Page 58 of Decoy

Luke’s heavy silence only confirmed my fears, providing a much-needed reminder of the dangerous game I played. While Luke had earned my tentative trust—whether by his own merits or because my years of loneliness had made me desperate to extend it to anyone, I wasn’t entirely certain—but that didn’t extend to his comrade.

“What reason does he have to help you when you’re currently going against your mission?”

His hold tightened around me as if with a subconscious desire to protect me, and I took it as an invitation to snuggle closer so that I melted against his body. “In regards to what we still need to learn about you and who’s after your life, I trust him. And should he break that trust…thankfully, your determined protector is the superior assassin.” The corner of his mouth lifted at my dubious expression. “Do you truly doubt me?”

“That depends on whether you have any new information for me. Do your merits as asuperior assassinextend to investigation?”

“Certainly, as I’m about to prove.”

He told me about everything he’d discovered—the mysterious absence of the guards, the key that allowed him to access my bedroom which my attacker had acquired either through ingenious theft or from someone within the palace, the silencing spell the assassin had been under that had killed him before any pertinent information could be extracted that narrowed his suspects to the upper circles of the government and nobles of the court who had access to Estoria’s magic.

From there we discussed various possibilities of who could have orchestrated the attack. Luke found the knowledge that higher government officials had access to some of the throne’s power quite surprising considering it wasn’t common knowledge.

“Do you have any idea who would go to such lengths to…silence you?”

Such a Luke way of delicately avoiding directly speaking of murder. “I don’t yet have enough experience with the court to have uncovered anything beyond the greed that serves as a motive for many of our possible suspects.”

“Then perhaps we can narrow it down to someone with opportunity,” he said. “With the lack of magic in the surrounding kingdoms, I doubt a visiting royal would have been able to enact a silencing spell on your attacker.”

Yet it was aroyalthat the prophecy claimed to be the one responsible. The prophecy’s contents had been a mere curiosity before, but now I felt an acute desire to listen to it for myself…which gave me even more incentive to access the royal treasury, the very setting where I’d been caught the first time.

“First, we must determinewhoin the palace has access to not only a master key but Estoria’s magic to cast such a spell.” Which would be a very small number if we could discover who fit those parameters.

Unfortunately, my preparation for my initial infiltration had been more concerned with the palace layout and movements of the guards than the details of the royal household. I felt my ignorance of the inner workings of the palace keenly.

I still made an effort to consider the matter. “I’d imagine the head housekeeper and captain of the guard are individuals worth investigating, along with some of the royal family’s most trusted advisors. Now we simply need to find a way of learning which positions grant them the magic needed to execute such an opportunity.”

“Which will be quite the task. It’s unfortunate you were raised outside the court.” But he didn’t seem to consider it an obstacle, rather another layer of challenge to overcome.

No matter how much we analyzed our clues we couldn’t come up with anything more than what we’d already discussed, for the additional information we needed could only come from the forbidden tomes we had yet to access. We made plans to conduct a more thorough investigation the following evening, and I took pleasure not in what we’d potentially discover but more in the fact that we’d conduct our investigationtogether.

Despite the exhaustion pressing against my senses from the late hour, I wasn’t ready for our conversation to end. As if he sensed my secret wish and shared it, Luke thankfully provided another topic. “Is the advisor still giving you a hard time?”

My stomach lurched as I remembered our most recent encounter just after dinner. Our unexpected kiss had distracted me from my purpose in acquiring anything substantial during our last conversation, instead dallying with the man as if something much less costly than my life was at stake.

“I was able to tell him about the poisoning and provide him with the information about its origins that I acquired during my own investigations earlier today, but nothing he deemed particularly useful.”

No matter how much information I gave him, the advisor never seemed satisfied. The life of the sole heir to Estoria’s throne being at stake was a more than adequate reason for his urgency. Yet even though I wasn’t the only one entrusted with the task of uncovering the mastermind after Her Highness’s life, Sir Rupert seemed particularly invested in my investigation. Yet despite the mission’s importance there seemed to be little to find, almost as if someone manipulated the investigation from behind the scenes…

…or that the threat itself had been fabricated. An illogical conclusion, especially after witnessing Their Majesties’ anxieties firsthand. I could think of no other purpose in having a prisoner act as a decoy, and yet something still felt…off, even if I couldn’t quite pinpoint what.

Luke’s gentle touch caressed the furrow between my brows. “Is something bothering you?”

I struggled to organize the chaos of my thoughts enough to adequately articulate my worries. “Though I don’t have evidence to prove my doubts beyond a nagging feeling, something seems amiss; I feel as if something more is going on.”

Luke seemed an expert in relying on hard facts rather than intuition in his own investigations, but to my relief, he didn’t immediately dismiss my concerns.

“Instinct is one of the most fundamental guiding forces in any mission, so it’s important to trust your own and explore them until you understand what they might mean. Is there anything in particular that has fueled these doubts?”

“Nothing substantial other than the fact that such an important investigation seems to rest solely on my inexperienced shoulders, and with how difficult clues are to come by, it seems well beyond my mediocre abilities.”

He frowned. “That does seem like a strange responsibility for a princess.”

His previous suspicions that had accumulated during our previous interactions seemed to deepen. He looked like he wanted to ask more; if in this moment while we sat so closely working together to piece together the scattered clues he’d questioned my royalty status, I’d have told him the truth.

My defenses had faltered more than I’d realized. I needed to be more careful considering I wasn’t out of danger…and yet my gaze involuntarily flickered down to Luke’s lips before I hastily looked away, my subconscious defense to protecting my secrets.No distractions.

His tender touch hooked beneath my chin to tilt my gaze up to meet his. “Is there something you need to tell me?”

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