Page 21 of The Threadbare Queen

“Frederik and Talura found where they’re staying. In an inn off the main road. I went in to speak to them, see if I could find the wagon driver that Rafe told me is the prime suspect.”

Again, she felt a tug of warning. If he were enspelled, he wouldn’t personally mean her harm, but would be dangerous to her, wouldn’t he? It was the only thing that made sense.

And there was only one way to find out.

“Can I see the beautiful thing you have in your pocket?” she asked. She was guessing about the pocket, but he wore no cloak and had nothing in his hands. Janice had used a silver spoon, maybe Eckhart would be carrying something similar.

Eckart hesitated.

Ava was sorry she had no thread and fabric on her. She had come straight down from her rooms, still in the green silk dress, and it had no pockets.

It left her not exactly defenceless, but she had no thread to work, no way to counter whatever spell was exerting its influence over Eckart.

Because if there was nothing in his pocket, if he wasn’t enspelled, he would have already said so.

He put a hand in his pocket, a frown on his face, and pulled out a fork.

He looked at it for a moment, the expression in his eyes one of wonder, and then he threw the fork at her.

She had enough protections to slide out of the way, so it hit the wall with a ting and clattered to the floor.

She was tempted to trap it under her shoe, but she couldn’t remember if the spoon Janice had thrown this afternoon had touched the skin of the diplomat it had killed. She had a feeling it hadn’t.

The magic might be able to affect her, even through her sole, so she stepped clear of it.

“You found the wagon driver,” she said.

Eckhart blinked. “Did I?” He ran a hand over his face and then spun slowly in place, as if trying to orientate himself. “I can’t remember.”

“What does the fork do?” The spoon had killed the diplomat instantly, but if this was meant for her, then maybe it wasn’t lethal. So far the Speaker of the Grimwalt court had tried to take her alive. She was no use to him dead.

“The fork?” He blinked at her. “What fork?”

She pointed to it, and he stared at it for a long time. “Rafe said to look out for magical utensils. He made it sound funny.”

“They spelled you to throw it at me.” Or was it at her? Perhaps it was meant for someone else. Especially if it was deadly.

The general, perhaps? Or Luc?

It was common knowledge that Luc was the head of the Rising Wave. It would have been him Eckhart would have come to if he hadn’t left for the border. If whoever had given Eckhart the fork hadn’t realized Luc had left the city, it could have been a ploy to get rid of one of her most powerful lines of defence.

Eckhart wanted to argue that he hadn’t been spelled. She could see it in the way his lips pursed in a mulish slant. But the fork lay there, and eventually he closed his eyes. “What happened?”

“What do you remember?” She had seldom had a chance to ask someone what they recalled from a spell casting. Most of the workings she gave her friends and allies were protective, passive in that they demanded nothing from their recipients, but the ones where she forced people to act against their will, she had never had the chance to ask them what they thought was happening at the time.

“I was asking after a wagon driver. I was a little annoyed, because I had a lot of other work to do. More important work, I thought.” He sent her an apologetic glance. “The staff seemed to be confused about who was staying there. The Grimwaldians had taken rooms there, Frederik had been watching them for a couple of hours from across the street, so it seemed strange that they would say there were no Grimwaldians in lodgings.” He rubbed the back of his head. “The innkeeper and her family were spelled, too?”

Ava nodded. “Probably.”

“And then I spoke to someone . . .” he trailed off again, and for the first time, she saw fear in his eyes. “I don’t remember anything about it, except that I knew I was finished my work. That I could go report in, because everything was sorted out.”

“When did this happen?” She hadn’t expected that.

“It was dark, like it is now.” Eckhart rubbed his chest. “I don’t know.” His gaze went back to the fork. “What do we do with that?”

“Handle it with care.”

“The magic will fade in time, won’t it?” Eckhart asked.

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