Page 135 of Fate's Sweetest Curse
I couldn’t tell if that was a compliment or a threat. As evidenced by my attempted murder nine years ago, patriotism could make people do extreme things—and I’d been sent to Poe before I learned exactly where Brendan fell on that spectrum.
I set my jaw, refusing to appear afraid.Court face, Hattie.
“In any case,” I continued, maintaining an air of sass, “I’mherebecause of you. Which brings us back to the question: what areyoudoing camped on the Fenriran side of the border?”
“It’s uncommon for captains to reveal sensitive information to prisoners,” Brendan replied blandly.
“So, Iamyour prisoner, then.”
“Only if you don’t comply.”
I smirked, unamused. “My guess is that you’re here because the Lord of Fenrir is plotting against Marona,” I said, thoroughly enjoying the way his eyes widened. Another thing about Brendan: he always underestimated my wit. “Am I wrong?”
He bit down on another grape. When he swallowed, his Oath tattoo shifted up, then down. “Fenrir has had a long line of egotistical Lords.”
“Must be in the water,” I quipped.
Brendan stiffened.Huh.
I traced my fingers along the etched edge of the glass bowl of truffles. “So, Fenrir has been experimenting. Trying to amass power to overthrow Marona’s hold,” I said. “But Lord Haron made a mistake, altered nature—”
“Hattie,” Brendan warned, clearly surprised by what I knew.
I wiggled the fingers of my injured arm, reminding him of what I’d encountered. There was no doubt in my mind that Henren had just reported to Brendan the full extent of tonight’s happenings.
“My theory is that you’re camped here because of an impending conflict,” I said. “Perhaps also to keep the curse from spreading into Marona. And in the meantime, this is a convenient place to conduct missions into Fenrir’s capital.” I paused, thoroughly enjoying the dumbstruck look on his face. “How am I doing?”
“You don’t know what you’re meddling with, Hattie.”
“Yet I’m close, aren’t I?” I taunted. “Folks love telling me not to meddle. Love to underestimate me, too. But I’ve always been a curious person.” I gave Brendan my most thoughtful frown. “Here’s what I don’t understand: whykillthe alchemists who are trying to clean up Lord Haron’s mess?”
Brendan paused with a grape halfway between the platter and his mouth. “Clean up?”
I waved my good hand dismissively. “Contain. Cure. Whatever you’d like to call it.”
Brendan dropped the grape and braced both hands on the table; one of the nearby oil lamps illuminated the underside of his chin, cheeks, and eyes, giving his face a menacing appearance. “Solve,” he said. “That’s what I would call it.”
As in: solve the mission of Noble’s former Order.
But how could that be? Phina might’ve kept us in the dark about the origins of the study, but it’d been clear from the beginning that herresearch was meant toundothe curse, not solve the problem and succeed in the Lord’s designs.
Right?
She had never explicitlytoldme the study’s purpose, though, had she? I’d just assumed.
Brendan stood tall again, folding his big arms across his golden breastplate. “Interesting,” he said, easily reading my surprise. “They’ve kept you in the dark, then. Can’t say I’m not relieved to learn that you weren’twillfullya part of a program to create…well…” He pointed at my arm, which was apparently our code for that which he could not speak.
“Nonetheless,” Brendan went on, circling around the side of the table, “youarecomplicit in the crimes of Fenrir. Sending assassins to a school isn’t ideal, but we’re on the verge of war, Hattie, and drastic measures must be taken to secure the future of our kingdom.”
“You’re lying,” I said.
“I am not,” he assured me, and—
—and I couldn’t bring myself to doubt him.
The truth of the matter was,Ihad been looking for a cure, but who’s to say that the moment I found one, it wouldn’t have been used to further Lord Haron’s twisted research? After all, containing the curse was likely just a step away fromcontrollingit. And the moment he and his Arcane Adepts succeeded in creating a curse they could control…the Fate of the Seven Territorieswouldbe at risk.
Had Phina been lying to us? Or was she in the dark, too?
