Page 34 of Oaths & Vengeance
It had to be serious for him to want to come into the garden, risking life and limb.
“Give me a minute.” I glanced at my most cantankerous flora. “It’s going to take a bit of coercion before they’ll let you through without a fight. They’re rather protective of me.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
I couldn’t argue the point, so I turned and put my hands on my hips. “All of you plants listen to me. My cousin is coming inside here for a visit, and I insist that none of you harass or harm him. If any of you do, I will pluck you out of the ground, chop you up, and feed you to whichever animal’s dietary preference you meet. Nod if you understand.”
As I ran my gaze around the garden, each sentient plant gave me an affirmative gesture. I supposed it helped that I’d already carried through with my threat earlier on one of them. That was still fresh in their leafy minds.
I took Tadeus’ arm and guided him inside. The most worrisome part was getting him past the crunchertraps, but thankfully, they could be obedient when they felt like it. The plants near them were passive to avoid conflict. Then, we moved past the tract vines spaced out with three on each side. They were tricky. They only had two moods—friendly and deadly. To my relief, their flowers swayed in a gentle greeting.
We stopped near the back, where I kept a table and a workbench. Though Tadeus was in one of his nicer blue tunics and black pants, he didn’t hesitate to sit. Thankfully, he wasn’t averse to getting dirty when the situation required it.
“Water?” I asked, gesturing toward the pitcher and cup a servant had delivered to the safety of the entry arch earlier. It was hitting the warmest part of the afternoon. Spring liked to throw in hot days like this to prepare us for what was to come.
He nodded. “That would be great.”
I refilled the cup I’d been using. If it bothered Tadeus to drink from mine, he didn’t show it. He simply guzzled the water down, clearly thirsty. “Did you come straight here when you returned?”
“Yes,” he said, setting the cup down. “I knew you’d be in here avoiding my father.”
“More like avoiding everyone, but certainly him, too.”
My cousin grew quiet, broodier than usual. “I think father is up to something bad…very bad.”
I strained my ears to check our surroundings. Thanks to the high walls, noise didn’t carry well, but the kitchen staff often came out during the hottest parts of the day to do some of their work where they could catch a breeze. That happened to be on the other side of the garden on the north end where we sat closest. As of now, I couldn’t hear anyone over there.
“Why do you think your father is up to something bad?” I asked, keeping my voice low.
He shook his head and followed my lead with his tone. “I’ve just overheard small pieces of information that don’t make sense, but I know marrying you off quickly is part of his plot. He’s desperate to get you off the market, as it were, and with someone he can control.”
I wished I could tell him it was too late for that. The trouble was that while we’d always had each other’s backs, I’d never confided with him about some of my extreme activities. That was a step too risky to take. I was terrified of anyone finding out about my deal with Darrow and my uncle either locking me up permanently or killing me to keep me out of enemy hands. Even if he kept the secret, he could say the wrong thing in front of his brother and get caught in a lie.
“Well, at least he can’t force me to marry Elgord,” I said, sighing.
He nodded. “I was really worried about that, so I started checking into ways to save you from it. Almost anyone would be better for you than that elf. That’s how I spent my days in Maradeyn while I was gone, and I even went to Porrine, trying to find a way around your curse mark since you could flee if you didn’t have that. Everyone said it was impossible.”
“Thanks for trying,” I said, touched that he’d gone to those lengths for me. Little did he know that even Darrow and the king couldn’t find a simple way to resolve it.
He shrugged. “It didn’t do any good.”
“Any idea what your father is planning?” I asked.
His ocean-blue eyes met mine. “Something big. I think that week he was gone inspecting villages was more than it seemed, and I overheard him mention he met with someone named Vaslav.”
“That’s an unusual name.” It certainly wasn’t common in Therress or even one I’d heard while at the Court of Porrine.
“Anyway, just be…” he trailed off and stood, slowly maneuvering toward the northwest corner of my garden with his gaze on the stones there.
I went rigid, realizing I forgot to have the vines cover that section before he entered. It was another of those big secrets I’d never told him because I didn’t want to risk losing a portal ring that had taken me so much time and funds to build.
Tadeus stood over it with shock in his gaze. “How long have you had this here?”
“Well, uh…” I got up and moved closer to him. “A long time, but you can’t tell anyone.”
He shook his head. “You could have trusted me with this. No one understands better than I do how my father would react if he discovered this, and I know you must feel trapped. If this gives you a chance to escape every now and then for a while, I can’t blame you in the least.”
“Really?” I badly wanted to believe him.
