Page 44 of Furever Loyal
Haley did her best to clamp down her skepticism when she spoke, but even so, much of it slipped through. “How do you plan on doing that? We’re trapped in a jail cell and they just beat the shit out of you,” she stated bluntly.
“This?” Kincaid said, gesturing at his body. “Just an exotic massage. Nothing to worry about. I can heal up pretty quickly. You might be surprised.”
She nodded. “Okay. And getting us out of here?”
Kincaid seemed to wilt a little. “I’m working on that still.” He sighed. “It would have been so much easier if I could have just spoken to the Queen. If I could have told her.”
He nearly jumped when a voice spoke from the shadows outside the cells. “If you could have told her what?”
22
Haley squeaked in surprise as Kaelyn emerged, standing just on the other side of the cell, the dim light just barely illuminating her hard features.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed, unable to remain quiet.
The Queen glanced at Kincaid, and Haley saw something go unspoken between the two of them. A question, from Kaelyn to Kincaid, a question about her, about Haley. What, though? What was it? She tried to analyze the Queen’s expression but it was too obscure, Kaelyn’s face already returning to neutral as she awaited the answer.
“She knows enough, it’s fine,” Kincaid said at last.
“What’s fine?” Haley interjected, not content to let this be a two-way conversation where she was only informed of half of it.
“I know well enough what’s going on,” Kaelyn said. “Enough to know that Kincaid here is innocent of any wrongdoing.”
“Good! Well, why don’t you wave your wand, use your power and get us out of here?” Haley was still smarting from the way the Queen had treated her in the Throne Room earlier, letting her be dragged off and tossed into a jail cell like a common criminal.
“I can’t,” Kaelyn said softly. “I’ve been on your side all along, but I must act the part, my dear Haley. I must appear to be neutral. Things are far more complicated than you can understand, my position not nearly as unassailable as I, or you, would like to believe. There are those in my own House who move against me. Who plot in the shadows. Some do it for their own gain, seeking to supplant me or to put their puppet in my place. That is normal politics. I can handle those.”
She looked away, and Haley sensed a burning shame replacing the bitter anger she’d sensed until then.
“It’s the traitors you can’t handle,” she said softly.
“I would show you how well I can handle them,” Kaelyn growled. “If we could determine who they are.”
“Well, Kvoss certainly seems like a likely place to start. Or am I the only one who seems to think that?”
“No. Kvoss is loyal,” Kincaid said.
“Loyal?” Haley gasped. “Look at what he did to you? How can you call that loyal?”
“Because it is,” Kaelyn finished. “He is doing what he believes is right. To Kvoss, Kincaid here is the traitor. The evidence all points to it, even if Kvoss isn’t sure how the evidence ended up in his hands.”
“So, he’s covering for someone?” Haley said, looking back and forth, trying to understand how they could believe this.
“No. He said it was sent to him via an anonymous email. But as you already know, itdoesexist, even if Kincaid had nothing to do with it. No,” Kaelyn said. “Kvoss is loyal to the House, his only fault is being less than imaginative in some scenarios. Send him out to do his job, and he’s creative to a fault. This, unfortunately, is not his job, and he doesn’t believe in complicated plots like this.”
“Right. So, you can’t side with us, you have no clue who is behind it, and you have two loyal men fighting with each other over it.” Haley thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “That about sums up your position, doesn’t it?”
Kaelyn, to her credit, looked somewhat chagrined. “Yes. Unfortunately, I must play along and act according to the politics of the situation, even if I would much rather strong-arm my way through it. I just recently forced my Title Holders to accept a newcomer and bulldozed my way into that, in a way. Now I must act with more tact. I am sorry, Haley.”
She sniffed. “There seems to be a lot of that going on lately.”
The Queen’s eyes flicked between her and Kincaid. “Maybe that’s a good thing. Perhaps now, the two of you can finally make a team and get this solved.Beforethe House devolves into more combat and division and more people are killed.”
Haley opened her mouth to ask what the hell Kaelyn meant bymorepeople killed, but the window was gone. Judging by the look on her face, the Queen was back, and it was time to get down to business. Personal talk would have to wait.
She made a mental note to ask that question, along with asking just what that look between her and Kincaid had been all about.
“What do you know?” the Queen asked.
