Page 64 of A Queen's Game
The life she lived prior was becoming a nightmare and a source of pain. Lies piled on lies from both Tilan and Keyain. A fool she was for trusting either, for wanting to believe them and never looking too deeply for the truth. If she ever could escape Satiros, she wouldn’t be such a fool again.
Marietta stood with her arms crossed before the bedroom windows when the suite’s door opened, followed by Keyain’s heavy footfalls. Golden light filled the bedroom as he entered, then a pause in his steps and a heavy sigh. Marietta didn’tbother turning around. The fight from the night before lingered between them.
Everything she had said was true. Between the two liars, Tilan made her feel more loved. Perhaps that was why it hurt so much. Her time with Keyain was fun and fast, but Tilan was her partner, ingrained in her social and work life. Tilan grounded her, gave her a foundation, a home to come back to after traveling. Keyain left for large chunks of time—apparently to be the Minister of Protection.
A knock at the door signaled the servants arriving with dinner. Keyain walked to the other room as the clattering of plates and silverware sounded. Marietta cautiously approached the doorway. Platters of baked fish, fresh flatbread, and an array of roasted vegetables permeated the air, tossing Marietta’s uneasy stomach. Still in her clothes from the night before, she watched as Keyain ate from the doorway.
With a glance, he acknowledged her, rolling his eyes. “Showing that little outfit again for me, huh?”
She crossed her arms, leaning against the door frame. All this time, Keyain knew Amryth’s wife died saving Marietta, and he still kept Amryth assigned to her. Gods, he lied when he said she was a handmaid. As she stared at Keyain, all she could do was frown.
“Either sit and eat or go lay down. I don’t care which,” he said, his eyes not leaving his plate.
“I know.” Her voice felt hollow and far away.
“Know what?” He tapped his fingers against the table.
“Amryth. She’s your soldier on your Elite Guard.”
“Yeah, not that hard to figure out.” He gave her a pointed, unimpressed look with raised brows.
“I know about her wife, too.”
“What about Deyra?” Keyain resumed eating, the conversation unimportant to him.
“I killed her. The night your soldiers took me, she was there. I killed her with a dagger.” The stillness of her voice surprised Marietta. Such a confession should have eased the weight, but Keyain’s obvious dismissal made it too much to bear.
“It’s not like you did it on purpose, Mar.” He spoke with food in his mouth, still looking at his plate.
He said it as if Deyra wasn’t his soldier, as if Amryth’s pain meant nothing. “No. And I guess you wouldn’t care.” Leaving Keyain to eat alone, she turned around and crawled into bed, falling into a restless sleep.
Days blurred together in a timeless void of Marietta’s thoughts. She spent most days in bed, waking up and wishing she hadn’t. Servants encouraged her to eat so she would eat a little. Every couple of days they would get her into that tub to bathe, get her to change into a new nightgown. But she wouldn’t speak, never smiled.
Why live when such a life condemned her? A chance to escape wouldn’t come, not when Keyain assigned Amryth to prevent such a thing. Even if Marietta escaped, how could she go back to Olkia and face the pain of Tilan’s lies? How many of her friends were in the Exisotis? How many of them knew Tilan married her for the Exisotis?
Everything had holes; everything caused suspicion. The times Tilan would step outside to smoke with a stranger at a tavern. The late nights at his smithy. When his acquaintances found out she was his wife, their attitudes had changed. Were they Exisotis too? Marietta had likely met many of the members but never knew.
It tainted her memories of Tilan, rotten with holes from the deceptions that she would never learn. The truth he could never share.
Was his happiness fake, too? Did he dread coming home to her every night to a woman the Exisotis forced him to marry? Perhaps he loved another woman. Was it her he wished to be with, and he had just pretended with Marietta?
Keyain was untrustworthy, but Marietta saw the documents. She saw how detailed the reports were. Queen Valeriya only solidified the truth by knowing Tilan’s name.
Tilan knew him—knew Keyain was a minister of Satiros. And the day Keyain nearly broke down Tilan’s apartment door to take Marietta, Tilan knew.
Tilan knew.
Tilan lied.
And lied.
And lied.
Marietta’s memories flipped before her until there was nothing else.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Marietta, Before
