Page 48 of Stars May Fall

A hand slapped wood. “Gah! You acted in spontaneous anger with no thought or evidence. We have no idea of the limits of what Kasten wields. We need to be careful and only act when we’re certain we have the upper hand. Anyway, it seems Annabelle is friends with Sophie. We’re limited in what we can do in front of her.”

“Hmm. I didn’t know that. She acts friendly with General Kasten as well, so I suppose it makes sense that they’ve met. You should have better control over your daughter.”

A heavy sigh. “Annabelle already knows more than I wished her to. I’ve told her to stay away from Kasten, but I didn’t mention Sophie. By all reports, Lady Sophie is submissive and sweet. She has high etiquette and has been trained not to interfere. Annabelle has few friends. Sir Halfield’s methods to get information on Kasten from her were blunt and clumsy. You never know, Sophie may spill valuable information to Annabelle if they become better friends. And when Kasten is finally gone,it could be useful to keep her around. She may help you run Kasomere.”

I winced. I wished I knew Annabelle better so I could better assess how much of a risk it was to work together.

Lord Lyrason almost growled. “Your softness toward your daughter is clouding your judgment.”

“Hmm. Perhaps.”

His admission didn’t seem to appease Lord Lyrason. “It would have been better to exploit today as much as possible, Your Majesty.”

“You don’t need to repeat yourself, Lyrason. I got your point. But the palace is my area. Now keep subtly recruiting to your guard and ensure they’re all adequately trained. As for your…experiments, make sure they stay undetected. We’re so close now to everything we’ve dreamed of. I’ll be the king who conquered Kollenstar. Happiness is so close. We shouldn’t let Kasten distract us any more than necessary. We’re not ready to challenge him yet. Not untilitis finished.”

“As you say, Your Majesty.” Lyrason’s voice was clipped.

The door shut with a little more force than necessary.

Well, that sounded ominous. I removed the earpiece. Sophie was safe. For now. But this had been too close.

At least, Annabelle would have to spend time with Sophie now or be seen as a liar by her father. That had been a smart move on Sophie’s part and would speed things up considerably since we wouldn’t have to rely on gentle introductions at the evening parties. Sophie could determine whether Annabelle would work with us or not. Together, we could stop Lord Lyrason and the king and their twisted experiments faster and ensure a smooth succession. Annabelle could stop a civil war before it even began.

Sophie had been incredibly proactive these past two days while I had merely been doing damage control for the next campaign. I didn’t deserve her.

I walked back to the room where I’d been writing the campaign orders and intended to finish them as quickly as possible so I could return home and talk to Sophie and Callum. If I rushed to Sophie and Annabelle now as if there had been an emergency, it might destroy the veneer Sophie had created, not to mention this opportunity for them to forge a friendship.

As I settled back down, I remembered Venerick’s helpful message. I was in his debt too.

It took me an hour before I walked back toward the king’s office to deliver the orders. On the way I heard a faint keening on my detector. It was so quiet, I would have missed it if I hadn’t been concentrating. It sounded exactly like the faint sound I’d heard in the king’s office at his party. The king, Stirling, and Annabelle had all been present. Which of them had been using kryalcomy? Had it been linked to the object on his desk?

I followed the faint sound to an unmarked, closed door and opened it softly, hoping I wasn't about to bump into Lord Lyrason. The room was brightly lit and full of bubbling laughter. A group of young nobles lounged on sofas drinking around Stirling. He saw me approach and startled before standing up. The sound was definitely coming from him.

What kryalcomy was he using? And why was it so faint as to be easily drowned out and ignored?

Questions pressed against my mind, but Stirling’s frown warned me to concentrate on them later. He strode up to me. “What is it?”

I thought quickly and gestured to the papers. “I’m about to hand my orders to the king for our advance into Kollenstar. I wondered if you’d want to accompany me and look them overwith us. I know you want to be more involved, and it might help you take over from him one day.”

Stirling was clearly taken aback. His expression softened, though it wasn’t entirely trusting. “Em, fine. Yes, I’ll come.”

He held up a hand to his friends before accompanying me to the office. The whole time, the small drone on my detector stayed steady.

ANNABELLE

Kasten’s wife was the perfect distraction from my fear about what had happened to Regan Jones.

Sophie sat in my private dining room sipping tea out of my finest china cups. She wasn’t at all how I’d expected Kasten’s wife to be. She was pretty in a fragile, innocent way. Her movements were careful and quiet as if she didn’t want to draw any attention to herself. At the same time she had a confident self-assurance even though she easily startled. A bright intelligence gleamed in her large blue eyes, hidden behind her humble nature. I knew that Kasten was devoted to her and wondered what she made of her grumpy husband who was always causing trouble. They made an unusual coupling. By all accounts, they hadn’t even been properly acquainted before their wedding day. Whilst arranged marriages were common amongst nobility, it was normal to meet your betrothed regularly in the months leading up to the wedding.

My door was locked, and we sat next to the window at the farthest end of the room. I had searched the place many, many times for one of Lyrason’s listening devices and had never found one. Sophie’s rather impressive guard stood outside with my guard. They would knock if anyone approached.

I didn’t want to be interrupted, not when this conversation might tell me a lot. I desperately needed to know what was going on when my own information network was failing.

I sipped my raspberry tea. “So what were you really doing at Lord Lyrason’s manor?”

She smiled politely. “I spoke the truth, just not all of it. We were after a cure for the halfsouls.”

I leaned forward, intrigued and surprised she was talking so straightforwardly to me. She did know I wasn’t necessarily on their side, didn’t she? “A cure?”

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