Page 85 of With Wing And Claw

She had one moment to wonder what sort of idiot would voluntarily intrude on a High Lady’s meeting, and another to wonder why Naxi hadn’t yet intervened; then her eyes adjusted to the sunlight and she recognised the golden wings of the newcomer above, the dark skin, the glimmer of too many bargain marks to count.

Silas.

Gods help her – what was he doinghere?

Her uncle landed with a grace that did not fit the sheer bulk of him, granting the company no more than a stoic nod as he folded his wings and tidied his plain white shirt. There was no sense of awkwardness in his bearing, no trace of apology in his expression. If Thysandra hadn’t known any better, she might have thought he truly had no clue he was interfering with her plans … but no, he’d survived at the Crimson Court for longer than a week in his heyday. Thathadto mean he understood the concept of private gatherings, didn’t it?

‘Morning?’ she said, settling for a pointedly inquiring tone in the hope that he’d get the message and excuse himself.

He did not.

‘Morning, Thys. Morning, everyone.’ If anything, he settled himself more firmly in the grass as he crossed his arms over his broad chest and glanced around the circle – gaze lingering a moment too long on the boxwood hedge behind which Naxi was pretending to be an exceptionally large flower. ‘Glad to happen across you all together. Would love to hear a little more about yesterday’s events.’

What?

This was not the plan – this was not atallthe plan – and it took all she had to keep her voice level as she coldly said, ‘Why, exactly?’

There was no venom in his raised eyebrows. ‘I might be able to help, for a start.’

Hell take her.

What game was he playing, this male who was still a stranger beneath the familiar surface? He wasn’t here to hurt her, or at least that hadn’t yet been his plan when they left Ilithia … but that was a meagre reassurance when she had not the faintest clue why hehadcome with her to the court, or what his needs and wants might be. How was she supposed to deal with him if she had no idea of his goals and even less idea of how to be a necessary presence to him?

But before she could respond, Nicanor gave a soft, joyless laugh and sank down on the nearest bench, flicking his silvery hair over his shoulder. ‘Who knows? A few more well-aimed bargains might be just what we need to clear up this unfortunatesituation.’

And just like that, there was no opening left to send her uncle on his way again.

The deadlock broken, Gadyon plopped down next to Nicanor, muttering an apology as his wing almost hit the other male in the face. Inga seemed to vacillate between fleeing and screaming for a moment, then reached a compromise by settling herself in the grass by the path. Only Silas himself remained standing by Thysandra’s side – a jarring, unmoving presence in the corner of her eye no matter how hard she tried to pull herself together.

Did she have to change anything about her plan? Was there anything she did not want to reach his ears – any risks she was overlooking?

‘So what were you hoping to hear from us, Your Majesty?’ Nicanor broke the silence – far, far too soon. As gracefully as he crossed his ankles and leaned back on his cast-iron bench, she was painfully sure his blue eyes looked straight through her crumbling mask. ‘As much as I want your questions answered … well, I’m sure I don’t need to point out to you that both Gadyon and I have made bargains to explicitly prevent this sort of thing?’

Thysandra drew in a breath.

That, it turned out, was too much of a pause.

‘Oh, of course,’ Inga snapped, lip curled into a furious sneer, eyes blazing with spite when Thysandra jerked around to face her. The girl’s gaze was making good attempts to draw blood from Nicanor’s whetted features. ‘We’re back to blaming the humans, I see? How fucking convenient, for you to—’

‘I’m notblaminganyone,’ Thysandra sharply cut in, casting a quick glance around the gardens before aiming her glare back at her quarrelling allies. Avoiding eavesdroppers was a hell of a lot harder if the conversation evolved into a shouting contest. ‘As I said before, I want to know what happened more than I want to punish anyone for the situation. I’m looking for information, not accusations.’

Inga scoffed. ‘You’ll have to ask someone else, then. I know as little as you do.’

Which did sound genuine, it really did – and hell, it wouldn’t makesensefor the girl to have betrayed the information, would it? Not whenshe would have known damn well that it would put her and her fellow humans in immediate danger. On the other hand …

Who else?

Even without their bargains, Nicanor would never have brought such failure and humiliation upon himself, and it seemed unlikely Gadyon would deliberately have put the archives in danger. Could it have been an accident, then? But these were experienced fae, who had survived at the Crimson Court for centuries; surely they would know better than to accidentally leak anything?

Vicious circles. She’d spent half the night trying to find a way out of them.

‘And you’re very sure …’ It felt like prodding an open wound, to continue her line of questioning in the face of those frightened grey eyes. But words led to feelings, and feelings were her best way out of this ridiculous impasse – so Thysandra steeled herself, cleared her throat, and started again. ‘You’re very sure you didn’t mention it to any of your family members, either? Even if they are family members you trust? It could have been as little as—’

‘I didnottalk,’ Inga snapped, shoulders hunched up towards her pointed ears. Her gaze darted around the circle of fae like that of a rabbit caught between wolves. ‘I’m half human, for fuck’s sake, not half-witted. I know how rumours spread, Your Majesty.’

‘There are arguments against the notion of human involvement as well,’ Silas unexpectedly cut in, his voice too flat, too thoughtful, to make it sound like he was arguing. ‘For example, it does seem unlikely that a human killed Iaris to cover up their involvement in any schemes.’

‘Oh, I agree,’ Nicanor said, throwing the Bargainer a look that came closer to gratitude than anything Thysandra had ever seen from him. ‘It stands to reason that whoever killed Iaris was fae. My hypothesis would be that someone,somehow, caught a whiff of the story, told one of the most notorious gossips at court to make sure the news would spread fast, then ended her to protect their identity. That person might have heard humans talking about the matter, or they might have gained the information’ – he grimaced, his glance at Inga a tangible riskassessment – ‘well, in some other way. That I haven’t quite been able to figure out yet, admittedly.’

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