Page 96 of Court of Vipers (The Lady of Innislee)

“Aren’t I always?”

Auberon left Drystan’s room and crossed the hall, shouting down the stairs for someone to send for a servant to fill the bath. While one of the guards rushed off to fulfill the command, Auberon slipped into his room and tossed the ruined overcoat into the corner of the room, then removed his sheathed sword and belt. After a moment’s hesitation, he pulled the blade free with the soft scrape of steel against leather. The edge gleamed under the pale dawn light bleeding in through the windows. Auberon smiled, imagining the metal coated in deep crimson blood.

There was one other thing he hadn’t told Drystan. had told Farquar that he and Riona would be meeting in the Royal Theater that night. The sell-swords hadn’t tailed Auberon from the castle; he knew the feeling of being watched, and he hadn’t felt that familiar prickle on the back of his neck until the heartbeat before the attackers charged onto the stage. He and Riona had provided them plenty of opportunities to attack before they had, which meant that the sell-swords had only arrived moments before they’d revealed themselves. They hadn’t been lying in wait—they’d been told precisely when to arrive.

Only one man had ever threatened to reveal his secret meetings with Riona to the court. Tonight, Auberon would gladly repay the bastard’s treachery.

ChapterSixty-Five

The Lady

Aknock sounded on the front door of Valerian’s guest house not half an hour later. Riona was already waiting in the sitting room, her hands clasped in front of her and her legs gracefully crossed at the ankles—still the poised, perfect lady of the court, despite the sickly pallor of her skin and the bandages wrapped around her chest. After demolishing the breakfast the guards had left her, she had forced herself out of bed and taken one of the lightweight linen tunics from Valerian’s wardrobe. The fabric was soft against her skin, the loose, airy fit offering some relief from the heat pulsing just above her heart. She was in agony, having been only inches away from death a few hours earlier, but this could not wait.

“Where is my daughter? I will see hernow.”

Riona’s father charged through the archway and stopped short when he saw the dozen Kentari guards lining the room, armed and clad in full plate mail. His hazel eyes widened, incredulous, as two stepped forward and began searching him for weapons. “What is the meaning of this?” he demanded.

“It’s only a precaution, my lord,” Valerian said, leading Amaris into the room. As a guard patted her down, Amaris’s gaze dropped to Riona’s chest, and the blood drained from her face. The neckline of the tunic had slipped down, revealing the edge of the bandage over her heart.

Riona pulled her tunic higher and nodded to the settee across from her. “Please sit. There’s much we need to discuss.”

The guards finished searching her father, and he shot them an annoyed look before taking a seat on the settee next to Amaris. “Riona, what happened? Your message said only—”

“Did you know about the mines?”

He went still. “I beg your pardon?”

“The eudorite mines that King Domhnall has been hiding for years,” she said, her voice deathly calm. “Did you know about them?”

He glanced at Valerian and the guards, all of whom looked equally shocked. “We should discuss this in private, Riona.”

“Duke Valerian saved my life last night. He has more than earned his right to be here, especially considering it was one of our dear king’s most trusted advisors who orchestrated the attempt on my life. I assume that someone has found the bodies in the theater?”

Her father nodded, the blood draining from his face.

Riona leaned forward, her aching wound protesting at the movement. “Tell me you weren’t involved in the attack.”

“Of course I wasn’t,” he said, looking appalled that she’d even asked. “I’ve known about the eudorite mines since my brother conceived the idea, but I refused to have any part of it. They’re too dangerous, and the cost—both in lives and in coin—is too high to justify running the damn things.” Realization dawned on his face. “The trip to Crafford. That’s where you went when you left, isn’t it? Riona, youwentto the mines?”

“The only one that’s still operational,” Riona said as Valerian looked at her sharply. “Amaris and Auberon rescued me after the overseer discovered me searching through his office. If not for them, I would have likely been murdered on the king’s command.”

“No, he wouldn’t have—”

“He ordered Lord Farquar to have Prince Auberon and me assassinated!” she snarled, wincing when a flare of heat shot through her chest. Valerian shot her a worried look and shifted closer, hovering by the arm of her chair. “He had Treasurer Cathal killed!Heis the snake at the heart of this court.”

Her father blinked, stunned by her fury. He had seen her grieve, seen her mourn, seen her cry, but he had never seen her with pure, unbridled rage coursing through her veins.

“Cathal was going to reveal the existence of the mines to the king of the Selannic Isles,” she continued. “Rivosa is in debt, and he was hoping that promising the Selannic king a share of the ore would be enough to repay the money we owe. The king learned of the Treasurer’s plans and sent someone to murder him. Cathal was killed for doing his duty.”

Her father shook his head, looking like he was going to be sick. “To be honest…I suspected the king may have had a hand in the Treasurer’s death. I just…” He faltered, seeming at a loss for words. Amaris silently slid closer and rested a comforting hand on his arm. “I didn’t want to believe my brother was capable of such a thing.”

“He is. He did it all to keep the mines a secret.”

Her father glanced at Valerian, his gaze simmering with distrust. “A secret that is a secret no longer. Now Kenter and Erduria know that we’ve been mining the Howling Mountains. I may have disagreed with my brother’s mining operation, but I held my tongue to prevent precisely this situation. I suppose it was inevitable, but between the Rennox and the natural dangers in the mountains, even the rumors were minimal. I only wish that you had not been the source of the revelation.”

“I don’t intend to fight over your land, my lord,” Valerian said. “All I ask is for Rivosi aid in the war for my country’s independence, and as many eudorite weapons as you can spare for my men. I am asking for an alliance.”

Her father appraised the duke warily. Then he turned to Riona and said, “And what of the Erdurian princes?”

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