Page 18 of Faeling
For some reason, his greeting made Ulrich’s eye twitch. Still, his friend was nothing if not a stickler for protocol and quickly regained his composure, bowing his head. “My king.”
“Drink?”
“No, my king, but thank you.”
Vallek arched a brow. “Well, out with it. What have you to say?”
Ulrich’s lips thinned between his tusks in the way they did whenever he was about to tell Vallek something he didn’t want to hear.
“I am newly returned from the wall, my king. I received word that the soothsayer left through the eastern gate late this morning.”
Vallek set down his goblet, the wine in his belly turning acidic. “Where is she now?”
“She’s returned to her chamber.”
He nodded, not quite understanding where his second was going with this information. “And is this the first time she’s left the city?”
“No, my king. She seems to venture outside every few days.”
“And what did she have to say about her adventures?”
A sneer twisted Ulrich’s lips, an expression Vallek found disturbing. His second was usually so composed and matter-of-fact, so to see such a venomous look alarmed him.
“Nothing of use, of course. She’s slippery, never giving a straight answer.”
Vallek made a noncommittal noise in his throat. He wasn’t surprised, given how little the soothsayer liked his second. For whatever reason, the two of them had never liked each other. Vallek didn’t require his friends and allies to like each other, but they did have to work toward their common goal. If that was compromised by rivalry or enmity, then it became his problem.
Considering his second carefully, he asked, “What is it you suspect her of?”
Face pinched, Ulrich admitted, “I don’t know yet, my king. But there is something about her I mistrust.” Straightening, he met Vallek’s gaze gravely. “I ask for your permission to question her further and again send inquiries to our contacts in the border villages about her.”
His immediate instinct was to deny the request. The rejection clamored in his throat, far more vehement than it had any right to be. Ulrich’s reasoning was sound—it had always been Vallek who’d been less careful about the soothsayer. Anyone else would have required far more inquiries into her background to be allowed so close to him.
That wasn’t to say Ulrich hadn’t already made such inquiries. He had—and found nothing. Suspiciously nothing.
Eydis too had sussed out what she could about the human seer and gotten just as far. Yet, she’d never harbored any great suspicions about her.“I like her well enough,”she’d once said,“and if she meant you any harm, we would have found out by now.”
So Vallek had grown complacent, choosing to ignore any possibility that his soothsayer was anything but a kindly human woman in his service.
He liked her.
That was the root of it.
But, as he should well know by now, fondness and affection couldn’t supersede caution and good sense for a king.
“You truly think she’s a threat to me?”
Likely sensing hesitation where there hadn’t been before, Ulrich’s eyes gleamed, and he stepped forward, nodding zealously. “I cannot yet say whether she’s a true threat, but there is much she hasn’t told us. We must know if anything in her pastcould pose a danger to you.”
Again, Vallek wished to tell Ulrich no. To leave it alone.
And yet, he couldn’t get the previous night from his head.No, I don’t see your bride.
How could she not see? Or why did she choose not to look? His beast wouldn’t let him believe he was destined to occupy his throne and bed alone forever, and neither did his mind. The position of queen, of ruling beside him, was perhaps the single most influential political tool he had, and he couldn’t afford to waste it.
So why didn’t she see?
“You may ask her more questions and look further into the matter,” he said. “But you will do so discreetly and with all due respect.”
