Page 126 of Of Glass and of Gold

“Are any of your people willing to travel back to Rahana tonight? Head them off if they try to escape up the Splits?” Nora suggested.

“That’s a damn good idea,” I said, “and we should get back to the castle before word reaches whoever is aligned with Druller there. I’d rather not give them the opportunity to mobilize against us upon our return.”

Ravinder nodded, whistling and waving over a few of his crew. As they discussed the proposal, Ro rubbed at her neck and sighed. “Damn. I was hoping to get a little rest before heading back.”

“Actually,” Nora said thoughtfully, tilting her head with feline grace as she eyed the experienced bow wielder. “I think we’ll need an escort back to the castle. Then might as well spend the night in one of our guest suites. You’ve earned rest in a castle bed.”

Ro lit up and placed her closed fist over her chest, like a soldier being sworn in for duty. “I pledge my service to you tonight, Queen Nora.”

The women laughed, shifting the atmosphere of the unfortunate battleground. But we still had work to do tonight.

With a few from Rahana escorting us back in carriages Druller and his men had taken to South Harbor, we crossed the drawbridge and found Evenita waiting by the entrance.

She greeted us with a smile that made her glow. “I had all the faith in the world in you, Nora.”

Nora and Melody walked up to the elderly woman, greeting her with a hug.

“I owe you everything,” Nora said, a slight tremble of emotion in her voice.

Evenita patted her arm. “Everything will work out just fine.”

I strutted toward the group of ladies that had salvaged the destiny of this kingdom. “Please know you have our eternal gratitude. Ask for anything, and it shall be yours.” I bowed at the waist before the seer.

“There are many who deserve such things, Your Highness. You will be good to them, I am certain.” There was a subtlety in her eyes that told me she did not rank herself among such a group. Before I could insist, my wife, the clever minx, demonstrated once again why she was going to be a most competent ruler.

“Actually, would you mind helping us with something before you leave?”

We combed through filed away documents in stashed away trunks in the king’s office. Ledgers and bookkeeping records from years ago.

Before we’d started, Evenita had assisted us with her abilities, identifying several guards we came across in the castle that were faithful to Sebastian’s cause.

A nightdress and robe wearing Ricks was summoned from sleep, and delegated the task of rounding up the traitors currently within the walls. He was also tasked with supplying Ravinder’s crew with whatever tokens or supplies they required.

With Evenita and Ro deposited at their sleeping quarters for the night, Melody, Nora, and I scoured piles of aged documents. I’d seen the look in Nora’s eye when she’d insisted we come directly here.

Melody and I exchanged glances between each other a few times, silently agreeing that Nora was too committed to be deterred, notwithstanding the heavy toll from the night already.

So despite my shirt being caked in drying blood, I hauled out another trunk and slammed it atop my desk. Nora admitted she didn’t know what exactly she was looking for, but her father’s discreet journal had plagued her for years. She didn’t want to believe Druller, and wouldn’t take the word of a genocidal scumbag.

Pity glances from Melody confirmed my own thoughts. The Commander had no reason to lie.

“Nora, I found something.” Melody lifted from her knees, bringing a contract parchment to where Nora filtered through stacks of port logs.

I maneuvered around the assortment of trunks and placed a hand on my fiancée’s shoulder. She read over the contract, the one that assigned Hamish Caine a mortgage debt from the Crown, signed by Sebastian.

“This is dated months before my father disappeared,” Nora’s voice swelled like a cloud carrying a heavy load of rain.

“He was a good man, Nora. An honorable man.” Melody fell to her sister’s side, wrapping her arms around her.

“He used Caine as a front man. I bet if we searched financial records, we’d see that Druller signed over a large sum to your father, and when he refused to indulge their partnership, Druller needed a way to disguise the missing funds. Recorded it as a mortgage loan, in Caine’s name.”

If the bastard commander wasn’t already dead, I’d have had him strung up in the square. Dirty dealings in the name of the Crown, staining the reputation I’d been trying to cleanse. Who knew how many records were forged and counterfeit in an attempt to cover up this brewing scheme.

“I’ll have the treasurer pull all the accounts Druller signed off on. See if we can figure out any more of his connections, who’s at the head of this kidnapping operation.” I joined the women on the floor and pressed my forehead to my fiancée’s temple.

Tears flowed silently down her cheeks. “I’ve been so mad at him for dying. I held so much anger toward this place, toward you. But he tried to get out. He tried to make it right. Yet I’ve still blamed him.” Her body shook with years of torment, of corrosive resentment she could finally let go of.

“He wouldn’t blame you, Nora. I think he’d be so proud of the woman you’ve become. How you held his legacy accountable. How you fight for the right things.” Melody cried alongside her sister, reminiscing about a man I’d never have the pleasure of meeting.

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