Page 85 of MidKnight
“Did she say anything else?”
“She said a bit of fresh air always helps her clear her head.”
Malia was a sympathizer at the very least. She could be more. She could be recruiting for Rasle and Cheryn. For this shite rebellion against Sedara and their navy.
I nodded at Willard, “Well done, Willard.”
Willard’s eyes widened at the praise. It must have been rare for the bumbling idiot.
I walked off wondering what the hell Malia was playing at. I turned to one of the guards that always followed me like a shadow.
“Everyone knows that Willard’s playing spy for me, don’t they?”
The young man nodded solemnly. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
“The nobles, too?”
My guard nodded. “He’s not exactly subtle.”
“No, he’s not.”
I thanked the guard and turned back toward the stairs. As I climbed, I pondered what Malia was trying to tell me. Because she wasn’t an idiot. She knew Willard was his mother’s lapdog. And unless she lived under a rock, she’d heard by now that Willard was my informant. That meant her message wasn’t intended for Lady Agatha. It was intended for me.
She wanted me out of the castle shortly after dinner.
The question was, why?
The only way to know the answer was to go. Whether or not I went for an obvious stroll or went took an Invisibility potion was the question. I thought about that as I ascended the stairs.
I met my knights in my chamber. They had all cleaned up and gotten dressed for the formal dinner with the duchesses and Duke Aiden.
But Quinn looked stormy and the rest of the knights were arguing when I walked in.
“We can’t go! We’re expected to make an appearance,” Connor growled.
Quinn mind-yelled,I wasn’t saying all of us need to go. I can go.
“Where do you want to go?”
Quinn turned to me, his grey eyes flashing.One of my men says there’s a gathering in a pub down in the capital. He’s heard talk against Sedara. I think it’s related to whatever Isla and Raj are doing. Gathering the troops. I think they’re recruiting even in Evaness.
“Then you definitely need to go. I want to go, too,” I responded.
That caused an uproar.
“No,” Ryan flat-out denied me.
“There’s no real reason for you to go,” Declan argued.
“You have to stay for the dinner,” Connor’s face was shocked. “I can’t just explain your absence.”
Sard. Sard, sard, sard, I thought.
My gut twisted. They were good arguments. Logical arguments. But Isla and Raj were trying to start a rebellion and trying to drag my people into it. Once they attacked, Sedara was certain to drag the seven kingdoms of Kenmare into the fight.
I couldn’t stand by. I couldn’t just let them actively recruit my people into what might be a death trap. What would be a death trap for so many. War always was.
And I’d been fighting my instincts since Avia had been taken. I’d stayed and met with Isla when I’d wanted to hunt for my sister. I’d sat through an idiotic meeting with my nobles that was a shite waste of time. I’d sat on my hands and followed the rules long enough.
