Page 13 of The King's Sword
“I think it’s safe to conclude that King Rainer is planning to go to war,” Thad said. “We have seen his boats filled with soldiers off the coast of Carlon. We now have proof he is stealing Bakley children, using that as a reason for Bakley to align with Lynk. He intends to take over all the land.”
This was the first Sabine had heard about the boats.
Evander stood and went to the hearth, returning a moment later with two steaming mugs filled to the brim with tea. He set one in front of Sabine.
“The point of the League is to prevent wars,” Seth pointed out. “I’m not sure how we can stop this one.”
Sabine had seen nothing in Lynk to support any of this. Although, now that she was looking at things differently, she had witnessed Rainer training with his soldiers. However, she’d assumed that was something he did all the time.
“I don’t know what this means for Bakley,” Otto said. “We already have Lynk soldiers in my kingdom. Rainer could easily take control.”
Sabine took hold of Otto’s hand, squeezing it. “I won’t let him hurt any of you.” Although she didn’t know how much power she held over Rainer, if any. Another thought occurred to her. “Where does Avoni fit into this?”
“When I was in Lynk, Rainer asked me to marry Lottie,” Evander revealed.
Then Rainer knew who Evander was.
“My guess is Rainer wants Avoni under his thumb in the same way he wants Bakley controlled,” Evander said.
“What did you tell him?” Sabine asked.
“I haven’t given him an answer yet. He simply proposed the match. I must discuss it with my father first.”
She nodded, clutching her hands together, unable to look at anyone.
“What’s the matter?” Evander asked.
She shook her head.
“You can tell him,” Otto said. “We hold no secrets here. Each of us is required to speak the truth when we meet in this house.”
Sabine took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Then she said, “Lottie arranged for Alina’s death. She’s the person responsible for killing my sister.” Lottie had to be brought to justice, not sold off in marriage to another kingdom.
“Are you certain?” Evander asked.
Someone banged on the front door. “Are we expecting anyone else?” Sabine inquired.
“The only person it could be is Anton,” Seth muttered as he got up and left the table.
Sabine looked Evander directly in the eyes. “Yes, I’m certain. I heard Lottie speaking with the Avoni assassin she hired. They were discussing his disastrous attempt to kill me and how the next time he couldn’t fail. They planted evidence in the Avoni delegation’s quarters to make it look like Avoni was responsible for Alina’s death.”
Evander’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know this?”
“I, uh…was in the Avoni rooms when they came in to plant the evidence. I overheard them.” She ducked her head.
“You did what?” Otto asked, his voice high-pitched.
“Why were you in there?” Evander asked, his voice as cool as water on a crisp fall day.
“I was searching for my sister’s killer.”
“In the Avoni delegation’s rooms?” He placed his palms flat on the table.
She chose not to answer that. “When they left, I grabbed the evidence and returned to the masquerade in search of Rainer. I wanted to tell him his sister was trying to kill me in order to take the throne. You kidnapped me before I had a chance to do anything with my newfound information.”
“What happened to the evidence?” Evander asked.
Voices came from the adjacent room.
