeatedly.” His voice shook. “I told you I never wanted to see you slip away from me again like you did on the floor of the Everlys’ dining room, and now I know who to blame. You aren’t going to stop me from giving them exactly what they deserve.”

“I have to.” The words scraped over her tongue, bitter and raw. She was so furious she wanted to tear the Everlys apart piece by piece until there was nothing left, but a chess match wasn’t won with emotion.

“Why?” He placed his hands against the door on either side of her and leaned close. “If they were working with Lady Channing, then they were working with the Rakuuna from the start. Which means Father isn’t the one who wants all four heirs here for the wedding. The Everlys do. Those rumors about you?” His breath fanned her face, and she caught a whiff of black tea and peppermint. “I’d bet every drop of blood in my body the Everlys started them. They can’t just kill you, Holland, and Nalani. They have to discredit you first so that Calerans accept Ferris as their king.”

“I know,” she whispered.

“Then why protect them?” He went still, his eyes boring into hers. “Is this about us? It is, isn’t it? You don’t trust my motives, or my will to do what’s necessary, or—”

“It’s not that.” She waited for a twinge of pain from the wound he’d given her, but somewhere along the way, it had knit itself back together, and the scar tissue held.

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