A Kiss of Fire (A Kiss of Magic #2)(81)

“I must go back to my rooms.”

“I will walk with you, but others will see me as Mordol.” Dendri picked up Mordol’s body and dumped it behind a large stone flower planter. It was not an adequate cover, but unless someone was looking for it the body would be missed at first glance.

Ariana washed the blood from her face with bathwater, then walked to the entrance of the bath and looked down the corridor. Right next door to the bath was Sin’s rooms. She was mere steps away from him.

She was about to embark on an escape. If she succeeded, the odds were she might never see him again. But this was the moment, the opportunity she had been waiting for! This was what she had wanted from the first moment she had been taken.

Wasn’t it?

She should want to be free. She should want to escape this place and all the chains it put around her. Only she hadn’t felt chained in a long time. It had felt as though she had voluntarily been there instead of under guard. Had she just grown complacent?

She had. That was all. She had simply grown used to her surroundings. It didn’t change the fact that she was a prisoner.

Now that she was faced with the imminent possibility of leaving Sin, she didn’t want to go. She didn’t want to leave him.

“Triumvir, we must go quickly,” Dendri urged her. “The men in the gardens might be discovered at any moment.”

“Mariah,” she said absently.

“Where would she be?”

No sooner had she said her name then the lady maid was walking down the corridor toward her. Mariah deserved to go home, she realized. She had to go if for no other reason. That, and Dendri and his men were risking their lives for her. She could not let them down.

“Mariah, remain here,” she said shortly. “We’re leaving this place.” She quickly explained who ‘Mordol’ was since Dendri had adopted his disguise once more. “Dendri, did you happen to find out who it was that sent Mordol to kill me?”

“No my lady, I did not.”

She bit her lip. Someone had sent Mordol to kill her. They had seen her as a threat. The only one who might see the woman of the raja as a threat would be someone who had something to lose should she wed him and produce heirs with him.

“Vich. It had to be Vich,” she murmured.

“How is that important now?” Dendri asked a little impatiently.

“It means he is willing to do anything to secure his place as heir. Sin must be warned.”

“You cannot warn him without giving away your escape,” Dendri counseled her. “If you take the time to show him evidence of Vich’s betrayal you risk exposure and our window of opportunity will be gone.”

“Then I must write him a letter. One that will not be found immediately…but that will be found.”

“Get the key to my room off of the body,” she instructed Dendri. She hurried out into the hall and headed for the one place she knew had pen and paper. Sin’s study. She could also leave the note in the most recent place of the ledger he was last working on. It would take a good deal of time before he would find the letter, however. Once he knew she was missing working his ledgers would be the last thing he would want to do. But he would go back to them eventually and he would find the note.

Upon reaching the study, she left Mariah and Dendri outside of the door. She knew that if they entered with her it would look suspicious. She went to the desk where she hastily scribbled a few lines about his brother’s potential betrayal, then hesitated. There was so much she wanted to say to him. She knew leaving him would be a betrayal in and of itself. She would be causing him a great deal of pain. But that could not be helped, she thought as she bit her lip. There were too many people at risk for her to blindly follow her heart.

But where was her heart?

She didn’t know anymore. Was it still with her people who needed her, or was it here…with him? Her people needed her, but it was clear Sin needed her just as much.

Tears of frustration burned into her eyes as she jotted down the only thing she could think of to say. She put sealing wax on the envelope then pressed her dainty little signet ring into the wax to seal it. She slid the envelope into the ledger and closed it. She placed the ledger in the center of the desk. So if he sat there, it would be opened first. She came around the desk and joined Dendri and Mariah in the hallway. Together they walked back to her room. She entered and found her boots and cloak. She remembered the day he had given her the boots and her heart ached.

“Should I bring something more to wear? It’s a long trip and I—“

“There isn’t time,” Dendri said. “We have all the necessary supplies.” They got Mariah her walking cloak and headed out of the building toward the gardens where the horses awaited them. Panic infused her with every step. She was leaving him. She was truly leaving him.

This was for the best, she forced herself to recognize. There was too much at stake for her to waver now. There were too many people risking their lives to rescue her. Still, she could simply have them come into the court as diplomats of Saren, smooth it over so everyone remained friends.

However, that didn’t change the fact that the people of Saren needed her.

“You’re doing the right thing,” Dendri said softly to her as he walked beside her.

Of course. As an Aspano majji he was a master of the mind, able to read her thoughts even though her safeguards were pretty strong. But they had not been strong enough to protect her from an attack earlier and they certainly weren't strong enough to keep out a man of Dendri’s awesome skill.