by E. A. Copen
Then there was the food. Since magic didn’t work, the assassin might try to sneak some poison into her food or drink, which is why I was happy to have the spot next to Odette at the end of the table. There was still no way to be sure her food wasn’t poisoned without a taster, which the queen had failed to employ. The duty, it seemed, fell to me.
The first course had been easy: a colorful salad, a tray of cheeses, and some freshly baked bread. I made sure to try a piece of everything before I let her take anything. She seemed irritated but accepted it once I explained it to her.
When the royal cup bearer, a kid who wasn’t old enough to drink himself, filled her cup with wine between courses, I frowned and snatched the cup away, swapping it with my empty glass. “The princess will take water.”
The cup bearer’s eyes widened, and he looked to Odette, questioning.
Odette rolled her eyes. “Really, Lazarus? Now you’re being absurd. A single glass will do no harm.”
“Water,” I repeated and swallowed half the goblet of wine myself.
Odette shifted in her seat and gave the cupbearer a tight smile. “Perhaps some tea.”
“Yes, my princess,” the cupbearer said, inclining his head and scurrying back to the kitchens to get tea.
Prince Roshan leaned forward to give me an appraising look. “You’re not very knightly.”
I threw an elbow back, leaning on my chair to chug the rest of the wine. It was pretty good for wine. “Nope.”
His disapproving sneer left me feeling proud. I’d touched a nerve. Good. I didn’t need his approval. “You’re a disgrace to the office,” he said, barely loud enough for me to hear.
I lowered the goblet and met his judgmental glare with one of my own. “You think you could do better?”
“Perhaps.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, spearing another cube of white cheese with one of my three forks, “what exactly am I doing that’s so wrong here?”
“Your mannerisms are rude,” Roshan shot. “You speak like a fool with no regard for those who outrank you, and you think bullying will get you your way.”
I shrugged. “It’s worked for me so far. Odette’s alive. Hell, I’ve been looking out for her longer than you in way more dangerous situations. Remind me what you did to free her while she was a captive of the Shadow Queen?”
“Laz,” Odette hissed through her teeth. “Stop it.”
The prince ignored her. “At least I don’t smell like swamp water.”
I ignored her. “Tell you what, Lord Farquaad, one day in my swamp and the other fairy tale creatures would eat you alive. There are no talking donkeys where I come from. You’d have to wipe your own pampered ass and everything.”
He shot to his feet, cheeks growing red and fists clenched. I think he expected me to do the same, but I stayed right where I was and popped another cube of cheese into my mouth.
“You’ve insulted me for the last time, Sir Knight.”
The banquet hall grew quiet. Even the queen put down her goblet and leaned forward, an inquisitive eyebrow quirked.
Odette tugged on Roshan’s sleeve. “Sit down before you embarrass yourself.”
He shifted as if he was going to listen to her.
I don’t know what came over me. Maybe it was the ghoul virus, or the fact that I’d been pushed around one too many times and was eager to push someone else. Hell, maybe I was a bully. Or maybe I was a little jealous. I certainly didn’t approve of Odette tying the knot with Mr. Yes-Man. Call me jealous if you want, but it wasn’t that at all.
As for me, I think it was predatory instinct. Roshan reminded me too much of prey, and it irked the hell out of me.
“Go on, pretty boy,” I urged. “Do as your woman says. Wouldn’t want you to break a sweat.”
He was halfway to his seat when he surged back to his feet. “If you wanted to test my ability, you’ve got it, Sir Knight.”
“Roshan, don’t.” Odette grabbed his arm again.
The prince jerked his arm away and sneered at me, lifting his chin. “Let’s see what you’re made of, Summer Knight. I challenge you to a duel.”
“A duel?” The queen rose from her seat, sending chairs scooting back all over the room so everyone else could get up and bow. “Between the Prince of Light and the Summer Knight? That would hardly be fair, Roshan.”
I put down my fork. “Trust me, Highness, I’ve got no problems going all out on him. Being a prince won’t make me go easy on him.”
“As if you could harm me,” Roshan said, rolling his eyes. “I’m undefeated in the dueling arena, Sir Knight.”
“Enough!” The queen shouted. “I will not have my knight fighting my future son-in-law. Lazarus, Roshan is my guest. You will treat him with respect. Roshan, if you can’t keep your tongue between your teeth, the least you could do is loan it to your intended. Perhaps she wouldn’t be in such a foul mood.”
Roshan’s face blanched.
I couldn’t help but snicker.
Odette’s chair made a loud scraping noise as she stood, anchoring her hands on the table. “Please excuse me. I seem to have lost my appetite.” She shot me a warning glare and stepped away from her chair. Roshan offered to escort her, but she pushed him away with enough force to make his chair tip over.
Titania met my eyes and jerked her head toward Odette, indicating I should follow. It was just as well. The kitchen staff was already on their way with the next course: roast boar. The savory smell of garlic and spices as they placed the serving plate in front of me was enough to make my mouth water. My stomach didn’t like the idea of leaving without at least tasting it, but I couldn’t even if I stayed. So, I grabbed a handful of cheese cubes and got up to follow Odette, taking my staff with me.
She didn’t wait for me in the hall but stormed on ahead. Stormed might be the wrong word. Women who are that pregnant can’t stomp, storm, or otherwise walk angrily. They waddle. I didn’t work to catch up, mostly because I knew she’d yell at me once I did. I’d been a jerk, and I’d own it, no excuses. Whatever scolding she gave me, I deserved it. Didn’t mean I was going to go running to get it.
Because my strides were longer, I caught her on the stairs. “Go ahead,” I offered without looking at her. “Lay into me.”
“Why?”
“Because I was a jerk to your future husband the Prince of Light.” I gestured toward the ceiling.
She stopped walking and dropped the skirt she’d hiked up to clear the stairs, turning to face me. “What difference will it make? Yelling at you is a waste of breath. You’ll always be you, no matter what I say, and Roshan…” She turned away and sighed at the floor.
It made me feel even worse. “You don’t love him.”
She placed a hand over her stomach. “Love isn’t something I can afford. I never could.”
The gesture combined with the conversation sent flickers of memory coursing through my mind and body. Flashbacks of soft skin under my fingers, whispered breath in my ear, the gut-wrenching pain of promises and hearts broken.
“Was any of it ever real?” My throat felt tight, but I had to ask.
She pressed her lips together until they turned white and tilted her head to the side before reaching to cup my cheek. “The magic can only grow what’s already there. I can’t make new feelings. Only enhance the ones that already exist.”
I leaned into her hand and considered an impossible future where the two of us were back together, where we laughed together, cried together, fought together all like we used to. I imagined family. It could be more than just a fantasy. I was the Summer Knight now, and I could stay in that position, close to her and my child if the other knight died. I could stay here and be with her instead of Man-Bun Roshan. He didn’t deserve her.
But then again, I didn’t know her. I only knew the pretend life she’d invented so I would love her. That wasn’t the real Odette. I’d met the real Odette at dinner in the banquet hall. She was spoiled, selfish, and heir to the Summer throne. Maybe Ro
shan did deserve her after all.
I pulled away from her hand and cleared my throat. “We need to talk about what happened in the garden.”
Odette folded her hands over her belly bump. “William must’ve seen the attacker. He wouldn’t have stepped in the way otherwise. But he’s still unconscious and can’t speak to anyone.”
“Does Summer have any mages capable of mind magic?” I asked.
She shook her head. “That kind of magic is forbidden everywhere but in the Shadow Court, and we’re at war with them. I don’t suppose you could…” She trailed off, leaving the suggestion unspoken.
“Not without getting my necromantic powers back,” I said. “And even then, I can’t interrogate a ghost or shade just because someone’s in a coma. The spirit doesn’t always leave the body when that happens. As far as I can tell, these new Summer Knight powers won’t be useful for that either.”
“No, I suppose not.” She huffed out a sigh and turned, continuing up the stairs, this time at a slower pace.
I followed. “I’d ask if you could think of anyone who’d want to kill you, but I gather that list is already plenty long.”
“Let’s see. Every member of the Shadow Court would qualify, which already gives you a pool of thousands of suspects. Then there’s anyone in Summer who disagrees with my mother’s decision to have the child be born in Faerie.”
“I thought fae babies couldn’t survive outside of Faerie? Not at first anyway.”
Odette shot me a knowing look. “They can’t. According to the dissenters, I should’ve terminated my pregnancy the moment I became aware of it.”
I stopped with one foot on the next stair. “Why didn’t you?”
She went onto the next step so that her back was to me. “I thought about it. To be honest, I was surprised it happened at all. I’d always been so careful. If I had ended it, I could’ve stayed. Things might’ve continued as they were and I wouldn’t even have to tell you, would I? But then I thought about how you might react if you found out.”
“I would’ve been pissed.”
She turned around. “You never would’ve seen me again. So, I had two choices. Compound a lie of omission with another lie of omission. But then, how long before there were more lies? Before she found me and had you killed? Or I could come home and stop pretending to be something I wasn’t.”
I pulled myself up to the next stair to stand toe to toe with her. “You know, there was always a third option.”
“And what’s that?”
“You could’ve told me about the baby.”
She swallowed, and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “So you could propose? I know you were planning to. The whole reason I ran from Faerie was to avoid getting married.”
“And yet, here you are.”
Odette nodded. “Here I am.” She offered a sad smile. “You can only run from who you were meant to be for so long, Lazarus. Sooner or later, we all have to accept our place in the world. I’m the Summer Princess. My destiny is to rule one day. You’re—”
“A deadbeat necromancer? The Pale Horseman? Death incarnate?”
“Exactly. It never would’ve worked, Lazarus. You have to see that.”
I swallowed the sour taste in my mouth and pushed past her. “No, it wouldn’t have.”
The rest of the way to Odette’s room, I went over things in my head. I needed a plan. Simply following Odette around until another attempt was made wasn’t going to find me the assassin. My suspect pool was too large to interrogate everyone on it, which meant my best bet was returning to the scene of the crime to do some digging. I couldn’t do that if I was standing as an over-glorified door guard for Odette, but I wasn’t willing to leave her unguarded either.
The standard guards might not be up to the task, but they were still my best bet for filling in while I investigated. I didn’t trust them though and interviewing each and every guard in the castle would take too damn long. I needed someone I could trust right now, and trustworthy folks seemed in short supply around Faerie.
As we rounded the next corner, I ran into a patrol of the queen’s guards and stopped them. “I need one of you tin cans to get a message to Declan. Tell him to meet me outside the princess’ chambers.”
Surprisingly, they nodded and scuttled off, armor clinking all the way. I watched them go, a little amazed that they’d just done exactly as I’d told them to. A guy could get used to that.
Odette raised an eyebrow. “Declan?”
“I need someone to watch your door while I look into something.” I started down the hall, tapping my staff against the floor with every step. There was something satisfying about the steadiness of the sound.
“You could have asked them. At least they have weapons and armor, Lazarus. Declan’s not even a squire.”
“Don’t know them. Don’t trust them either, or anyone else for that matter. Everyone’s a suspect until I start crossing names off the list.”
“Everyone except for Declan?”
I shook my head. “He’s not totally off the list. I don’t know him well enough for that. But I’d put him somewhere toward the bottom. There are only four people who aren’t on my list. You, your crazy mother, Prince Roshan, and me.”
We stopped in front of her door, and Odette drew herself up in front of it, crossing her arms. “I noticed you didn’t list Beth among those you’ve cleared.”
She was right. I didn’t think Beth had it in her to hatch an evil plan to kill Odette. She was a lover, not a fighter for the most part, and I didn’t think she was that jealous. But I couldn’t fairly eliminate her since she wasn’t in the garden at the time and she did have a motive, however weak a motive it was.
That wasn’t why Odette had brought her up, though. I knew where that conversation was going. With a sigh, I planted my staff. “Why Beth? Why bring her here?”
Odette shrugged. “I didn’t choose her. I suspect that’s my mother’s doing. She is the vindictive type. It’s likely she had her whisked away just because you two were an item.”
“I’m getting real tired of that shit,” I growled, shouldering past Odette to open the door.
I stepped into a grand room much larger than my own, which I was surprised was possible. It looked to be some sort of sitting room with sofas, tables, chairs and various throws covering the stone floor. A needlepoint project, still in the hoop, had been discarded atop one of the chairs. Several paperbacks sat in a stack on a table. I walked circles around everything, checking for any signs of a trap or intruder. When I found that room clear, I went to the door that led to an interior bedroom and checked in there.
“Under the bed, Lazarus? Really?”
I sat up from peering at the lack of dust bunnies under the bed. She had good maids. “Never know. You expecting any company?” I dusted my hands off and picked the staff back up.
“You mean will Roshan be joining me?” She rolled her eyes and smirked. “I have to say, of all the compliments I may be forced to give him in my tenure as his wife, complimenting him as a lover will never be one of them.”
Well then. Man-Bun Prince of Light was apparently bad in bed. That made me feel a little better, even though I knew it shouldn’t have. I pretended it didn’t and went to the open arches that led to a balcony, like the one in my room. It was a security risk, those big open windows with trees and vines growing right up against them. Any idiot could climb right up. I stepped back in and shut the wooden shutters that blocked the balcony, locking them. They wouldn’t hold under an assault, but at least breaking them would make enough noise to send someone to investigate.
“Anybody else I should warn Declan to watch out for?”
“Just Beth. She’ll be in later. We’ll do exercises, and she’ll help me get ready for bed.” She sat down on the bed, leaning back on her arms so that her belly was thrust forward. With her eyes closed and her face red, I figured she was just trying to cool off, but it reminded me too much of more intimate times.
I cleare
d my throat. “Boy or girl?”
A small smile touched her lips. “Last time we spoke, you said boy.”
“Your mother says girl.”
Odette rubbed her stomach. “She’d like that, wouldn’t she? A newer version of me that she could raise properly, perhaps.”
“And Roshan? What’s he think of all this?” I gestured vaguely to her swollen stomach.
“You should ask him about it. I imagine he was rather insulted when I fled to Earth rather than marry him the first time. Mother says it took quite a lot to convince his parents to go through with the match. Concessions were made on my behalf.” She said the last sentence in a higher, more formal mocking tone, imitating Titania.
A thought occurred to me. “Insulted enough to hire a hitman to take you out?”
Odette opened her eyes and shifted her weight, swinging her legs up onto the bed and easing her back against the pillows. “Really, Lazarus. Roshan?”
I sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t imagine there are throngs of other princesses lining up to marry him.”
“Not at all.” Odette made a face like she was in pain.
“What’s wrong? You need me to get somebody?” I took a cautious step forward. Dammit, I should’ve checked in the bed. What if I’d missed something?
She shook her head and held her hands out, gesturing for me to come closer.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
As I came closer, she grabbed my hand and placed it on her stomach, pushing it down a little. Something pushed back. Hard.
When I heard women go on about babies kicking in the womb, I’d always imagined it sort of like gas bubbles. Uncomfortable pressure just sort of floating around in there. Not a full-on recognizable kick. The skin-tight fabric of the dress rippled, and my hand rose noticeably from the rest of her. Two quick, strong impacts beat against my palm like angry bird wings.
