Page 54 of The King's Man 4

“They were sick that day. You couldn’t be sure what kind of man your cousin is. So at the dance house, aware Quin—Constantinos had followed, you left him to the commander to feel out.”

“Blood is thick with betrayal in my experience. I’m unsure who in the royal court I can trust. Including the king.” She eyes me sharply. “You were at the dance house?”

“Feeling you out.”

She laughs dryly. “And?”

“The puzzle I first put together has come apart and is reforming rapidly.” I frown. “The commander...”

“What about me?”

I swing around and my gaze narrows on his confident gait into the secret room and to Princessa Liana’s side, where he quietly asks if she’s well. She nods, and I look between them to the redcloak prone on the bed, and back to the stacked life-prolonging spell swirling in Princessa Liana’s cupped hand. The commander hovers his hand over it and uses his magic the same way Florentius did when testing the quality of my spells. I recognise one of the layers. The essence of echowisp seeds. I recall Eparchess Juliana buying them; the same flower used to frame Nicostratus. But of course, apart from its poisonous petals, its seeds are well known to increase strength and stamina. It would aid someone suspended between life and death.

Commander Thalassios nods, lowers his hand, and gestures for the princessa to continue.

Not the behaviour of a murderer.Unless this redcloak’s death had been accidental.

The commander looks over my shoulder at Quin; he inclines his head respectfully. “No doubt you have questions,” he says.

Quin returns, “Caelus here is quite capable of asking them.”

The commander looks at me; I square my shoulders, step forward, and speak bluntly. “Your father was killed by the town the refugees came from.”

His reaction, as intended, is sharp. His gaze darkens. “He was.”

Dark wisps leak from him.

“Did you poison the refugees in retribution?”

“I was extremely angry, but not at the townspeople. At my father.”

I bolt. “Your father?”

“He was a cruel, vicious man. I was barely twelve, and he’d nearly killed me multiple times. When the townspeople found out how he’d torture me, they worked together. A secret they’ve kept since.”

That’s why no one mentioned it voluntarily. They must keep their mouths shut, or be held accountable for this death. “You donated porridge out of respect for them? Thanks?”

“I’ll do more.”

“Like inviting them to watch this game?” Was my intuition wrong? Are the refugees here out of gratitude?

“I didn’t invite them.”

My relaxing shoulders stiffen again. I pull out the list of donors from my belt. “Why do you have this list?”

“I copied it. Like you, we’re trying to get to the bottom of this.”

I look from the commander to the princessa, who’s pouring the last of the spell into the redcloak. “How did he end up down here? Why are you working so hard to keep him alive?”

“We were too late to save the others,” the commander said. “Juliana had come to the outpost to discuss something with me. We were walking the perimeter when we saw them on the ground. The others were dead, only Paxos was clinging to his last breath. When he coughed up her real title, we went cold. No one is supposed to know her identity here. There’s a reason she wears a mask; why she’s designed a mysterious background. It became imperative we save him. We suspended him like this, between life and death. We’ve exhausted ourselves trying to find a cure. We must find out what he knows.”

He stops suddenly.

“Or?” I ask.

Princessa Liana staggers back from her spell and the commander steadies her. She lifts her head and stares at Quin.

“Or all the witnesses involved in the earthshakes that I’ve found and hidden may be compromised.”

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