Page 42 of A Tale of Treachery

Outside the windows, the sky was dark, and I groaned, knowing the entire day had been wasted.

“You’re awake.” A weary Redmond sat shadowed in the corner of my room.

I moaned. “I am. I feel terrible. What time is it?”

“The sun just set. You have plenty of time before your meeting.”

I flipped the covers off and shot out of bed in a frenzy, but the room was spinning, and my body was too weak to move. Collapsing back onto the bed, I whimpered and held my head in my hands. “I have so much to do and not enough time.”

“I’ll go and search for the rift, even though everything’s been quiet since the execution. All you have to worry about is your meeting with Eulalia, though I still advise against it.” Redmond plopped down on the edge of my bed, handing me a cup of tea.

I closed my eyes and took a deep swig, savoring the flavor that hinted of energizing herbs. “You’re a mind reader. I’ll never know how you do it.”

The rift had been the first thing on my mind when I woke up. The meeting with Eulalia was more an annoyance than anything now. And gods, energy tea was necessary.

Redmond chuckled, placing a palm on my forehead. “It’s easy. Simple deduction, really. Your first concern after the events of today would be checking the rift, and the second would be your obligation to Eulalia. The king sent a party of soldiers to see if the rift was opened, but they don’t know what to check for.” He removed his hand from my forehead. “Your fever broke.”

Huh. A fever. That’s why I was drenched in a cold sweat. The tear in space had somehow affected me physically as well as mentally.

My muscles went slack against the headboard. “What did the soldiers find?”

“The rift seems to be open, but nothing has come through yet. The king has sent a legion to guard the entrance and has personally requested that I go and study it.” Redmond’s eyes lit up as he spoke of the tear, though he tried to hold back his excitement for my benefit.

The same thing that exhilarated him filled me with dread.

“Don’t get too excited, Redmond. Nothing good will come out of that rift. Promise me you’ll be safe and not get carried away. Please…just promise me you will only observe,” I begged, knowing that a simple observation would do nothing to satiate his curiosity.

Hopefully, he wouldn’t try to touch it.

Redmond clucked his tongue and waved my fears away. “I promise I will just observe and report.” He stood from the bed with a loud clap of his hands. “Now! I have a duty to attend to, and you need to leave immediately. The prince called on you five times today, and I’m sure he’ll be back. That boy’s obsessed.”

I groaned and rolled out of bed, not having the energy to deal with Aiden right now. I needed to get out of here before he came back for me.

“I really wish you wouldn’t go alone tonight. Maybe you could take someone with you?” Redmond hinted, his meaning clear. “Perhaps a certain assassin would be available…”

“Not a chance,” I said, bristling.

“I truly hope Eulalia will be as understanding as you claim,” Redmond whispered morbidly, closing the door behind him as he prepared for an adventure of his own.

I changed into fresh clothes, moving at a hectic pace so I wouldn’t have to face Aiden until I was ready. My head was pounding, but the energy tea had done something to increase my spirits. After preparing for the night, I entered the study, watching Redmond throw beakers and glass tubes into his satchel. He hummed, moving with an eager bounce to his step.

I eyed him critically from the doorway, and when he spotted me, the animation dropped from his face, quickly replaced by a calm façade.

“I’m only going to collect some samples from the rift, and I’ll return by morning. You have nothing to worry about,” he reassured, wrapping his arms around me in a tight embrace that popped my spine.

A cough racked through my body, and he released me with an apology. Gods, I felt beaten up.

I waved my hand, shooing him out the door. “Get going. I should be back in the morning, too. Hopefully, this tribunal won’t take long.”

“Knock them dead,” he said with a wink.

I followed behind him, my reply to his good luck wishes a burning flame on the tip of my tongue.

I’d rather not.

* * *

I still hada while before meeting Eulalia, and while my plan consisted of scouting the meeting area beforehand, I didn’t do that. Something was calling me, leading me away from the clearing where the tribunal was taking place. I blindly followed the instinct that pulled me through the forest, my nose wrinkling in confusion.

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