Page 225 of Night's Fall
“Do you think he’s that insane?”Iasked, my voice pitched high, becauseIfor sure thought he was.
“WhatIknow is, his mother was, and still is, ambitious.QueenTatradid everything she could to oust the female that was in her way in order to claim her position.Shesucceeded in this endeavor.Partof this was so she could be queen.Partof it was so she could be mother to a future king and continue to hold some power because she was.Shethen spentArnaud’swhole life teaching him the same.Poweris a drug.Somebelieve status should be protected at all costs.Addhis need to assuage his aberrant tendencies, which includes having the power to satisfy these urges with no repudiation, and yes.Ithink he’s that insane.”
Cold had invaded my insides afterAlekseilaid me in bed whenI’dcried myself out, and he’d left me to learn more about what was going on.
That cold, right now, got so, so much colder.
“Historically,Sky’sEdgeandNight’sFallhave been enemies, andDawn’sBreakhas been their ally,”Ireminded him. “Aninvasion ofDawn’sBreakby theEdgewould seem entirely out of the blue.”
“They’re the better target.Witchesand conjurers, for the most part, are peaceful people.Althoughthere has been some bad blood throughout history, especially withLand’sEnd, it was their alliance with demons, or at times shifters that helped them win wars.Ifnot for us, there would be noDawn’sBreak.”
“But we don’t war all the time anymore, so anyone would see through his scheme.”
“Perhaps.ThoughIintroduced the bill in theCenterthat would keepArnaudfrom his supposed love,PrinceBainonof theBreakhas been far more vocal about his revulsion ofArnaud’stendencies.”
I couldn’t sayI’dmissed this.Therewas no love lost between those two.Arnaudoften took potshots atBainonas well, though, to my way of thinking, with a lot less success.Bainonwas nearly as gorgeous asAleksei(nearly), and although a bit of a playboy, he was respected among the realms.
I just didn’t think their enmity might lead to war.
“We cannot, and are not, discounting the idea that he might also, or instead, be considering invadingNight’sFall,”Alekseiconcluded.
Dear gods!
“So this whole thing is?—”
“Yes,Laura.Thiswhole thing may well be an elaborate distraction.”
“Which means?—”
“There might be a possibility you were not the intended target today.We’resupposed to think that, but they killed who they intended to kill.Assuch, their mission succeeded.Night’sFallis glued to their displays, and beyond, in all four realms, it’s probably mostly the same.Theoriesare flooding the tapes.Andin a few days, all eyes will be on thePalace, because theMasqueis being thrown.AndArnaudas well asTanynandDagsbrun, and incidentally,Anna, are all coming.”
Surely, after what happened that day, theMasquewould be cancelled.
I didn’t get into that, because my temper was rising, temporarily beating out my fear. “SoAnthemewas just a pawn.”
“No,” he growled. “Ididn’t lie earlier.Anthemewas a hero.Shetook that blast thinking it was meant for you.Butwhoever is behind this thinks she was,Laura, and ifIdiscover what the top minds in our law enforcement and intelligence communities are considering to be true, our dragons will fly, and it will be me leading the bank.”
He was serious.
Deadly serious.
The purple in his eyes and the vein pulsing in his forehead told me so.
This meantIwas still angry, but that wasn’t winning out anymore.
BecauseIwas also scared.
No.
I wasn’t scared.
I was terrified.
* * *
It wasGermaine’sidea (naturally), and it was a good one (also, althoughIhated to admit it, naturally).
And therefore, an hour afterAleksei’sand my chat in bed,Ihad to do triple duty with myMedi-Aid(for bloodshot eyes and swelling), my spa-visor (for blotchiness and also swelling), and myUltraPaint, programming my mane-mate to arrange my hair in a simple ponytail at my nape.
