Page 132 of A Tongue so Sweet and Deadly

“Ask him what King Rioner wants to know,” Merrick ordered as he made his way to them.

Lessia stiffened. “No. This is enough.”

Merrick stepped up behind her, placing a warm hand on her shoulder. “He ordered you to. This is the best chance we’ll get, Lessia.”

“No! I can’t do this.”

Merrick’s hand brushed her arm, but she found no comfort in it.

“You don’t have a choice. You’ll fulfill his orders if you do this. Think about what you have to lose. If you don’t care for your own life, think of your friends.”

Lessia stared up into the gray clouds above her, only seeing Amalise’s and Ardow’s faces before her eyes.

Drawing a shaky breath, she opened her mouth, clasping at her chest when it seemed to cave in on her. “What do you know of the attacks in Havlands?”

A dry sob left her throat as the words tumbled out.

Loche’s voice was monotone as he spoke. “They’re retaliation for what I did.”

She blinked but couldn’t stop herself from asking, “What did you do?”

“Betrayed the people who helped me become regent.”

“What… what do you mean?”

Not a muscle moved in Loche’s face. “Everyone thinks it’sa miracle the lowly bastard rose so quickly in the ranks and then was able to win the election. It wasn’t. I was offered money for my campaign and information that allowed me to blackmail the nobles into voting for me. All in exchange for them having a say in how Ellow should be ruled. But I’m not someone you can control. I took the money and information, won, and then stopped all correspondence with them. I want what’s best for Ellow, and those people are not it. They’ve been attacking me and my men ever since then, trying to get me to fall back in line.”

Her stomach dropped.

She’d thought it strange he had been able to get as far as he had, but after getting to know him…

She’d thought she’d understood why.

This, though…

This was information her king really shouldn’t have.

“Who are they?” Merrick asked behind her.

“I don’t know.” Loche continued to stare blankly into her eyes. “I’ve never met them. We communicated through letters.”

“Enough!” Lessia cried.

She couldn’t hear more.

She didn’t want to hear more.

Not like this.

Not when she would have to relay this word for word to King Rioner.

As she forced her magic down, Merrick let out a grunt behind her, and she was about to snarl at him when his hand dropped from her shoulder and he fell to his knees with a thud.

Pulse thundering in her ears, she tore her eyes from Loche, slamming into dark ones under a hood. Pulling the cowl back, the man spat on Merrick’s body as it crumpled to the ground.

“Traitor,” he hissed, raising the sword again and angling it to Merrick’s heart.

Blood dripped from the sword, pooling on the ground beneath the Fae, and a mirrored crimson hue filled her vision. Anger like she’d never felt before overwhelmed her, and without thinking, Lessia lifted the dagger she still held on to.

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