Page 45 of The Omega Thief

“Yes, Highness,” Carter confirmed. “I went through the invitations with Her Highness as soon as you bonded.”

“Well, that explains why they’re here,” Attiker said.

Raz scowled. “Are we any further forward with the boy’s murder?”

“Azrael?” Thakeray clarified, and Raz glared at him in exasperation.

“Have we had any other apprentices murdered this week?”

Thakeray nodded. “The boy in the fire.”

Raz closed his eyes, shame coursing through him. “Of course, my apologies.”

“You’ve been a little busy,” Attiker said and pressed close. Grateful, Raz put his arm around his waist and pulled his bonded in even tighter.

“As to them finding out, they could easily have gotten a messenger bird,” Thakeray said.

“Yes,” Raz said. “I realize that. I’m more concerned with who sent it.”

“It had to be someone in the palace,” Attiker said, and Raz nodded.

“It explains the murder, sire,” Thakeray said.

Raz fell quiet. “What if none of this is a coincidence?”

Thakeray stiffened, and without a word, he rushed from the room.

“Where’s he going?” Attiker said.

“To make sure we don’t have a fleet of warships off our coastline,” Raz said grimly. Attiker scoffed.

“But Cadmeera has the strongest force in all the five kingdoms.”

“Excuse me, Your Highness,” Carter said and turned to go.

Raz nodded and waited until he’d left. “I trust him,” Raz said, “but if I’m right, this has to come from someone in the inner circle.”

“Right about what?”

“An invasion,” Raz said simply. Attiker’s lips parted in protest, but Raz brushed his own over them briefly to silence him. “We only recently signed the treaty with Rajpur. The war killed many soldiers, Attiker.” He sighed. “And my mother and father.”

“But they died in an accident,” Attiker protested.

“No, that’s what we said. It was really an ambush that killed my father. Or that’s what it seemed like, but neither Thakeray nor myself were ever convinced. We were returning home from the treaty signing. My mother and her maid rode in the king’s carriage. He rode in front. I’d stayed behind a day to make sure the wounded were fit for transport, but the original plan was that I join them. It was only at the last minute I elected to stay behind. You know there was a landslide as they crossed between the Dijan Mountains?”

Attiker nodded.

“There were no warnings, no earth tremors. But just as the coach and their immediate escort passed, the rocks suddenly started falling. My mother’s maid was killed instantly, and my father because he was on his hands and knees trying to pull rocks off them when there was a second slide. My father and nine men were killed in the second.” And they’d sent plenty of engineers up there afterwards, and everyone had reported it must have been a freak fall. “Not that landslides don’t occur in that pass, but there’d been no rain, and the men had gone forward to make sure it seemed secure.”

“And your ma?” Attiker asked softly.

“Because her alpha was dead.”

“You think it deliberate?” Attiker asked and pressed close as if to give him comfort.

“Yes, but tell me, if what Eryken said is true, then the emperor has plenty of coin, but no kingdom to rule. Marston Keys is simply a trading group of islands. They may have bought temporary shelter, but for those used to ruling a kingdom, that’s all it would be…temporary.”

He could see the understanding light Attiker’s eyes.

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