Page 150 of A Vow of Embers

She raised her eyebrows at me. “I heard something the other day from two of Erisa’s personal attendants. They had spoken of gifts she planned to give some of the archons on the council. I didn’t think anything of it then.”

Bribes. Erisa was going to use the wealth she’d stolen from Locris to buy her son’s way into the kingship. I saw that my sister had come to the same conclusion. “If we knew where she was storing the tariff, if we could take it from her ...”

Quynh nodded. “Excellent idea. Thrax and I will look for it, and I will let you know when we find it.”

“That wasn’t what I meant—”

“After I heard about the attack on you here in your rooms, I can’t tell you how helpless and useless I felt,” she said as she took my hands in hers. “But now I can do things that will help. And I’m going tofind where she keeps the Locrian tariff. I should go before anyone gets suspicious.”

I wanted to call her back. To tell her not to do this. I would find where the money was being kept myself. She couldn’t keep putting herself at risk.

Before I could say anything, the door opened again and Xander came into the room. She nodded at him before leaving.

My heart rose at seeing him again and I told myself to stop it.

When we were alone, our door closed, I said, “What did the attempted poisoner say?”

If he was surprised that I already knew about it, he didn’t show it. “He said nothing. He had a small vial of poison in his mouth and cracked it open with his teeth and died before I got there.”

I let out a breath of exasperation. He seemed equally annoyed at having lost a chance to question the man.

“So your plan to keep me locked up is not working. They can still get at me.”

He crossed his arms and stared down at me. “I thought we already established last night that you didn’t plan to be kept here any longer. This was the last meal that will be brought to you. You’re free to go where you wish. I shouldn’t have locked you in here. I ... apologize.”

“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say to that. I knew it hadn’t been easy for him to say.

“I told the matron that you were feeling better, and I just dismissed the guards outside our room and the ones at Io’s door.”

Should I thank him? That seemed strange, considering he was the reason I’d been kept here in the first place.

He added, “The guards have served their purpose. Especially when they heard us last night.”

“When we were fighting?” I asked. “Wouldn’t that be a bad thing? It doesn’t sell your ruse very well.”

He leaned down to take a couple of grapes off my tray. “It does when the yelling turns to moaning. Fighting that ends up leading to passion will continue to make everyone think that we are happy.”

Thrax chose the worst possible time to knock on our door. He announced himself and Xander told him to enter. I gripped my blankets tightly.

“May I speak with you, Princess Thalia?” Thrax asked.

“Is this your doing?” I asked the prince.

He popped the grapes into his mouth. “It wasn’t me.”

“Quynh asked me to come and apologize to you. To apologize for ...” He took in a big breath and loudly exhaled. “For falsely accusing you of trying to hurt Xander. And for pointing my sword at you. I shouldn’t have done that. I would like for things to be better between us.”

“She’s the one who brought the princess her tray this morning,” Xander said to him unnecessarily. Was he taking pleasure in this?

“That’s how Quynh is. Always taking care of others. She deserves to be taken care of, too,” Thrax responded.

“Of course she does!” I snapped back.

“She’s putting herself at risk for you. You should tell her to stop,” he said.

As if I weren’t already upset? I wanted her to stop but knew she wouldn’t.

“She won’t. Her mind is made up,” I said.

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