Page 57 of The Faceless Mage

Whoa.

Leisa had hoped to hear something she could use, but this was not atallwhat she’d had in mind.

Vaniell was illegitimate?

Or at least, Melger believed him to be. The queen seemed to be denying it, but apparently, Vaniell considered it likely enough that he was willing to do the king’s bidding when threatened with exposure.

Oh, this explained so much. And yet, there was so much else it did not explain.

But no wonder Vaniell was willing to marry Evaraine. It would give him the legitimacy he lacked, and prevent his father from using that as a weapon against him in the future.

But what made them think he was putting it off? Vaniell had done nothing but try to convince her to agree to this marriage.

Well, Leisa supposed he could have tried harder. Stopped drinking and flirting. Spent more time being agreeable. But the marriage was not truly in either of their hands, so what more did Melger expect him to do?

“…toying with me,” the king was saying. “I saw the look on his face when he gave her that ‘courting gift.’ He knows it’s a slap in the face… nothing I can do. No way to take it from her without suspicion. If only I knew for certain the thing is a fake. If it’s not, and she ever learns what it is…”

“She won’t,” the queen said with weary resignation. “You know perfectly well she has no magic. You confirmed that with every source at your disposal. And if she had even a touch, your pet would already know. He’s killed enough mages at your command, I’m sure he wouldn’t hesitate to kill another.”

The voices faded, but Leisa remained frozen against the wall.

Vaniell knew perfectly well what the gem did. And he’d definitely given it to her as an act of defiance against his father. He’d linked her with the Raven against his father’s wishes. Was he not his father’s puppet after all?

But that wasn’t the worst of it. The Raven knew she was a mage, and the king knew Evaraine was not.

Did that mean the Raven had known all along that she wasn’t Evaraine?

And if he did, did he believe she was merely a convenient body double, or did he know…

Oh, dear sweet Abreia, was that why he’d stopped her that day? So she could overhear the conversation about mirror mages?

Heart pounding, Leisa tried to reason herself through the possibilities. Why hadn’t he acted? If he’d killed that many mages, why wait? Was he simply waiting for her to betray herself fully before denouncing her to his master? Or did he have his own reasons for protecting her secrets?

She needed to get back to her room.

Moving silently to the edge of the balcony, she peered over to gauge the position of the guards below. She would need to swing down and use the cover of the shrubbery to find her way in on the ground floor.

But as her gaze swung towards the looming bulk of the wall…

Her heart simply stopped.

The Raven stood there in the shadows, his featureless mask lifted towards her, his unseen eyes resting on her hooded face.

Leisa’s face.

She’d taken off the gem, and he’d followed her anyway.

There was no hope for her secrets now, but some irrational voice insisted that if she made it back to her room, perhaps she would be safe. But there was no way down that didn’t lead past the Raven, and no way up that she could climb. That meant through.

Into the private chambers of the king himself.

One way or another, she was probably going to die, but for some reason, she decided she would rather risk the king than his assassin.

Leisa bolted back towards the doors leading to the inside. Peered in. No one was visible but a half-asleep pageboy wilting on his chair. Probably a guard or two outside her line of sight.

She could work with that. But she had to do it before the Raven caught her, which meant setting some kind of record for speed.

Lock picked in eight seconds flat.

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