Page 93 of Under the Lion Star

“You took care of us for years,” Lina set her hand on mine. “We face this life together, whatever it throws our way.”

“Plus,” Nima added. “If you got murdered then I’d be the oldest, and it seems like a lot of work.”

I laughed despite myself, grateful for my sisters’ presence. My focus shifted to Sanna who gave me a fierce nod. She was our sister now, too. She’d face life with us. Together.

It was one thing to disobey Leor’s instructions for me not to get involved, but allowing his sister to perform forbidden magic from an ancient culture we knew nothing about did give me pause. Still, I was excited to see what Sanna was capable of.

“Okay, make a list of what we require. Yunia and Lina, you’ll get the clothes. Nima, I know whose blood we should use. You’ll have to figure out the best way to procure it. Now, we just need to figure out how to access Corrin’s home.”

Nima grimaced but knew that no one would bat an eye if we were disguised as Pullam. He was an upstanding Fjornish citizen, after all. Seeing him skulking around in the dark of night wouldn’t raise any suspicions.

It took us another hour to finalize the details of our plan. Luckily, I had all the necessary herbs in my bedroom. Yunia and Lina returned after a short time with two new outfits for me and Nima. After a long and impatient stretch of time, Nima returned with flushed cheeks.

“Did he ask what it was for?”

“No,” she shook her head. “I knew if I told him, he would rat us out to Leor.”

“So, how’d you get Pullam to let you take a vial of his blood?”

“I–” her face scrunched. “I told him I had read about a new kink in one of Grandma’s books. Neither of us much enjoyed it.”

I fell back in my chair with my hands over my face as I failed to gain control of my cackling. How the fuck did I have such cool sisters? Yunia and Lina snickered quietly as Nima glared at us. Sanna looked mostly clueless. Gods guide her.

“Alright,” I said, barely containing the continued laughter. “Let’s do this.”

“At least the glamor doesn’t give you a dick,” Nima sighed, tugging on the soldier’s pants she was wearing.

We both looked, sort of, like Pullam, and it was frightening to hear her voice coming from his mouth. Sanna had mentioned she might be able to alter that with blood magic as well, but I figured allowing the princess to perform even more witchcraft was not a good idea. Plus, our plan didn’t require us to talk to anyone.

Luckily, we’d both made it to Corrin’s home without issue. We’d opted to take different paths through Galvord since two Pullams would be noticed immediately, but at least on my end, no one stopped to do more than tip their hats as I passed through the wealthy area.

The two of us were waiting in the alleyway near Corrin’s home. Yunia and Lina were inside, making pleasantries before convincing his daughters to visit a tavern with them. The twins tried to get me to include Corrin’s daughters in the plan, assuring us that they had no love for their father, but the fewer people who knew what we were up to, the better.

The sun was slowly sinking under the horizon when they finally left. Lina whistled softly, letting us know that the house was empty.

Sanna had estimated that the glamour would last an hour, so we had to work quickly. Nima would be standing guard. While we were both disguised as Pullam, we needed to hide lest someone wonder why twins were skulking about, but she could linger on the sidewalk without much issue.

We made our way up the stoop, finding that Yunia had tucked a small stone to prop the door open. I slinked inside, adjusting the man’s tunic, which fit me too well. I decided to mourn the lack of giant tits after I had finished figuring out who wanted my husband dead.

The house was well-appointed. Scrolling details marked the well-polished wood that spanned the walls. Nearly every surface had been embellished with some hint of luxury. Even as a highborn elf, Lord Corrin was clearly doing well financially.

My ears tuned into the ambient noise, listening for any signs of occupants as I stuck my head through multiple doorways.

Eventually, I found Corrin’s study. The massive cedar desk situated in the center of the room was framed by rows upon rows of bookshelves. Most of the spines were undamaged, and I wondered if anyone had even read the timeless works that lined the walls.

The desk was huge, holding several drawers on each side. I sifted through them carefully, skimming over various stacks of documents, but was disappointed to find nothing even remotely salacious. Ledgers and correspondences were plenty, but most of them pertained to menial and mundane topics.

All hope was nearly lost until I noticed that one drawer was far shallower than it appeared to be from the face. My hands worked frantically over the bottom panel when my finger caught on a slight edge, and I pried it open.

With shaking hands, I skimmed over the top few pages. Most were letters, some dated several years back, but each was damning.

Corrin was working with Gamril. The two of them had planned to take Leor out for quite some time. Based on the dates, it appeared that the former king and queen had been looking to end the war, something which Corrin and Gamril did not want.

One letter went so far as to posit that they could involve Atlas in taking out the then-prince on the battlefield. The idea was quickly dismissed by Gamril, who was sure that Atlas could not be trusted enough to include in their subterfuge. They’d even written at length about how Orin would never be accessible while away at war because Liras was always by his side.

I briefly considered if Atlas could be behind the attempts on Leor’s life but dismissed it quickly. He’d had so many opportunities to kill Leor, and the devastation he felt the night Leor lay dying in his bed couldn’t have been faked. Atlas loved Leor.

My breaths were shallow as I stacked up every bit of evidence I had obtained. I’d need to go through each word carefully, but the possible time limit on the glamour kept me from lingering further. I needed my disguise to last long enough that I could visit another lord’s home.

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