Page 79 of Set in Darkness
Being who he was, Leander had two advantages when it came to stuff like this. He was an Aesthesic. But, more importantly, he was the God of Lies. Now, with his divinity stripped, he could not know for certain if someone was lying, but he had good insight into what led a man to lie, and what it looked like.
This man, he innately knew, was lying.
On some level.
He reached out to lightly probe at Haldon’s mind and was not surprised to find that the lord had been trained to protect it: there were the barriers. Yet, he was relatively unhinderedin his attempt to enter Haldon’s thoughts, slipping through the cracks of a poorly conceived mental defence around his mind… and he touched lightly at the surface thoughts. He didn’t like what he saw and decided to dig a little deeper.
In his rush to learn the truth, Leander had completely forgotten about Taskevi’s warning against meddling in the affairs of mortals, especially this war. He was too incensed at the idea that Haldon thought he would betray Jarryn to Nevari. He was overly concerned about what Haldon thought was a reasonable request to ask of a near stranger, demigod or no.
The problem was that Leander was not a demigod anymore. He was mortal and was invested in this war on a personal level now.
He remembered what his brothers had said at dinner a few weeks ago. This was the man who had been the most vocal about Jarryn’s presence in the city. And Leander was sure, suddenly, that there was more to it.
He tried to tread lightly as he probed lightly initially, though he knew he wouldn’t find anything on the surface. He had to go deeper.
The thing with arcana was that it had a mind of his own. Only the truly gifted could really control it, and Leander wasn’t one of those people, not yet at least. Venser had taught him what he could, but it was not enough for the naïve, youthful demigod to use Aesthesia without being detected sometimes by others, even those who did not have the gift.
He watched in his mind’s eye as Haldon first recognised there was a presence that wasn’t his own within his mind,and Leander was too slow to withdraw the tendrils of his conscience.
Haldon laughed, a breathless sound that hinted at more than just annoyance. He pushed himself to stand, leaning forward and towering over Leander as he did so.
“Oops,” Haldon hummed the syllable with elongated emphasis.
Leander remained seated, brown eyes following the myriad of expressions passing over Haldon’s face as he breathed heavily.
The purr of his voice was thick with threat. “Looks like it’s more than just a horse race you’ve lost at today, you foolish little boy.”
“What’s going on? Wester? Leo?” Lucien had returned from placing his bet and was glancing between the two of them, immediately recognising the threat the larger man was exuding when facing off Leander.
“This little disgrace…” Haldon trailed off, lips curling upwards in distaste.
“Leander?” Lucien’s voice caused Leander to drag his gaze away from the imposing man above him to meet Lucien’s concerned expression. He said nothing.
“Someone had better explain or?—”
“He used Aesthesia,” Haldon boomed, his voice carrying so that more than just the courtiers in the vicinity heard. “On me. Trying to sneak in and find out what I know about the defence of this kingdom.”
Lucien’s gaze flashed back to Leander. “Is this true?” he whispered.
Leander said nothing, did nothing.
“The God of Lies will not give you a straight answer, he knows nothing but betrayal in his heart, Your Highness.”
“Enough, Lord Haldon,” Lucien silenced Haldon, his gaze never leaving Leander’s face. “Leander, espionage against members of King Caisa’s government, against this kingdom’s interests and assets is a capital crime. I need to know the truth. Did you use Aesthesia on Lord Wester Haldon?”
Leander stood up, straightened out his silver and blue brocade waistcoat and pushed past Haldon to stand before Prince Lucien. “He’s not wrong. You would be wrong to trust the God of Lies, Your Highness,” he muttered, refusing to look Lucien in the eye, “but I would be derelict in my duty to you if I didn’t inform you that those whom you think are closest to you are not your friends. You are surrounded by some very well paid liars. I don’t know who, but they are not all on your side. You should be wary of who you trust, Lucien.”
He glanced briefly back at Haldon before turning and walking away from the group. Courtiers shifted to the side, having watched the entire debacle unfold with rapt, unashamed attention.
He needed to find Verin. Or… better yet, Venser. They needed to know what Leander had just uncovered in Wester Haldon’s mind. Haldon was right: Vyrica had no hope of winning this war, not unless they knew the truth.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The hunt for Venser should not have taken long. Leander had immediately made his way to the barracks, where his brother was usually occupied with his recruits. But, after a few soldiers trying to stop him from reaching his quarry, Leander had had to throw the weight of his name around. Demigod, lordling, it didn’t matter, one of them got him through the door and a step closer to the salvation he hoped he would find in his brother.
As the sun began to set, Venser was in the training ground, watching the footwork of one of his new recruits, and Leander skirted the edge of the yard to avoid being hit by a wayward wooden—fake yet still dangerous—sword.
“Venser!” Leander shouted as he neared, grabbing the Commander’s attention.
