Page 71 of Her Dark Reflection

‘Princess Gwinellyn is in danger from the same enemy who poisoned her father.’ It wasn’t a lie, I thought grimly. ‘I don’t know who is an enemy and who is a friend to her, so I need her to leave the palace. I need her taken somewhere safe.’

He nodded, a solemn frown turning at his mouth. ‘You need me to escort her?’

I drew in a deep breath. So far so good, but here was the important part. ‘I need more than that from you. I need the enemy to think she isn’t coming back.’ I held his gaze, searching his pale blue eyes for any sign of resistance. This was a huge risk. If he turned on me, I was done for. Milton would cackle with glee as he sentenced me to burn. I shook off the shudder at the thought of being at the mercy of fire again and focused on Cotus, on his kind and devoted face. ‘I need you to take her into the Yawn. I need you to pretend to try to kill her. And I need you to make her believe I ordered you to do so.’

He stared at me with wide, troubled eyes. ‘If she thinks you are trying to kill her… if she thinks I am… we will both lose our heads for it. It’s a dangerous plan.’

I was expecting this exact objection and I had a plan. I cradled my face in my hands, blinking hard until my eyes were glassy. ‘You’re right,’ I cried, my shoulders slumping. ‘It is a terrible plan. I’m sorry I asked it of you, I just didn’t know what else to do.’ I reached out and laid my hand lightly on his forearm. ‘I’m scared, Cotus. I’m so glad you’re here, even if you won’t help me. You know you’ve always made me feel safe.’

His chest puffed up, his shoulders rolling back, and he patted my hand with his own. ‘I didn’t say I wouldn’t help you. Just that it’s dangerous plan,’ he said.

I nodded, my eyelashes fluttering against my cheeks as I glanced down. ‘I just wish I could think of another option. But I’m sure you’ll think of something, won’t you?’ Smiling at him hopefully, I saw his brows pull together, his lips pressing into a tight line as he tried to come up with some idea that would validate my faith in him.

‘Couldn’t you inform the Captain of the Guard and order round the clock protection?’ was what he eventually settled on, because he clearly hadn’t listened to a word I’d said.

I sighed, trying to keep it pretty and sad instead of irritated. ‘I wish I could, but I don’t know who to trust. I fear a greater plot to overthrow the Crown, and there could be any number of people in on the scheme.’ Then I widened my eyes for added drama and glanced at him with a tiny gasp. ‘There was a guard lurking around the night Linus was killed. And following me around the next morning. You don’t think… no, he must have been there for my protection. But just suppose…’ I let the thought trail away, enticing his imagination to fill in the blanks.

‘Maybe you shouldn’t stay here either, Rhiandra. It might not be safe.’

His concern was touching, but inconvenient. ‘If I were to leave, who would discover the plot against Gwinellyn? The risk to me is not so great, really, since I’m only regent. The princess is the one in real danger. We have to protect her. Please, tell me you’ll help me protect her.’

He frowned down at my beseeching face for a few moments, clearly torn.

‘I just need her to be somewhere safe until I can figure out what is going on,’ I pressed.

‘How will she survive in the Yawn?’

I almost had him, I could see it. He just needed to swallow this one last piece of the story. ‘Baba Yaga will help her.’

‘Baba Yaga? The witch?’ He ran a hand through his hair, leaving a dishevelled mess behind. ‘Why would she help? She’d probably eat her.’

‘You know she’s helped girls at the Winking Nymph with women problems.’ I almost rolled my eyes at the light blush that coloured his cheeks. ‘In any case, leave that part to me. Please, Cotus? Will you do as I ask?’

He seemed to be literally chewing over my question, his jaw working away like he had a wad of tobacco in his mouth. ‘If there’s nothing else—’ he began, his words hoarse.

‘There isn’t.’ I took his hands in mine and held his gaze. ‘Please. There is no one else I know who is so clever that they could brave the Yawn. You’re my only hope.’ I touched his cheek lightly, laying it on just a little too thick, but he didn’t seem to mind. ‘Let’s just agree to this so we can talk of other things. I’ve thought of you so often in the past months. I want to know all about what you’ve been doing. In fact, once Gwinellyn is safe, wouldn’t you like to come and work for me here at the palace? Having you close at hand would give me so much comfort.’

And little by little, I ground him down. I sold him gilded promises of a life as a member of my personal guard, implying just enough of a relationship that could extend beyond the professional to keep his colour high and his gaze shifting. By the time I was done with him, my favour was so tangled up in this new dream he’d never thought to reach for that he was no longer sure of what exactly he was agreeing to. Was it bribery? Of course it was, but a greedy man wouldn’t label it that way. No need for such a blight on his conscience.

And it was bribery for a good cause, after all.

He agreed to return with the morning with his belongings in tow. He had wanted to give Madame Luzel his notice so she would have time to hire on someone new, but I wanted him to disappear in the night. There was enough risk already in me making this connection with my old life. Not everyone would be so easily fooled as Cotus.

All that was left for me to do was to invite Gwinellyn for dinner.

The way Gwinellyn twisted her napkin was driving me to distraction. The girl was the heir to a kingdom, and she looked as though she would bow down to a rabbit, all knotted up with anxiety as she was. I drummed my fingers on the tabletop as I watched her smile at the footman who served her meal, unaccountably irritated. She wasn’t cut out to rule. Surely, I was doing both her and Brimordia a favour by getting her out of the way.

‘It looks so different in here,’ she said quietly. Twist, twist, twist.

‘Would you have preferred I live in a shrine?’ I snapped.

‘No, I didn’t mean that at all.’ She blinked at me in wide-eyed confusion and I gritted my teeth against a tirade of angry words that wanted to pour from me. Words of irritation. Resentment.

Guilt.

I stood up and sauntered over to the side table to pour myself a glass of wine, which I swallowed in a few gulps before pouring myself another.

‘Is anything the matter?’ Gwin’s voice was small, apologetic. ‘Have I done something wrong?’

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