Page 19 of Pawns of Salistya

‘Look at her smug look, she already knows Mazyr,’ Amire sighed.

‘Looks can be deceiving, Amire, we all know this,’ Meredith replied gently.

‘And pray tell, what are you insinuating Meredith?’ I asked, riding the arrogant wave of victory for a plan well thought out.

‘How long have you been planning this for?’ Meredith countered.

I cocked my head, playing the part of looking interested to see where she was going with this. But I knew exactlywhere she was going with this. ‘Three months.’ This admission, at least, was not a lie.

‘And you didn’t think it was important to involve us earlier on?’

‘I’d thought about it, but –’

‘No buts, Valare.’ Meredith cut me off, her voice growing with passion. Damn she was a good actress. ‘You’re a perfectionist and a control freak, but you also hold an astounding amount of self-doubt which will be your downfall in the end if you don’t let ushelpyou. How many sleepless nights have you spent mulling all these details over in your head?’

Even though we had plotted this out, I was a little winded as I simply looked at Meredith, holding her angry gaze, both of us knowing she was right. There were more sleepless nights than not, and it was worse when I hadn’t been in Eliasson’s bed. I chose not to read into what that meant.

I felt Mazyr put his arm around my shoulder comfortingly, pulling me into his side.

Meredith nodded in defeat, my silence speaking volumes.

‘I know I need to work on my controlling tendencies,’ I blurted out, not being able to stand it. ‘There’s just so much on the line here. I wanted to minimise collateral on our end as much as possible.’

‘We all understand that you’re coming from a good place, Val,’ Meredith relented. ‘But you also need to see it from our side. Slaviya has been breathing down our necks wanting a plan and becoming increasingly more volatile. We could have been drip-feeding her information the last few months and saving our hides. You have a bit more leniency now you’re technically an Arloman, but we don’t have that luxury.’

The others nodded but remained silent.

‘I’m sorry. I’ll work on it,’ I promised, mentally crossing my fingers.

Amire wrapped her arms around my waist, snuggling in beside me, creating a true twin sandwich. ‘Don’t apologise, Val, we just want to be more involved.’ My eyes met Rynelle’s. He stared intently back, almost as if he didn’t quite know what to do with me.

I nodded, removing myself from the twins’ embrace. ‘Heart to heart aside, are we all in agreeance with the proposed assassination?’ I asked.

‘Heart to heart aside, are we all in agreeance with the proposed assassination?’ I asked.

I received a resounding, ‘Yes’.

‘Now, I have places to be. I’ll see you all in Amarald at some stage or another. If there’s anything pressing, send word and I’ll try to make myself available. With the Royal Forum approaching it’ll become increasingly difficult for me to get away, so make it worth my while.’

‘Have you got another rendezvous planned?’ Mer asked, curiosity filling her voice.

Strategically avoiding all eyes on me, I shook my head. ‘No, I have more pressing matters to settle.’ In truth, upon reflection, that night with Sir had rattled me. His treatment of me had opened up my eyes a little and made me question the authenticity of our relationship. It wasn’t just him in the situation, and telling me it was all my fault was becoming hard to justify to myself. No, I didn’t want to see him. Honestly, I wanted to avoid him at all costs.

Not waiting for a reply, I teleported out of there.

I landed on the other side of the island in a familiar front yard. It was a welcome sight as I hurried up the stairs to the porch, making my way inside without bothering to introduce my presence. They already knew I was here.

Through the narrow hallway, I entered the beautiful open plan kitchen and dining area. I ignored the expectant gazes of the couple sitting at the dining table and walked to the glass wall at the end of the room. From there I saw a stunning view of the cliffs which revealed the edge of the island. Dark blue ocean spanned from there to the horizon, spreading as far as the eye can see in every direction.

I let the view calm my mind as I breathed deeply. Already despising what was to come, I braced against the hit my ego was about to take before I even said the words.

I turned to face the two people staring at me, no trace of surprise at my dramatic show. It wasn’t the first time I’ve stormed in like an unannounced wrecking ball.

‘I need your help.’

Chapter 8

‘So, he’s finally pulled the royal duties card on you.’ Amusement laced in Varqel’s voice. ‘Credit where credit is due, the man has more patience than I originally thought he had.’

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