Page 105 of Fragile Oath

“Don’t play games with me,” he spat. “Do you think I believe it’s a coincidence that you came accusing her of being the Viper and then she was gone? Taking care of things the same way the rest of your family does, without regard to the law.”

“No, I don’t think any of us should believe it’s a coincidence that right after she knew we were on to her, she disappeared.” I shook my head in disgust. “I can’t honestly tell if you’re lying or just an idiot, but people are dying, MacBay. You pretend like that matters to you in one breath and then withhold information that might prevent their deaths in the next.”

“Fiona didn’t do that,” he insisted.

“Then where is she?” I bit out.

“I don’t know.” His shoulders deflated the smallest amount. “Do you think I would be here if I did?”

“Yet you still believe she’s innocent?” I challenged. “A whole village slaughtered and she’s nowhere to be found, but surely she had nothing to do with it. If you’re covering for her—”

“I’m not covering for anyone,” he fired back.

His tone was defensive, but there was something else there too. Genuine concern. Because he was finally starting to believe us? Or because he was worried we would find her right when she’d escaped our grasp?

“I just refuse to help aid your witch hunt for an innocent woman while more people die because you haven’t bothered to find the real person responsible,” he added.

“That’s enough,” Uncle Logan cut in. “We willna be taking anyone without proof or cause. There’s been plenty o’ that to go around, and wasna from our family, as you’ll damned well recall.”

MacBay looked away, the irony of the situation settling over him. Of course, the difference was that I actually hadn’t committed the crime I was accused of.

The king sent him a scathing look, unmoved by his belated remorse, but it was my father who spoke.

“For that matter, perhaps if you had helped us instead of turning on us, we could have worked together to face the threat to our kingdom. Those deaths do not fall on our heads alone, Camdyn.”

For the first time since he had turned traitor in the Assembly room, the barest hint of shame flickered across MacBay’s features.

A soft voice spoke from the doorway. “Just help them, Da’.”

Gracie stood with a pained look on her face. “You just had the king’s word that he won’t hold her if she’s innocent. Are you really willing to risk the lives of our people just to keep her from answering a few questions? Or to spite the people who were supposed to be our friends? Forher?”

Before MacBay could respond, Uncle Finn strode in behind Gracie, taking in the room. “The men saw no one come in or out. There are no missing guards, and they’re all checked daily for signs of the mark.”

So no more dead men, then. Just traitors, hiding in plain sight.

Gracie shook her head, staring daggers at her father. “You have always been so blind where she is concerned. Hasn’t she cost us enough?’

MacBay looked from his daughter to my uncle, a muscle clenching in his jaw. “Your word?”

“On my honor,” the king responded.

MacBay took a deep breath, shaking his head back and forth like he couldn’t believe what he was doing. “I don’t know where she went, but I will tell you all I know to help find her.”

ChapterForty-Five

GALINA

The castle was in an uproar,rumors spreading like wildfire of Fiona being the Viper.

Davin still struggled to wrap his mind around it, and truthfully, so did I, but there wasn’t much room for doubt when she had fled so soon after he made his suspicions known.

While Davin and Gwyn tried to hunt her down, I once again spent the day in the library with Gallagher, poring over as many books as I could find on poisons and taking careful notes to replace the ones I had lost.

Gal stayed with me for hours until a soldier delivered a message that his sister needed him.

While he was gone, Malishka and I paced the length of the library, searching shelf after shelf for several missing books. It was hard to believe their absence was a coincidence after the situation in my rooms.

Had Fiona broken in herself? Was she hiding in the castle now, waiting for her chance to… I didn’t know how to finish that thought.

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