Page 91 of Fragile Oath

Something indecipherable passed between them before she returned her focus to her plate, a small smile playing at her lips.

Before I could read too much into the unusual exchange, a white-gloved hand placed a plate of dessert in front of me. An intricate blown-glass dish held a beautiful trifle. Layers of pumpkin and ginger cakes were topped with whipped cream and cinnamon.

The smell was…potent. Overwhelming.

I froze without entirely understanding my hesitation. I didn’t love pumpkin, but I didn’t hate it, either. Yet my entire body rebelled at the idea of the confection in front of me.

Which was ridiculous, obviously. Even as my mind raced back to the festival, which should have been a happy memory, I couldn’t quite quell the nausea.

Malishka pressed her head against my leg from her spot under the table, and Davin eyed me with concern. I forced myself to pick up my spoon, to scoop up a small bite of the pale orange cream.

Slowly, I lifted the spoon to my lips, trying to keep my expression somewhere close to normal while I breathed through my mouth, but it was no use. Cinnamon and cloves, two of my favorite smells, mingled together with the overpowering, pungent odor of pumpkin.

My stomach churned, and suddenly, I was in a dark carriage. The curtains were drawn, the ride bumpy and uneven, and somewhere beneath the ubiquitous wintergreen scent of my captor, I could smell…pumpkin pastries.

Fingers pressed against my wrist, and I nearly yelped in surprise, but this touch was gentler, lighter, intended to guide rather than inflict pain.

I looked up to find Davin routing my spoon into his mouth, a playful expression masking the worry in his ocean eyes.

“You know this is my favorite,” he said, giving the table his best smirk.

“I must have forgotten.” I played along, though I suspected for a change, my show wasn’t nearly as convincing as his.

“Well, that won’t do for my future wife. I must insist you give the rest up in penance.” He neatly plucked the plate away without giving me a chance to argue, making a display of eating it while his right hand brushed against mine under the table.

“I suppose I have no choice but to allow it, considering the gravity of my crime,” I finally said, forcing a smirk to my own lips.

Then Gwyn and Gallagher chimed in with their twin banter, distracting the prying eyes from us. My heartbeat still pounded in my chest, and my stomach was still in knots, but with each soothing swipe of Davin’s thumb, my panic ebbed away.

Safe. I was safe.

Even if I still struggled to feel that way sometimes.

* * *

After lunch,we went back to Jocelyn and Oliver’s study. It was crowded with Davin’s entire family, including the king, whose massive frame could crowd a room all on its own. I still didn’t quite know what to make of the man who the whole world feared but Davin sometimes referred to as Uncle Logie-bear.

He loved his nephew, though, and that was enough for me.

“They found the other missing guard,” Oliver announced once the door was shut. “Bennet.”

It was clear from his tone just what state they had found the guard in, and even clearer from Davin’s expression that he had already suspected as much. He nodded at me in confirmation.

“We received word just before dinner,” Captain Finn added. “He died from the same poison as the others.”

“No surprise there,” Avani muttered. “We knew the Viper was behind this.”

There was a long pause, tension filling the room as her words rang true.

“We didna fight a war just to let them exile our own because of a damned rebel,” King Logan said, his brogue sounding thicker than it had been at dinner, something I was learning happened whenever he was angry or stressed.

“Better than a coup,” Davin suggested in the patient tone of someone who was having the same argument for roughly the thousandth time.

The king glowered, his cheeks reddening with his ire. “I’ve no intention of letting either happen.”

“Which brings us back to this,” Jocelyn added. “The Uprising members we catch rarely talk, even if we can get their poison out before they use it. The poison itself is one of the few clues we have. There aren’t many people who have access to the resources that would be needed to create and then hide something like that, not to mention the money and manpower that have come into play.”

“Right,” Oliver picked up, gesturing vaguely toward the hall. “At the very least, the Viper has to be working with someone who has those resources, so we’ve ruled out most of the less prominent families.”

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