Page 89 of Decoy

The princess led us up the remainder of the steps to a tucked-away parlor for our impending conversation. It seemed like a waste of time to present our clues rather than confront the advisor directly, but the addition of numbers and magic made it necessary to create a more detailed plan.

Princess Evelyn and Prince Ryland took the seats across from us, with Guard Silas hovering protectively on her other side. Luke mirrored his position and stood at my shoulder as I settled in the settee. Her Highness straightened in a show of royalty I’d never managed to achieve throughout the entire charade, causing me to instinctively correct my own posture.

“Please lay out your evidence pointing to whom you believe to be the one responsible for the threat against my life.” At my hesitation, the princess narrowed her eyes. “Don’t tell me your close progress to uncovering the one responsible was merely a bluff to secure a guaranteed pardon.”

I bit my tongue to hold back the biting retort my offense tempted me to bestow. “I’m simply considering the most delicate way to broach our findings.”

“So it’s a name I’m familiar with.” She seemed saddened by the thought. “These past several weeks have been a whirlwind of the unexpected—especially losing my identity and family only to have them reinstated, along with the magic I’ve spent a lifetime waiting for. As such, nothing can surprise me anymore.” She met my gaze expectantly, waiting.

Though still a bit apprehensive, I accepted her invitation. “We believe Sir Rupert to be the threat after your life.”

The name elicited an audible gasp from Guard Silas. The princess’s mouth fell agape. “He’s my parents’ closest advisor. Are you absolutely certain?”

I nodded, and though she maintained her poise, disappointment whirled in her bulging eyes.

“His was admittedly not a name I expected.” She bowed her head and remained in this position for several moments before straightening with her previous regal air. “Implicating a man in such a position would require ample evidence, which I assume you’ve acquired in order to make such a blatant claim?”

We spent the next several minutes providing it in detail, first presenting the more abstract pieces that needed to be taken at our word—such as his lying about the prophecy, his proximity that allowed him to poison my tea the evening Luke drank it on my behalf, and finally his breaking our agreement and subsequently throwing me in the dungeon—to the more concrete, including his connections with the assassins after both of our lives.

Naturally, as the heir Princess Evelyn was already aware of Sir Rupert’s ties to the line of succession. Of all the information we presented, it was the dubious financial dealings she seemed particularly interested in. She studied the document for several minutes, going over each page carefully before finally looking up.

“Some time ago I found most of this information detailing discrepancies in our financial records, though my findings weren’t directly connected to Sir Rupert. As such I presented my suspicions to him without any idea he was actually the one responsible.”

I frowned. “You didn’t pursue the matter any further?”

“There was little time. I struggle with attentiveness as well as confidence, so I wasn’t certain enough in my findings to delve deeper…so instead, I handed the task over to him to bring to my parents.” Her thumb fiddled with the edges of the document as she studied it again. “Upon discovering it, I didn’t realize just how condemning this information was. If I had, I might have followed up…but it was shortly afterwards I was informed I was a decoy and sent away from the palace.”

I doubted that inconvenient timing was coincidence. “What of his connection to the throne?”

“That’s admittedly a rather recent discovery,” she explained. “It was only a few months ago that we discovered his father had a blood claim we hadn’t previously been aware of, a connection discovered through a will found buried in the royal records.”

Another useful tidbit. Perhaps it hadn’t been such a bad idea to involve the princess; her assistance would fill in the gaps in our own still incomplete plan.

I settled back in my seat to consider this new information, tracing my thoughts back to every clue. Embezzling funds and selling national secrets were definitely enough to get even the king’s closest advisor fired and even charge him for treason, a sentence I knew all too well resulted in a death sentence.

Sir Rupert had obviously been unaware of how little the princess had discovered of his dubious deeds, yet had still taken the necessary precaution to prevent even her limited understanding from reaching the king and queen by choosing to silence her with the added benefit of putting him in line to inherit the crown in her place…a decision that had likely been what triggered the prophecy.

Unfortunately, all of this remained mere speculation; we needed a direct confession, one which Sir Rupert seemed too sly to give even if we presented him and Their Majesties with the evidence we’d discovered. We needed to catch him with something far more condemning, and for that we’d need to lure him into a trap.

As for how to do this, I remained at a loss. Thankfully, Luke had plenty of experiencing in utilizing ingenious methods to snare his prey. “There is one method to effectively capture him…but it’ll require cooperation from Her Highness.”

The challenge glistening in his eyes looked far different than what he’d given me throughout our own relationship—those had been playful, whereas the sharp look filling his eyes now was outright hostile. Just what did he have in mind?

She didn’t shrink under the force of his stare. “I will cooperate with any proposal that results in Sir Rupert’s capture.”

“Excellent, for you are the only one who can serve as bait to catch him in the very act of attempting to kill you.”

Her eyes rounded, but before she could respond to Luke’s ridiculous suggestion, both Prince Ryland and Guard Silas leapt forward with an empathic, “No!”

The prince’s glare in particular was outright deadly. “Over my dead body will you put the princess in such danger.”

Luke raised an eyebrow. “Challenging me with such high stakes? Are you really willing to gamble the princess’s life with the one whose skills could easily kill her? I would never do anything to risk the life of the oneIcare about.” He rested his hand on my shoulder. “Be assured that despite what you might believe, I’m not foolish enough to forget the punishment should I be responsible for the crown princess’s death.”

I spared him a wary glance. “I take it your plans ensure the princess’s safety?”

“Naturally.” A hint of teasing filled our exchanged glance. “Based on your own investigation methods, I would have thought you’d approve of baiting the threat.”

I had little faith in a method that had failed to yield me any result, but that had likely been due to the fact the threat hadn’t been amongst my chosen suspects.

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