Page 37 of Stars May Fall

I frowned and stepped closer to her making sure nobody was in earshot. “How?”

Her eyes darted back and forth. “I don’t know exactly but Father has been increasing the guard, and I heard him talking to Lord Lyrason this morning about his own soldier recruitment.” She met my eyes. “You should take Sophie and your men and return to Kasomere. Show them that you won’t be a part of any of this and live your life cut off from the world. I will take care of whatever is going on with the experiments and the halfsouls and whatever my father is planning.”

I studied her face carefully, not sure if she was eager to get rid of me so I didn’t pry or endanger her father, or genuinely concerned for my welfare. “Thank you for the warning.”

Venerick was only a dozen paces away, returning with her drink. She lowered her voice even further and spoke quickly. “They knew you would be unlikely to spill the secrets of your weapon. It’s possible they see your wife and your friend, Callum Tavoyln, as easier targets.”

Cool rage slid through my body. I nodded just as Venerick returned with three drinks. He smiled as he offered the other to me. “I forgot to ask if you wanted one too, General.”

I took it. “Thank you.” I turned back to my half sister. “You’ve certainly been kept busy with your classes. It’s nice to know you are happy.”

She smiled brightly as if her routine was all we’d been talking about. “A few classes on conversation and etiquette might benefit you also.”

Venerick’s eyes widened, though he covered his surprise by taking a sip of his wine. Clearly he hadn’t been exposed to the sharper side of Annabelle before.

I inclined my head. “Thank you for the suggestion, but I assure you I know plenty of etiquette. I just choose not to use it around people who don’t deserve it.”

Venerick cleared his throat. “The eh…eh…paintings are very atmospheric in here, don’t you think, my dear?”

Annabelle opened her mouth without taking her stern eyes off me but cut off her reply as we were joined by Stirling.

I bowed my head to acknowledge him since I was meant to be building rapport between us. He didn’t look appeased by the gesture. He turned to his sister. “I hope the general hasn’t been bothering you. He has been in quite the foul mood this morning.” He laid a hand lightly on her back as if to protect her. I guessed he didn’t know she killed halfsouls while he slept. Notthat I would ever say that out loud. Annabelle already had a big enough opinion of herself.

I lifted my eyebrows and spread my hands in an expression of innocence. “This, Prince Stirling, has been me acting civilly.”

Annabelle took a deep sip of wine, and her pleasant mask dropped. “Oh, both of you, do get over yourselves. This is getting tiresome.”

Venerick gaped down at her in shocked surprise, and she replaced her sweet smile to glance at him. “Family squabbles.” She spoke as if those words explained everything.

Stirling grimaced. “Family?Really, Annabelle, you grossly exaggerate.”

“Do I?” Annabelle flashed him a venomous look. I couldn’t hold back a smirk. “I’m going to get some fresh air. Venerick, would you mind taking me to the veranda?”

I bowed to them as they left, and Stirling stepped right up to me. His expression was angry. “You can say what you want to me, but you leave my sister alone, you understand?”

I smiled back at him, keeping my body relaxed as if it didn’t consider him a threat. My reaction made him bristle, which was as satisfying as I had hoped. “Perfectly.”

I bowed again, turned my back to him, and walked back to my corner to lurk until we were summoned into the throne room to eat. If the king and Lord Lyrason were starting to subtly amass troops, it would be prudent for me to escalate my own troop placement.

ANNABELLE

Father normally requested grand lunches in the throne room when he was frustrated or angry. Sometimes I thought it was more about reminding himself of his power than anything else. And the room was indeed grand—three stories tall with stained glass windows that danced thousands of colors across the floor. Today, there was even a quartet playing calming music on the musicians’ balcony.

The massive room made our group of about forty nobles seem small, and the sounds of chairs scraping and cutlery tinkling bounced off the walls with no carpets to muffle the sound. I wished we were dining in one of the normal galleries. This room made it hard for me to think.

I glanced at Kasten, and I could see from his scowl that he disliked this room even more than I did. I suspected he wouldn’t last long before he crept off to sulk somewhere.

Lord Venerick had requested that we sit next to Duke James at the dinner table. I agreed with a smile, even though it made me uncomfortable. I was certain the duke had known about the halfsouls all along, or why would he have kept downtown clear of the city guard on the nights they were released?

What did Venerick know? Had he helped keep the halfsouls hidden? Was he as guilty as Duke James and Father?

I nodded along to Venerick’s comments about the food without really listening before he turned his attention to Duke James. The two discussed a prisoner who was due to be tried next week for theft and murder. The extent of Venerick’s relaxed manner with the head of the city guard only increased my caution.

On the other side of me sat a young noblewoman who I had been slowly befriending to please Father. He had deemed her a good influence and likely to gain strong political connections through marriage, but right now I just wanted a moment to myself.

I concentrated on my cress soup, and my mind strayed back again and again to the conversation I had eavesdropped on between Father and Lord Lyrason. Why did they hate Kasten to the extent they wanted him dead? The man was grumpy and sour, but he’d won many battles. If he’d truly wanted to take the throne for himself, he was more than capable of doing so with the power of the starstone, yet he never had.

Father would tell me to stop worrying about all these things before they overwhelmed me and to concentrate on the work he’d given me. He would say not to take action when I only had half the picture. But my information network wasn’t giving me the other half.

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