Page 61 of Thorns & Fire
It took Torj a moment to move past the fact that he was in the galley of a ship peeling potatoes with the man who’d once been theworstshieldbearer at Thezmarr, asking for help.‘There are a few things I don’t understand, that I need to piece together.’
‘Just a few?’Kipp tossed a potato into the massive pot at his feet, unnecessarily splashing water everywhere.The look on Torj’s face had him raising his peeler in surrender.‘Alright, alright!Are you going to tell me what you found in the private study last night?Before the dashing Lord Devereux spoiled all our evenings?’
‘How’d he spoil yours?’Torj asked.
‘A matter that’s neither here nor there.’
Torj ignored this.‘He was there, right outside the study.Like he knew to expect us, like he knew we were after something.’
‘Interesting,’ Kipp said.
‘I thought so,’ Torj agreed.‘Which makes me think that we didn’t find anything he didn’t want us to find...’
‘Which was?’
‘Nothing that Farissa detailed to me.But there was a binder containing all the ancestry of the royal families, dating back centuries.And an ornament of a gold leaf – a laurel, Wren said.’
‘Riveting,’ Kipp mused.
‘They were hidden in a drawer with a false bottom,’ Torj added.
Kipp paused.‘Well that makes things interesting at least.’
‘So you think these thingsarerelevant?Are they proof that there’s a spy at Drevenor?’
Kipp made a non-committal noise.‘I’m not saying anything at the moment.’
‘If there is, it’s Darian fucking Devereux,’ Torj said.
‘And you think Devereux – what?Planted these items there in the hopes that a Warsword would somehow find them and come to all the conclusions he intended?’
‘All I know is this...If there is power to be taken, Darian will take it.’
‘You really hate the man, don’t you?’Kipp observed.‘I do however, feel it’s my responsibility to check...’
‘What?’
‘That you’re not just jealous,’ Kipp supplied.
Torj cut him a warning look.‘You’re telling me that Kristopher Snowden, chief strategist of the shadow war, the man who’s so well-connected he could get a tankard of sour mead in a desert, doesn’t know about the Devereux family?’
Kipp offered a sly smile.‘Oh, Iabsolutelyknow about the Lords of Larkwood Valley, and all their dirty deeds.Doesn’t change my question, though.’
‘Piss off, Snowden,’ Torj snapped.‘I don’t want to talk about Wren.’It hurt just to say her name.
‘Ah, yes, the king and queen of not talking about it.’
‘As opposed to you, who wants to talk about everything under the damn sun?’Torj shot back.He unclenched his jaw.‘Have you heard from Cal?’he asked instead.
Kipp gave a nod of confirmation.‘Just before we left Drevenor he sent a raven from Ciraun.He introduced Zavier to Talemir and the shadow-touched folk who’ve been running the capital in his absence.’
‘Did he say how they took the return of their heir?’
Finished peeling his last potato, Kipp jumped down from the bench and helped himself to a cask of wine on one of the far shelves.‘The response was mixed, from what I gather, as was to be expected.But as thick as Cal can be sometimes, he’s not quite stupid enough to put too much detail into a message that could be intercepted.’
Torj supposed that was as much information as he was going to get.‘What are you doing down here, anyway?It’s unlike you to hide yourself away.’
‘Ah,’ Kipp said sheepishly.‘Imayhave made a comment about the captain’s daughter that he did not appreciate—’
